Scooby was on the panel for the 1997 B-Boy Summit Event. He shared his knowledge of popping
history and terminology. He was popping since the 70's and presently teaching popping to a
younger generation. He say Oakland's and Frisco's two cities in California played a
major role in the development of popping. Once popping made it to Los Angeles the media jumped on it. I like to thank
Eternal Two Creations and RSC for a successful event.
Other: I heard that Boogaloo Sam did a lot of things.
Scooby: Men listen, it's all about money, that's it.
Other: that's messed up.
Scooby: Oakland is the point! Oakland is the Point! Everybody serious knew that was the
spot. People in LA didn't know anything about popping' because they were always locking and
ancient style roboting. They came in rolling saying they invented popping'. They're poppers
younger than I, how in the hell they invented It? I've seen this dance already, how did they invent
it and they're younger than I. They were teenagers and I'm a man, now how did they invent this
dance that I know how to do before them and people was doing it before I. Now there is a Black
folks culture in Oakland, our ways, our culture, our dance, our way of thinking. Okay, Oakland
was the bomb! The two major cities were Oakland and LA they got the media,
money, and everyone goes there, and that's the truth. The real Electric Boogaloo's were in
Oakland.
S.C.: Is Boogaloo Sam from the Original or second Electric Boogaloo's
group?
Scooby: They were people that learned the art. And they learned and made it big time. They also
hooked up with a white dude named Jeff Kudos. He exploited them.
S.C.: Did you meet them before?
Scooby: I met them one time face to face in LA Some big thing, some
contest, whatever it was.
They were dancing with Jeff making money, and I met Jeff in Las Vegas. What I'm telling you
here is this, unless there is some strange miracle way they simultaneously evolved the art
somewhere else from the robot and, if that's the case, I'm telling you that there was popping'
before that.
S.C.: So when were the Original Electric Boogaloo's was popping'?
Scooby: They were popping' in the 60's.
S.C.: I read an article stating that the Electric Boogaloo's started
in 1972.
Scooby: Those guys didn't invent popping'. I'm telling you the truth.
S.C. I agree.
Scooby: There was also a dance out called the Frankenstein. The Frankenstein and Boogaloo
movement came together.
S.C.: He started dancing, so I could see how this dance looked. This
guy is still a good popper.
Scooby: The animation style goes like this . . .
S.C.: Boogaloo Shrimp does some of those movements.
Scooby: Boogaloo and animation look like this . . .
S.C.: He displayed the Boogaloo and animation style together.
Scooby: Merge together this thing called the boogalooin, but before that, there was a dance
called Snake hit from down south (the country). This dance originated in Africa.
I've seen old footage of this Snake Hit stuff, all the waves and everything.
S.C.: Which dance group you used to dance for?
Scooby: Scooby Brothers.
S.C.: What's your dancing name?
Scooby: I was called the Bionic man at first, then changed my name to Scooby.
S.C.: You're still raw, You can dance better then a lot of today's
poppers.
Scooby: I don't practice, I'm just teaching.
S.C.: I'm a popper from Chicago, I'm more on the robotic style.
Scooby: I'm going to remember you, brother.
S.C. What's the name, popping' or poplocking'?
Scooby: Popping' is popping' and Locking' is locking'! LA messed it up. They did not know it
was new to them.
S.C.: You showed me the animation style, who created that style?
Scooby: I don't know if it was one person or many, because it was an evolution after popping'
started. I saw my cousin doing this before, he was the one who showed me. I'm talking Sinbad
and all that.
S.C.: A lot of people are trying to take the credit for this.
Scooby: they should not do this. I'm so happy that black people created this art form.
I take pride in that. Do they respect popping' out there in Chicago?
S.C.: Yeah.
Scooby: Yeah, as part of their culture.
S.C.: In Chicago, most people think popping' is played out. They don't say too much to me
about the dance, maybe because I'm a good popper.
Scooby: do they know the history?
S.C.: In Chicago people think the Electric Boogaloo's started popping'. We also read articles
that said they created popping'. And what I'm doing is trying to get the
full understanding once and for all where it came from. So I could be
able to inform others about popping' history.
Scooby: To me it's a disrespect for black people in general. This is a black culture thing. They
did not invent it! Don Campbellock has the right to say he invented locking'. Popping' is a
collective thing of the people in that region in the U.S.A.
S.C.: How many dancing groups were out back then?
Scooby: Here's the problem! In the beginning it was straight up blacks. Way back when there
were riots and all that kind of stuff. We did not have the financial opportunity because white
controlled the media. Okay! They controlled it and they didn't know. But when the whites got
involved they Co-op and stop calling it Black art. They called it American art. Other people only
relate to popping' as a technical form.
S.C.: Who were some of the groups back then?
Scooby: Mechanical Device, Black Resurgent, I'm talking about way back.
S.C.: What year was this around?
Scooby: Mid to late 60's. They did it and people copied them. Some got lucky like the Electric
Boogaloo's. The baddest people never gotten noticed, and the purest of the art was never shown.
The movie's breakin' one and two are not what popping' is really about.
S.C.: How did you like the dancing Boogaloo Shrimp did in breaking'
one?
Scooby: I liked how he danced, he did a good job. That scene with the broom, he did really
good, that was excellent.