This teaches you a lot of those parameters. You can perform within your contained moment. And you have a very contained moment of self-expression. But this was like you have to show out with style. And I think organized sports obviously have their own level of competitiveness, their own benefits. But also the the level of competitiveness that you learn at a young age where you're putting yourself on the line a bit different from organized sports. And it was just one of the some of the best times of my life because obviously the bonding and friendship that's formed through that.
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And we spent a summer thus learning how to dance. And then we just we identified a linoleum floor in my friend's basement in Maplewood, shoutout Chris and also Mike Fiesta that we just hit it there every night. Rich And then they also had like a really amazing battle battle with a style elements versus Ken Swift and and Rock Steady crew. And also, you get to see like a wide swath of different B boy styles, kind of one of those tapes just got around. Rock City crew at the time really holding it down. And that was you know easy rock in AsiaOne. Rich They'd also gotten their hands on a B boy classic underground video called B Boy Summit 97. They'd seen some videos they had specifically seen breaking the movie, classic with Turbo and Ozone. So I basically had a eating disorder and then my friends were like, hey, Rich, we're gonna start this breakdancing thing. And then I basically existed on jello and crackers here. But I ran three and half miles every night and then I every night. And, you know, I kind of is very unhealthy at the time. And I lost 40 pounds over the course of a summer, so I started junior year with a new body, essentially feeling very different, looking very different. I started this summer at about 190, 5'6" 5'7". And then when I was a sophomore in high school, shoutout to Seton Hall Prep in West Orange Jersey, I decided that I wanted to change my life. I was a little bit overweight growing up. Rich A little bit a little bit of background. Jon How did you get into that? How did you just decide that you were gonna dance? Jon You were, you know, on top of being, as you describe a nerd, you you're also a B boy. You could be from, you know, place A or place B, but you'll see like, you know, places X, Y, Z or people from X, Y, Z, no matter where you are. You get to see a lot of different types of people from all walks of life. So you and I know you can attest to that. And, you know, just kind of dabbled in all the various communities and neighborhoods and what Jersey is, if not anything, it's very diverse. And, yes, spending my time really doing that stuff, being kind of a nerd. I spent a lot of time at Blockbuster Video at South Orange Avenue. I grew up having like a lot of great times. I like I feel like I've been talking all day, but now all of a sudden, I've forgotten how to talk. I had a very diverse and and enriching experience as a kid or I grew up. Yeah, until after graduate school or like right before grabs graduate school was New Jersey. Rich Well, first of all, shout out to Jersey. But what was Jersey like for you? How did it treat you? Jon So, you know, grew up in Jersey, went to school there for the most part. But, you know, moved at a young age to Jersey. You know, Jersey Boys, I mean, for the most part, people would say that I am a Jersey boy. Jon So I want to get right into it, rich, because we have something in common that I don't really find a lot working in the cities that you grew up in New Jersey. All the cool people are sticking around doing podcasting, i.e. It's really cool to see people kind of, you know, everyone's starting to leave, but there's a lot of cool people here. I appreciate you coming through to the humble Viacom abode. Rich, thank you so much for taking the time tonight. And he is also the creator and host of First Generation Burden the podcast. Is represented by the creative studio here in New York Sunday afternoon. Jon I'm really excited to welcome my guest, Rich Tu the V.P.