Interview: Bboy & Dj Forrest Getemgump (Seven Gems/Illstyle Rockers)

Forrest Getemgump is a legendary bboy, DJ, and master of the breaks, with a depth of knowledge and experience backed by his endless crates of vinyl history. Whether manning the decks at Battle of the Year, traveling the world with various dance companies, or laying four on the floor at the MPC, Forrest is at home in Hip-Hop.

We’re honored to catch up with Forrest to talk about his history, battle Djing, breakin’ in the Olympics, and much more…

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Who is Forrest Getemgump? 

In the spirit of how Rammellzee said it, I’m just your average Joe. I’m a b-boy, DJ, record collector and marathon runner.

How did you choose your name? 

Originally my name was Forrest Fresh. That name was given to me by my late friend and mentor DJ Swell. Later on when I linked up with the Rocksteady Crew, Crazy Legs was the first to call me Forrest Gump. Being that my first name is Forrest, after the movie came out it was a wrap. The “Get’em” comes from getting into battles at the club. They would say “Get’em Gump” and it stuck. I just took the apostrophe out and put the “Get’em” and the “Gump” together without spaces.

Were you a Bboy or a DJ first? 

B-boy first and DJ close second.

When did you start to break? 

I started breaking in 1982 going into 1983. I had heard about breaking the year before from a classmate named Larese Moses. She described as running around on the floor and spinning on your back but couldn’t envision what it was. The first time I saw it was in Robinswood Jr. A kid named Jason Rios was doing some footwork and heard one my classmates named John Wynn say “look at him break.” Next thing you know, I saw a kid named Joe Torres (RIP) come out immediately after and do footwork to a backspin. When I got home from school I started that night.

When did you start to DJ, and what was your music of choice?  

Unofficially in 1983 and Officially in 1986. In 1983 I bought a microphone mixer from Radio Shack. I would sneak and hook up my mother’s turntable and my uncle’s turntable, put two records on and try to figure out what the hell I was doing. I even recorded it externally some times. My cousin Eddie would gas me up and but the mixing was a hot mess when you go back and listen.

In 1985, DJ Swell along with his brother Shi and sister Melissa step into high school. Swell was from Rockaway Queens. He was rolling with Divine Sounds and was asked by Rammelzee and Shockdell to be their DJ. After school, we would go to his house and I would watch him cut up “Take Me to the Mardi Gras,” “Long Red,” and “Funky President.” That is all it took to sell me on DJing. On my 16^th birthday, I bought my first set of Technic belt drive turntables LOL.

What was the most memorable battle you ever played for (event and/or individual battle rounds)? 

Battle of the Year 2007, at the time the biggest B-boy event in the world. Not sure if it’s still that way after the event moved from Germany to France. Spinning the finals and to have that much attendance was crazy. Battle of the Boroughs in the Bronx was fun as well. I got to spin a heated battle between Breaks Kru and Incredible Breakers. I remember Chino from the New York City Breakers looking directly at me up in the DJ Booth and saying “Nothing but Raw Breakbeats!” My crew mate won the individual battle that day as well.

What is your process for selecting music when you’re going to play for a battle event?

I try to pick music that will draw a reaction but I don’t just play any old thing. I make sure I have the classics with me. The classics are like a default setting. When all else fails, at least you have those.

I look for rare breaks highly percussive in nature. I also look for songs with a groove. As a B-boy, I use myself as a measuring stick and ask myself “would I dance to this?” I always try to go break heavy just because breaks are part of the dance’s identity.

In recent years, I’d say in the 2000s going forward, some DJs have downplayed the role of breaks. Yeah, it is ok to let some records breathe on the turntables but this is breaking and the music should go along with it. Part of the DJ’s job is to make the battles hype with known records that will do that but also introduce new records in the battles.

My selection process starts with me. I believe the best type of DJ to play for B-boys is a DJ who is actually a b-boy. When you are digging for music, you know the type of sound that would make you go off. Breaks are a niche thing so you need that niche DJ to do it properly.

Over the years people just thought they could just jump in and erase the face of the breaks. They tried to put it out there that the breaks aren’t important anymore.

The thing is that doing it the traditional way isn’t easy. You need to buy records and you need to go diggin’. Things are easy to get digitally now, but in terms of authenticity, I got to rock with the doubles.

The first thing I ask myself if I find a drum break: Is that something I would break to? If it is, I pick it up. If it doesn’t, I might still buy it just for break’s sake but I might not ever pack it in the bag going to an event or battle. You also have grooves. If that music has the particular groove that makes you want to break, then I pick it up.

Some records have a right to  breath. For example, you have a record with a banging break but it leads into a wack part of the song then you cut off the break. A song like “Been Had” by Sapo you can let the entire song play.

It is just about trusting your ear. Unfortunately, not every DJ has the innate ability when it comes to breaking, because they don’t break.

It is good to get feedback from other dancers. However, some of the false narratives people put out that the breaks aren’t important are crazy when the break is the very root of the dance.

I’m not saying that one DJ is the end all for everything breaks, but If I go to an event and I know people like Jazzy Jay, Lean Rock, DJ Fly Guy, Looie Loo, P-Brothers are playing then I know I am definitely going to hit the floor. I just try to the best of my ability to represent the dance and the music and properly and the best that I can.

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We see Breaking coming to the Olympics next year in Paris. How do you feel about that?  

Mixed bag. I think the integrity is going to be sacrificed as far as the music and certain components of breaking not being allowed. I think it is great breaking made it this far down the road. Michael Holman and the New York City Breakers had an early vision of this happening, especially with Chino calling out the 1984 Olympic Gymnastic Team to a floor competition.

I feel like Breaking should be under its own banner and independent. Breaking should not have to be represented by any organization that doesn’t break. In other words, we should be calling the shots. Breaking shouldn’t be up under a ballroom dance organization. Breaking should be standing on its own two. All the other sports are self-represented.

This brings me to my next point. How much of a sport is breaking? I consider it a dance. Yes, there are athletic and physically demanding moves but at the end of the day, how is top rock and footwork going to be judged? You leave those out then you really don’t have breaking.

It will bring great awareness to the dance and I’m sure dance studios and suburban kids are going to be more involved after the Olympics. I just hope we don’t over-commercialize again like we did in the 80s. Attendance is already down at many of these once-upon-a-time popular events.

We’ve seen the different types of structure and scoring systems for battles. We’ve also seen guidance issued by World Dance Sport Federation on music and the role of the DJ at the events. As a seasoned battle DJ over several decades, what guidance would you give to the organizers on how music should be conducted? For example, changing songs for each round, scratching, juggling, etc.

Give each dancer the same song per round before you switch the record. This way, you give the dancer a fair chance to rock each song. You don’t want to play a hype record for one dancer and then play one that is less hype for the other.

Scratching is OK. Just don’t dominate the battle with it. Scratch to add some flavor on extending the break. Also a scratch can send out a fair warning that you are about to switch the record up.

Remember some breakers can actually dance and some are just going through the motions pretending they can dance. You can’t fake soul, so whatever the case just make sure the DJ is on point to bring the best out of the dancers.

The main thing is keep the beat going. Keep the songs in key as much as possible. You don’t want to come off a song that has everyone hype in a battle and switch it up to a song in mid-flight that is going throw that off.  As well, DJing for a breaking competition is a not a DMC competition.

If you had to give five rules to battle DJing, what would they be?

1. Play heat from start to finish.

2. Make sure to keep it on beat. The beat is more important than scratching.

3. Give the dancers equal music. If you are switching the music every round make sure to play the same beat or break for both go downs of that round.

4. Try to make the the transition to a new song seamless. Try to match the tempo and key as much as possible when switching out a song for a new round. Not all B-boys can truly dance, so if they don’t hit on beat then that is on them.

5. Have fun and be into the battle.

What would you say is the most important thing for a battle DJ to remember?

Come prepared. Be locked and loaded with beats. Have fun with it. Enjoy playing the music and focus. Take the job seriously. Stay on the job by continuing to explore and find new music.

When did you start producing? What kind of music were you making?

I bought my first MPC in the mid 90s. I didn’t have much guidance in using it so I sat it aside. At the time, I would find different break beats and ask some of the my producer friends to use them and make a track for me. 

Initially, I wanted all of my productions to be break-focused. I ended up getting some bootleg production software when I was down in Australia back in 2000 so I started teaching myself. Later on, Large Professor and J-Zone gave me some of my first real instruction on the MPC and I’ve been laying it down since then. I’m still getting my feet wet with it and still learning.

You just dropped new house music. Tell us about that.

Beside breaks and hip-hop I just like music. I’ve always liked house music since the late 80s. I was trying to produce that on the MPC as well but didn’t know the hardware well enough.

Again, when I decided to get serious, Large Pro gave me first human tutorial on using the hardware. He showed me how to lay down drums, separate on the pad and snatch samples. Over the pandemic, I decided to work on some house tracks. I felt they were good enough to release so I’ve put 4 of them out so far.

I was asked to DJ in Detroit at Motor City Wine one time for the soul and conga party. I went up there with strictly breaks and 45s. The people liked it and I was invited back. The second time I went, I brought the breaks but packed a little house music because we were playing on Bozak Rotary mixer. Because of the way the equipment was set up, it was difficult to do the breaks so I started playing some disco and house. I happened to look up and the dance was packed and people were just grooving.

I decided to start playing house in my sets if there weren’t any breakers in the house. That event spoiled me because nothing is more fun that moving a packed dance floor. Besides that, in addition to breaks and samples, I always bought house. I was a regular at Vinyl Mania in NYC. I frequented Vinyl Mania, Sonic Groove Records which was right across the street. Shout out to Heather Heart, Downtown Records on W. 25th, Beat Street Records and so forth. I would also mail order records from 12″ Dance Records In DC.

You’ve been doing some dope events in Ohio and New York. Where can people come see you play?  

I don’t have a residency anywhere in Ohio yet but I’m working on it. I play out of town much more than where I live. Locally, people are doing their own thing and I get invited out every blue moon to spin. I’m going to have to put my own night together to show people how I can really throw down. My and friend Darrell Stout did have a roller skating happening during the summer. We started doing that with our friend Andre Burton.

We did it for 2 years in a row but this year they are moving on to themes so we are only playing 2 of those this year. I am going to start a party called “Frequency” but I’m taking my time with it. I might start out quarterly. The demographics can be challenging here. This is the line dance capital of the world just to show you what I am up against LOL.

Finally, what advice to you have for the bboys and bgirls around the world?

Don’t lose yourself in the middle of thriving for commercial success. Learn the ins and outs of your craft. Be the best you can be. Keep the integrity and the opportunities will line up.

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Many thanks to Forrest for taking the time for this interview. Make sure to follow the man himself on his website, Instagram, Facebook, Bandcamp, Mixcloud, Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and everywhere else!