My wife and I just got back from the Philippines after a month long “babymoon” vacation, possibly one of the best trips I’ve ever had.
As I’ve stated in my previous vlogs, the main purpose of this trip was to take a pre-parental last vacation with the wifey where she can just chill out, relax and “spa” out, which we did. We not only got massages 3 times a week, but we also got facials, manicures, pedicures and our hair done. The Philippines is a place where the the cost of services is very low due to the dollar to Philippine pesos ratio. With the minimum wage being roughly around $250 US dollars a month, what would cost a lot of money in other countries can go a long long way in the Philippines.
Now my secondary goal was to keep writing in my upcoming book, the “Tao of the Bboy” which I have already gotten to chapter 10.
However my third and final goal was to do some research in the Philippines to see if “The Plan” could actually work in the Philippines. I’ve been doing a lot of scene building work in the Philippines since I launched my Project P-Noise mission in 2010, by organizing the first series of international qualifiers while coaching and teaching throughout the nation. Now the Philippines has succeeded in making “noise”, by developing their skills, earning a rep, getting their props and are on their way to leaving a legacy.
Therefore, I was saddened to hear that the Philippine Bboy scene been slowly been dying. Although there are many young new faces and talent in the scene, a lot of the old crews and Bboys have quit or moved onto other things, primarily because they need to deal with the facts of life. This problem isn’t unique to the Philippines, it’s the same problem in almost every country in the world where a Bboy scene exists. When Bboys can’t earn a living from dancing, they need to then focus on other outlets to survive. While privileged Bboys who grow up in 1st world countries can afford to Break as a hobby, the less fortunate Bboys will be forced to quit, doing what needs to be done to survive by any means necessary… or starve.
Seeing my fellow Filipino Bboys go through the same hardships and struggles that so many of us in the world go through, has motivated me to try and bring “The Plan” to the Philippines. Could “The Plan” become a successful industry and sustainable business in the Philippines which can make a life-change in the crews, bboys, and family of the bboys in the Philippines? Below are the facts that I have learned in the Philippines:
- I can hire a someone to be a full time Bboy, for 9hrs a day, 5 days a week, for approximately $250 US dollars a month. This money is enough to change their lives!
- Philippine Laws states that a foreign investor (such as myself) cannot be a majority share holder in a company. Therefore, the most I could own is 49% of the company. This means that I would need partners and investors, who I can trust 100%.
- Getting business done in the Philippines, moves about as fast as their traffic… extremely slow. In other countries, you can get many things done in a day, but in the Philippines, because of the expected unpredictable traffic, you will be lucky if you can get more than one errand or task done. Therefore, many business men schedule their appointments between the small windows of the least amount of traffic. Even when I did manage to have meeting for business, due to the carefree joking nature of Filipinos, I was only able to get through the business pitch.
- The Manila Bboy scene is broken up into two scenes, North and South, which only come together for really huge international competitions. Bboys from the North rarely travel to the South for jams and vice versa, which means that finding the right location for a single Manila Blockhouse won’t be easy.
- There are two types of people in the Philippines; Rich and Poor. The Bboy community has both types that are some what intermixed, which is very rare for both classes to mix together in the first place. While the lower class Bboys have more “raw talent”, and tend to win all the Bboy jams, the upper class Bboys are more educated and will have more access to the resources needed execute “The Plan”.
Home studio session with Reflex of Soulstice
Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps TWO Blockhouses might be the best solution, one planted in both the North and the South. The North Manila Blockhouse can more easily be successfully executed by a crew named Soulstice who was the first crew to win a qualifier in 2010, resulting in three members to be part of “Project P-Noise” aka team Philippines at the 2010 R16 World Finals. This crew consists of more privileged Bboys. Currently, only one of them is dancing as a full time job, and happens to be the Bboy who wins majority of solo battles in the Philippines. Reflex is my go to guy, while the others I am not yet sure if they’re interest in the Bboy culture has dwindled. One of their main members lives in New York city but travels back and forth. If there is any crew who has the ability to create a North Manila Blockhouse and market a Team Manila, it’s Soulstice. I tried contacting the only other crew who also has the ability and means to do “The Plan”, but unfortunately couldn’t set up a meeting.
Meeting up with SAS Crew about “The Plan” in Bronxclaran
Now in the South of Metro Manila, is a totally different story, and a different kingdom. SAS Crew, is from one of the most dangerous areas in the Philippines called Baclaran, which I gave the nickname “Bronxclaran”. When I first came to spread knowledge in the Philippines, I saw the passion and potential in SAS Crew, I could relate with them from where they come from and how they grew up, so I had a special place for them in my heart. I’m blessed to have been a part of their story, witnessing them grow, travelling around the world for breakin such as Denmark, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, defeating world famous crews like MB, Zulu Kingz and Found Nation. SAS Crew has also joined the Zulu Nation, their chapter named Zulu Pinas, where they spread knowledge about Hip Hop culture and organize block parties and events. Majority of SAS crew are from the less privileged class, many have difficult upbringings and sad stories. While SAS Crew has the talent and the right Bboy mentality, they may have a harder time finding the resources and education to execute their own Blockhouse. Therefore, they will need to find the right investors and partners to make their own “SOUTH MANILA SAS CREW” business.
In the end, I was able to accomplish a lot of research, not just on the Bboy culture, but in business as well. All the people I’ve met (non Bboys) agree that “The Plan” not only sounds like an amazing concept, but can be a lucrative business as well. Without talking about money, I have a feeling that finding the investment money won’t be a problem, however I’m am hoping that the Bboys can learn to become business men and take ownership. I wasn’t able to strike any deal except verbal commitments like “I’m down”, and “What ever you do, we support you kuya”, and at this point, that is all I needed to know.
Besides taking care of business, I managed to get some training in, do a video shoot on a helipad, check out my old crew members wedding, watch a rock dance competition and hit up a jam where I called out a young Thread style Bboy in the cyphers. With such an amazing trip, I hope to do bboy business in the Philippines which will give me and my family a reason to come back every year for at least 3 months at a time, however all of these big dreams depend on the success of one thing…
The Prototype Blockhouse Business in Taiwan!
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