Pop 'N' Taco

Written by Cynthia Wiggins from Rap Pages Magazine


I couldn't believe it-they were legends in Long Beach. I was about 15. It was '78, around that time. so I just watched them. Basically, I would ditch school to go to Pete"s house [ in Lakewood], which is not good, but I did that because I wanted to learn itso bad. And he would just teach me on his own time. so I did that for many years and then I started working, doing videos and commercials.

Taco, where did you grow up?

I was raised in compton and went to junior and high school in Long Beach. I was doin' the robot actually when I was about nine years old. I've always been interested in the robot. I followed that for a while, then when i saw poppin' I actually saw electric Boogaloos in a show that Jeff guiterrez did called Kick. Then I met a group called the Mysterious Poppers, which I was in. I was called King Snake. [other was also] King Cobra, King Python, King Rattler. so we were actually the guys who originated the cobra, or what they called snake, and all that. Darryl [ex-member of electric boogaloos] actually originated that. He first saw a version of it-but not the way Darryl did it-from Boogaloo Sam. 'Cause Boogaloo Sam kinda rolls his chest around, and Darryl kinda formed it with the shoulders, and neck and doin' a pose. Actually, I'm doin' it right now. [Laughs] this is before I met Electic Boogaloos. I was already kinda gettin' a name as being one of the first Mexicans around to ever do it. People would come from all over L.A. to go against me because they never saw a Mexican who could pop. they said there was no such thing as that.

How did you get your name?

A friend of mine gave me my name. He was filipino, and he was an amazing street dancer also. he came up to me and said, "You know what, man? You're a Poppin' Taco." so while I was going to Spanish class, I was going, "Should I get offended?" [Laughs] But then I said, "wait a minute..." So I wrote "Pop..." I wrote it just like Pup-N-Taco [classic defunct taco joint chain]. Pop-N-Taco. People were calling me Poppin' Burrito and Poppin' Enchilada, until it got to Pop 'N' Taco and it turned into a respectful name and I liked it. I kept it ever since.