Massive Monkees

Founded in the mid-'90s, the Massive Monkees have 25 active members including former Binary Star rapper One Be Lo, who performs as the MC at their shows. The crew was created through the merger of the Massive Crew and the Universal Style Monkees. Massive Monkees' style is viewed as that of fundamental B-boys/B-girls.[2] Additionally, Massive Monkees performs at high schools to diffuse the notion that hip-hop and gangs go hand-in-hand.[3]

Members of the crew have performed with and/or choreographed performances for artists such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, De La Soul, Nas, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Jurassic 5, Atmosphere, Tyrese, Missy Elliott, Immortal Technique, Beyoncé, Macklemore and Alicia Keys. Members of Massive Monkees have been featured on MTV's Made, in a Kenneth Cole print advertising spread, in a promotional video for Xbox HD DVD, Showtime at the Apollo and KUBE93’s birthday party with Missy Elliott and Tyrese. The Massive Monkees were on the Vans Warped Tour,[4] did an Xbox commercial,[5] and helped with philanthropic efforts in Cambodia.[6] Certain members of the Massive Monkees were featured in 5 viral videos produced by Caid Productions for the new "Coosh" headphones a subdivision of the disposable lighter and razor giant Bic.[7] On April 26 of 2004, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels proclaimed this day the official Massive Monkees holiday in Seattle.[8] In 2007 they won the Mayor's Arts Award, presented by Greg Nickels.[9]

Some members of the Massive Monkees were also a part of the Seattle SuperSonics NBA team's "Boom Squad". The Boom Squad performed at the SuperSonics home games until the team moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. They were recognized as top-notch NBA performers when they were invited to perform at the 2005 All-Star Game in Denver's Pepsi Center. Members of the crew worked on the 2008 documentary/instructional video titled The Way of the B-boy. They have also produced highlight DVDs called The 2-Oh-6 Step (Part 1 and 2), which have been sold in international markets. On April 10, 2013, Jay Park, member of associated Seattle-based b-boy crew, Art of Movement, released the music video for his single, "Joah", which features a short dance break at Massive Monkees Studio: The Beacon.[10]

The Massive Monkees have competed in both national and international competitions. Their first major B-boy title was won at the 2000 B-boy Summit, when members Juseboogy and Twixx took the 2-man title. Since then they have won dozens of other awards including first place in the 4-on-4 category at the 2004 World B-Boy Championships[11] that took place at London’s Wembley Arena.[12] One of their best known battles is when they battled the Circle of Fire at the Showbox 2003 in a boxing ring.[2] In 2009, they competed on the reality dance competition America's Best Dance Crew. They placed third in the competition after the runner-up Afroboriké and the winners We Are Heroes, and before that, in 2007 crew member TWIXX was selected to compete in the premier 1 on 1 b-boy battle, Red Bull BC-One. Recently, Massive Monkees won the international competition in the crew battle R16 Korea 2012.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Massive Monkees.

• Massive Monkees - Official Website
• Breakdancing Lessons: Windmills 3SF - Application to learn Windmills by World-Class B-Boy Jeromeskee (Massive Monkees / Rock Steady)
• Massive Monkees performing live
• Seattle Times article
• Seattle Pi article