Justice Crew

Justice Crew are an all-male hip-hop dance and pop music group based in Sydney, consisting of members Lukas Bellesini, Paul Eric Merciadez, John Len Ruela Pearce, Len John Ruela Pearce, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Samson Cosray Smith and Solo Tohi. They are most notable for winning the fourth season of Australia's Got Talent in 2010. Following Australia's Got Talent, Justice Crew signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia. Their debut single "And Then We Dance" was released on 27 August 2010. The single peaked at number 26 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Justice Crew's second single "Friday to Sunday" was released on 17 December 2010, and peaked at number 18. The single was certified double platinum by the ARIA, for selling 140,000 digital copies. "Dance with Me", featuring American rapper Flo Rida, was released as the group's third single on 29 March 2011. The single peaked at number 44 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold.

Justice Crew have also released their first video album And Then We Dance (2010) and a compilation album titled, Justice Crew Party Mix (2011), which debuted at number five on the ARIA Compilation Albums Chart. They have been nominated for several awards, including Most Popular Australian Artist and Most Popular Australian Live Artist at the 2011 ARIA Music Awards.

History

2009–2010: Formation and Australia's Got Talent

Justice Crew were originally two separate dance groups which broke up and merged together as one group in early 2009.^[1][2] They were mentored by New Zealand dance veteran Maurice June.^[2] Justice Crew learnt all their dance moves from YouTube videos, including Michael Jackson's.^[1] They later entered the 2009 World Hip Hop Dance Championships competition held in Las Vegas, and became one of several groups to represent Australia.^[2] Eventually, they placed 14th in the competition.^[2]

In 2010, Justice Crew auditioned for the fourth season of Australia's Got Talent. They were inspired by Britain's Got Talent 2009 winners Diversity to audition for the show, and wanted to "encourage young people to follow their dreams and believe that anything is possible."^[3] Justice Crew were announced as the winners on 15 June 2010, and were awarded a prize of $250,000.^[4] Each member received $28,000.^[1]

2010–present: Recording career

Following Australia's Got Talent, Justice Crew appeared in one of the television commercials for the second season of The X Factor (Australia) to promote the show's re-launch.^[5] In August 2010, it was announced that Justice Crew signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia.^[6] Their debut single "And Then We Dance" was released on 27 August 2010.^[7] The single peaked at number 26 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).^[8][9] It was followed by the release of their first video album And Then We Dance on 27 September.^[10] The video album featured a documentary of Justice Crew's first dance experiences as individuals and how they came together as a group. It also showcased their dance routines and individual tricks.^[10]

Justice Crew's second single "Friday to Sunday" was released on 17 December 2010.^[11] The single peaked at number 18 on the ARIA Singles Chart and became the group's highest charting single to date.^[8] "Friday to Sunday" was certified double platinum by the ARIA for selling 140,000 digital copies.^[9] "Dance with Me", featuring American rapper Flo Rida, was released as the group's third single on 29 March 2011.^[12] The single peaked at number 44 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold.^[8][9] In April 2011, Justice Crew served as a support act on Chris Brown's Australian leg of his F.A.M.E. Tour.^[13] Their fourth single "Sexy and You Know It" was released on 23 September 2011 but did not chart.^[14] Justice Crew released their first compilation album Justice Crew Party Mix on 18 November 2011, and featured a DJ mix CD of five of their songs and fourteen of their favourite songs to dance to from other artists.^[15] It also contained a DVD featuring their four music videos, behind the scenes of the videos, a tutorial from each member on how to do their favourite move, a putting the steps together section and a bloopers reel.^[15] The album debuted at number 5 on the ARIA Compilations Chart on 28 November 2011.^[16]

Other ventures

Commercial endorsements

In December 2010, Justice Crew fronted a campaign for the new underwear label Sly, and appeared on promotional images for the label.^[17] In May 2011, Swisse Vitamins used the group's single "Dance with Me" for one of their television commercials.^[18] Justice Crew appeared in the commercial doing various dance routines on different coloured backdrops.^[18]

Philanthropy

The group's mentor Maurice June created a non-profit organisation known as MMAD Moves (Musicians Making a Difference), which teaches dance lessons to children, teenagers and adults who cannot afford to pay for classes.^[19] June teamed up with The Salvation Army to connect the program with a church.^[19] Justice Crew have previously joined June at various Salvation Army corps, including Miranda, New South Wales and Hurstville, New South Wales.^[19] They also regularly perform at the annual Christmas Carol events, such as the Carols in the Domain and Carols in the City, where performers donate their time to raise money for various charities.^[20][21]

Members

Current members

• Lukas Bellesini, better known as Wildrok^[22] has previously been involved in B-boying crews such as Mass Mayhem and Anarchy Tribe.^[23] He has also won dance competitions such as the 2007 Australian B-boy Championships and has appeared on So You Think You Can Dance Australia.^[23][2]

• Paul Eric Merciadez, bettere known as Paulie, has previously performed in dance crews such as Barbie Boys, Gigabeatz and Psyke for dance competitions which included Groove, Looze Control, Showdown and The Easter Show.^[24] Although he never had any experience in dancing, Paulie was asked to perform a dance as part of a youth group in 2006, and he has since been motivated to inspire others and show that "nothing can stop you from chasing your dream ... all you have to do is run faster."^[24] Paulie then began B-boying in 2007.^[24]

• John Len Ruela Pearce and Len John Ruela Pearce (born 25 February 1991), are twin brothers from Sydney.^[24] They are both of Filipino and Australian descent.^[24] Both John and Len were inspired by the film You Got Served (2004) to learn Hip-hop dance.^[24] They created a dance group at school called the Athelites, which included inexperienced dancers and close friends.^[24] The group performed at various dance competitions such as Groove, Looze Control and the Opera House.^[24]

• Emmanuel Rodriguez, better known as E-Man, is a self-taught dancer from Orange, New South Wales.^[24] E-Man began break dancing at the age of 12 as a way to stay out of trouble and express himself.^[24] He moved to Sydney to become a B-Boy.^[24] E-Man has performed in several dance competitions, including the 2009 season of So You Think You Can Dance Australia, in which he placed in the final 20.^[24][2]

• Samson Cosray Smith is originally from New Zealand and moved to Sydney in 2007.^[24] Samson began break dancing in 2002.^[24] Since moving to Sydney, he has been introduced to other styles of dance such as Krumping and Hip-hop.^[24] Before becoming a member of Justice Crew, Samson travelled to and toured around various countries including Germany, Hong Kong and the United States, dancing, performing and teaching.^[24]

• Solo Tohi is also from New Zealand and moved to Sydney to pursue a dance career.^[24] Solo is of Tongan and Tanzanian descent.^[2] He is a self taught dancer who started off B-boying for 5 years then was later introduced to the dance styles of Urban hip-hop and Popping.^[24] Solo has won dance competitions such as Looze Control, Australian hip-hop Champs and World hip-hop Qualifiers.^[24]

Former members

• Omar Kamara, better known as Scrap,^[22] is of African American descent.^[2] He left Justice Crew in 2011.

• Anastasios Tass Repousis, better known as Kid Taz, is a B-boy dancer who started dancing in 2004 because his father was an old school B-boy in the 1980s.^[24] Before becoming a member of Justice Crew, Kid Taz was a member of dance crews such as Hybrid Formz, Psalms, Rebelance and Pussy Cat Ballz.^[24] He has won several dance competitions throughout 2007, 2008 and 2009, and served as a back-up dancer for American rapper Vanilla Ice.^[24] Kid Taz had also made it through the top 100 of the 2009 season of So You Think You Can Dance Australia.^[24] He also left the group in 2011.^[25]

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website