Dance
Diablo is changing hip-hop dance and we're ready for that conversation
Get to know the enigmatic French hip-hop dancer, battle beast, artistic force and one-half of Los Diablos De La Muerte in a rare behind the scenes chat.
Author J M Smith once wrote, "If you dance with the devil, then you haven't got a clue, for you think you'll change the devil, but the devil changes you." Trust that witnessing enigmatic French hip-hop dancer Diablo's moves in the flesh will knock you for six.
Jean Michel Premier, aka Diablo, has always been on another wave. As a solo freestyler, he made a name for himself as a unique hip-hop dancer. From the outset, he flexed his creative dexterity, skills and raw swag with ease. He then clocked up underground clout and huge respect for his abilities to swerve across genres while being a master of his own.
Check him out in the video below:
1 min
Follow Me x Diablo
French dancer Diablo is joined by fellow stars of the hip-hop scene to make a dance video.
A multi-hyphenated talent, beyond definition, Diablo jumped on tour with Christine and The Queens, locked down a slew of modelling gigs and music videos, found fame among the mainstream masses, and all while proving to be a beast in battle alongside his hip-hop brother, StalaMuerte.
In the space of five years, Diablo and StalaMuerte not only formed their duo, Los Diablos De La Muerte, but they've stomped their way to the top of the hip-hop scene with incalculable force. Their razor-sharp footwork, next-level agility and confidence saw them tear apart notorious duo Les Twins in 2019's pulse-racing quarter-final at Juste Debout, as well as rack up a lengthy list of championship titles and become in-demand worldwide.
When it comes to offering up the unexpected, Diablo's only just getting started. Off the back of a tour with the other Red Bull Dancers to kick off 2021 and with plenty of plans in the works, we grabbed a rare moment behind the scenes to chat about how he took his craft beyond the floor and what the future has in store.
1. Hip-hop found him
"I started dancing when I was nine years old and now I'm 28. It's not deep or a mad story. A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to dance for no reason. Then I started dancing like that.
"It was hip-hop that we were doing, but he didn't tell us what style or anything. We were just dancing to hip-hop music on the floor in his building. He would open the door to his television and dance to the music blasting from the TV."
2. He isn't interested in conforming to hip-hop norms
"When I try to learn more about dance, I don't think about style or genre; it's stupid. Instead, I take the information from every kind of dance that I want to put into my own and leave out and discover what I don't want. The goal should be to create yourself and your dance from that."
I don't think about style or genre … The goal should be to create yourself and your dance
3. Forget battle nerves
"My first battle, I was maybe 12 years old. My first serious battle was at 15 in France. To create my own style was difficult at first, but you can't care about what anyone thinks. You have to find what you like. During those early battles, I was too focused on my rounds not being shit and working on 'MY' things to get scared of what other people were thinking."
Diablo and StalaMuerte at the Juste Debout 2018 final
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
4. His unique flex didn't happen overnight
"My advice for a new dancer stepping on to the scene is to be yourself. Even if that's harder than just being someone else. You're the first you on Earth and because of that, you're the best inspiration source you can find. Trust."
5. Mainstream fame was never his thing
"If you ask me when I became famous as a dancer or if I thought I would have a career as a dancer, I never said that to myself. Dance is not a sport or about being good, because anyways, whether or not people think your dancing is good is just an opinion. Being successful or good or famous as a dancer isn't down to technique and skills. It's about knowing and loving yourself and putting that into it – because dance is not going to lie."
It's about knowing and loving yourself and putting that into [your dance] – because dance is not going to lie
6. He reps his roots with music and his art and style with ink
"I love rap music, trap music and everything you can't see and hear in battles. I'm a fan of nobody and everybody at the same time. I just love good music. We have a lot of good hip-hop in France. The scene is fire.
"As for tattoos, I can't tell you how many I have. I don't know; I've made too much to remember them all. I think I have 40, maybe or 50."
Diablo wears his style as ink
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
7. Jumping on tour with big artists
"Going on tour with a big artist as a dancer was dope, but I've ticked that box. I don't know if I would jump to do it again. If the singer and the group's energy are good, then I'm going to do it.
"When it comes down to what aspect of hip-hop I like more, I don't know anymore. Choreography, touring, performing, battles – if you'd asked me two years before, I would have said I'm all about battling, but today it's down to the situation. I don't have a favourite place to dance or get inspired. It's more the feeling you have in a place. So right now, I'm about building, evolving and creating."
8. He thinks beyond the floor
"StalaMuerte and I are developing our brand. My friends make drill, afro-beats, hip-hop, they sing, they're too much. So at the moment, I'm going to the studio with them, and I'll get them to make me two or three songs for new videos and projects we're creating. We're in the process of doing a fashion line now as well, but again with a team of professionals, you know. If you give me the material and say, 'Diablo, make a t-shirt,' I can't. But I can say how to design it to make it look dope. It's better to work among other creatives and collectives like that who are also the best at what they do."
9. Geneseis, LDDLM and Los Diablos De La Muerte
Diablo rocked with Genesis and LDDLM crews in the past, but took the world by storm alongside his battle brother StalaMuerte as the duo Los Diablos De La Muerte.
"I was the first person to find out StalaMuerte was also becoming a Red Bull Dancer. He called me to break the news. Honestly, when I found out that I'd be touring, performing, teaching workshops and sharing this mad journey with him... I think I was more excited than him."
Diablo and StalaMuerte are Los Diablos De La Muerte
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
"When we dance together, we just put the music on and the routine comes. The way we understand each other is mad. We never stop. A routine can be 30 minutes. When we're working together, it's like we've grown up together, it's so easy like 'Yo, yo, you have an idea?' then 'YO. I was thinking the same.'"
10. There's way more to come
"Stepping into 2021, StalaMuerte and I are busy cooking up a full-length production in the studio. Everything I've been doing / everything we've been doing up until now and all of that… it's been leading up to StalaMuerte and me working on our first show and artistic concept. For us, this will be the first time we can tell our story for real. No one is asking us to show anything, or telling us what we should do. We can do what we want and we're going to say something!"
