Breaking
Breaking
Catching up with Sunni, the new Red Bull BC One All Star
B-Boy Sunni is the latest addition to the Red Bull BC One All Star roster. We met him in London to talk about being recruited and get his thoughts on some of breaking's latest issues.
Originally born in Penang, Malaysia, and raised in the UK, Sunni started breaking around the age of 10 years old and really made his name when he beat Red Bull BC One All Star Hong 10 at the 2011 UK B-Boy Championships. At the time Sunni was an up-and-coming teenage B-Boy on the scene, whereas Hong 10 was already a BC One World Champion and was known as one of the best breakers on the planet.
That win put Sunni firmly on the breaking map and since then he's added win after championship win to his career achievements. These include winning the 2015 Notorious IBE Super Solo battle, the 2015 Freestyle Session European Qualifier solo battle, and the 2016 and 2017 UK B-Boy Championships solo battles.
Sunni's also represented the UK at the Red Bull BC One World Final in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2018.
What went through your mind when you found out that you'd be the next Red Bull BC One All Star?
It was a shock as it's like the pinnacle for B-Boying as a career at the moment. It was also exciting for me because now I have a platform to push my potential through and can start trying to plan something a bit more long-term than battling.
With this opportunity, I have a whole new mindset and I want to push hard for two to three years to the point where I'm comfortable and in a position to make some real moves.
I'm also excited to see what can be done on the top tier of breaking.
You're the first B-Boy from the UK in the roster. What does that mean for you?
It's super sic, and I'm hoping that I can open that whole door up to other UK breakers for big sponsorships and stuff. I don't know anyone in the UK that's had a big sponsorship that they can live and work off, there isn't anyone, so I'm happy to be the first guy, and I'm trying to make it a bit more accessible to everyone.
Sunni does a headspin at the Red Bull BC One World Final 2016
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
How did you come up with your style and movement? Especially with all the stuff you do off your back and shoulders.
It might sound cliché but the style develops itself. People who've known and seen me from young would know that I've spent a lot of time in certain positions. I never wanted to be stuck on my back doing ground power, I'd love to be flying but I'm just scared of that stuff so I don't do it. It's not like I don't want to be an air-power guy, it's just that I don't spend much time doing that so I don't develop any level or style past a certain extent up there.
What do you identify with the most in the breaking and hip-hop culture?
I guess the diversity in it. There are a lot of little circles in breaking, from the eastern Europeans to the flamboyant Spanish, you have all different types of people, as anyone can be in the breaking scene.
I love the dynamics you get in the scene and I think that's what I identify with the most, as it's interesting to be a part of a community that's so diverse but in a disjointed way. With all the solo battles I do, most of the time I'm alone, so I'm always fraternising with different types of people.
We spoke before about how many breakers in your generation have a different taste in music. Are there any DJs on the scene who spin the tracks that really motivate you to dance?
T-Sia, from France, is a good representation of my generation as she plays the right stuff and shows how it can work both ways. What she plays doesn't sound too much like crazy trap music, which is what we'd ideally listen to, but it's more in the middle and works both ways. We also have Nobunaga, who's becoming a lot more happy to play his own stuff. Before he kind of played 50/50 but now he goes more full-out playing his stuff.
I think there's a lot of change going on in the music right now, but I'm not going to say that I don't like to listen to the legends playing the classics because obviously it's nostalgic.
Do you have any thoughts on biting or breakers copying the moves of the latest B-Boy or B-Girl that they see winning competitions?
With biting it's a tricky one because some stuff is so trademark and nostalgic to certain people as their move. I guess that if you imitate someone's personality, their energy and the move then it's a bite, but so many people are calling bites on basic foundational moves. Like if someone does windmill, 90, headspin all with one hand it might be original but you've also just done three general power moves, just only on one hand.
People say, 'why bite when you can flip' but to flip something you have to learn to do it first and I think it's all part of growing the culture and vocabulary, and our vocabulary is limited in certain areas so similar moves being done is going to happen.
I do think that it's a valid thing to call out bites, but I also think that people are a little confused on when it's the right time to call out a bite, because it's not something you should be doing all the time.
At the Red Bull BC One World Final last year you lost to Luigi. How did you feel about that?
I think a lot of people were expecting me to beat Luigi – I was expecting to beat him. I had, had a three-month golden run of just winning big jams, so I was on such a high. I remember thinking that now I've got to Red Bull World Finals and a legend like Luigi to face, this will be a great stamp to the end of the year. And then the battle came and I did one move and it didn't go right and I was like, 'Oh my god, I might actually lose this,' and it just all started going wrong. I thought, 'Wow, Sunni, why are you only just realising now that you can lose this?' And then I lost.
I'm not really someone to be upset, unless I thought I won. I don't think I got destroyed, but I can see why he won and I'm fine with that. The weird thing about the scene is that there are so many championships that it can get blown out of portion when you lose or win something. I had won three or four world championships last year and then I lost Red Bull and was heartbroken. But then I thought, 'Wait, but if I'd won Red Bull and lost the others, technically I'd still be in the same situation.' So all of that stuff doesn't really get me down too much. And I was happy it was Luigi. I got no problem losing to him.
Check out that battle below:
4 minuta
Round of 16: Sunni vs Luigi
The UK's Sunni and American Luigi face off in one-on-one battles for a chance to make it to the next round.
Your mum is your biggest inspiration. How did she react to you becoming a Red Bull BC One All Star?
Mum was the first person I told. If you know me you know that I talk to my mum on a real level, not even like mother-son but more like brother-sister, so she gets all the gossip. She was over the moon and said, 'About bloody time!' She knows how long I've been waiting for some opportunity and stability in this dance thing as it's been quite a rough few years and now there's a solid thing here.
Thank you, Sunni, for taking the time to do the interview. See you soon.
