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I.aM.mE (which stands for inspire, motivate, and energize) is an American
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
dance crew The history of hip-hop dances encompasses the people and events since the late 19 60s that have contributed to the development of early hip-hop dance styles, such as uprock, b-boying, breaking, locking (dance), locking, Robot (dance), roboting, ...
from
Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. The group rose to prominence after being crowned champions in the sixth season of '' America's Best Dance Crew''. The three founding members, Phillip Chbeeb, Di Moon Zhang and Brandon Harrell, formed I.aM.mE after Marvelous Motion Crew disbanded. Three additional members, Chachi Gonzales, Emilio Dosal, and Džajna "jaja" Vaňková, joined later after an audition. The new and present roster of I.aM.mE includes members of dance crews who have competed in past seasons of ''ABDC'', Tamara "Tam" Rapp (from 8 Flavahz, season 7), Jean "B-Boy Bebo" Lloret (from Phunk Phenomenon, season 6), Scarlett Nabil (from Funkdation, season 7), and sole newcomer to the show, Liza Riabinina.


Before ''ABDC''

Before coming together to form I.aM.mE, the members had all achieved considerable success by themselves. Di "Moon" Zhang posted many of hi
tutting
videos onto
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
before he met Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb and created Marvelous Motion Crew, which also included Brandon "747" Harrell. As the main choreographers, they led the team to much success, winning first place at "The Show", a Dallas competition hosted by JabbaWockeeZ, the
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
–based winners of ''ABDCs first season. Taking the crew to new levels, Marvelous Motion traveled to California on their first major competition, receiving third place at "World of Dance: Pomona" under the direction of Moon. However, the crew was unable to audition for the fourth and fifth seasons of ''ABDC,'' as Pacman was still under contract with the fifth season of '' So You Think You Can Dance''. After the crew disbanded in late 2010, Pacman, Moon, and 747 held an audition, creating a brand new crew with three new members in preparation for '' ABDC: Season of the Superstars''.


ABDC Season 6

I.aM.mE was declared the champions of '' ABDC: Season of the Superstars'' on June 5, 2011. They became the first mixed gender crew and also the first group from the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
to win, ending the Western dominance of previous ABDC seasons.


Weekly Summaries


Week 1: Lil Wayne Challenge

I.aM.mE kicked off the season, performing to a mastermix of Lil Wayne's " Right Above It". Their performances pleased the crowd, and garnered good comments from the judges. D-Trix called them "clever" and that they "took tutting to the next level": the crew added some Rubik's-cube shapes and brought something new to ''ABDC''. Lil Mama liked how the crew showed illusions and visual effects but mixed it with solid dance choreography.
JC Chasez Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez (; born August 8, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He started his career as a singer, actor, and dancer on '' The All-New Mickey Mouse Club'' before rising to prominence as a ...
liked their style and was entertained, but wanted the crew to expand and dance to other parts of stage, instead of just the center.


Week 3: Black Eyed Peas Challenge

Their challenge in the third week was to create a futuristic machine, while performing to a mastermix of the Black Eyed Peas' song "Meet Me Halfway". They achieved this three times in their routine, notably at the end, when the whole crew came together to form a robot. The judges were pleased, but JC still was not satisfied with how they used the stage, and asked them to spread out more. Lil Mama however, said that they were the most improved and D-Trix said they executed their challenge "greatly".


Week 4: Katy Perry Challenge

In the fourth week, they received the Katy Perry song "Peacock" with the challenge to fan out like a peacock onstage. Although some of the members had never seen a peacock, and they had difficulty using the whole stage, the crew performed admirably, crafting a routine which satisfied all three of the judges, D-Trix stating how their dancing was authentic and they covered the entire stage, and JC saying he was satisfied with their use of the entire stage.


Week 5: Rihanna Challenge

In the fifth week all the crews were given the challenge of incorporating the dance style known as
Dance Hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term ap ...
, while performing to songs by the artist
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
. I.aM.mE. received the Rihanna song "S&M", and the dance move known as "The Spiderman". The crew performed a routine which met the challenge and highlighted member Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales as a major character. The judges called the routine "exceptional" and "absolutely brilliant".


Week 6: Justin Bieber Challenge

In week 6, all five remaining crews were given a challenge by
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
, based from his documentary movie, ''Never Say Never''. I.aM.mE was given a challenge to perform Usher's famous glide in the routine to the mastermix of " Somebody to Love". The crew performed with a chilling opening, featured the moonwalk, and ended with Brandon "747" Harrell jumping down after gliding and giving a rose to Lil Mama while the rest of the crew made a big heart with their arms. Lil Mama was still surprised, but she liked how the routine worked. D-Trix said that he loved the performance, just like the last week and told the crew that they were brilliant entertainers. JC still commented on "How I.aM.mE worked the routine on the middle, again", but he liked how I.aM.mE made the opening cold and chilling.


Week 7: Nicki Minaj Challenge

All top four crews blasted the seventh week with a routine performed with
Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...
's challenge, based on her alter-egos. Nicki Minaj, who delivered the challenge to the crews herself, gave I.aM.mE the challenge to incorporate childhood games based on Nicki's alter-ego, Cookie, into their dance. After working through cultural differences in childhood games, I.aM.mE decided to incorporate similar games that many people would know. Backstage, Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb said that he was having dehydration before, during, and after the performance because of the hard-training routine and fatigue. The performance featured many games, such as Limbo, Jump Rope, Whack-a-Mole, Swing Sets, Hopscotch, and Leapfrog. The routine ended as 747, Pacman, and Millie created a Swing Set, with Chachi as a "girl on a swing" held by Moon and Jaja before she jumped off. They received a wild reaction from the crowd. The judges also gave positive reactions. JC told the crew that they performed a risky routine, but cleanly finished it, although he disliked it when he saw I.aM.mE look around the stage and check positions with others. D-Trix claimed that he couldn't find any bad moments on the routine, and loved how much childhood games were involved in the routine. Lil Mama liked how the crew stepped up and loved how the crew had their own moments and identity in the competition. Backstage after the performance, Jaja, Chachi, 747, and Millie talked about their success, that they made it to top three. Jaja's father had never expected that they could have made it to top five, but the crew proved that he was wrong.


Week 8: Kanye West Challenge and Last Chance Challenge

As three crews were still standing in the championships, I.aM.mE faced their first time in the bottom two and had to face off against Phunk Phenomenon for a spot in the finals: ICONic Boyz had proceeded to the finale already. The crews were given a task to perform with Kanye West's mastermixes and show their own versatility to perform three different classic dance styles. The challenge was handed out by fifth season's winner, Poreotix. Before the performance videos, the crew revealed that they had no problems performing two out of the three different styles (Boogaloo and Isolations) and only had problems performing the Dougie. Moon said that he really wanted to have a good performance that week because he wanted his parents to come to the finale and watch him perform live for the first time. He also said that he loved the crew that he created and danced with, and he stated that he believed they could make it to the finale. The crowd did give them a standing ovation and chanted, "I.aM.mE, I.aM.mE!", leaving the judges with no criticism. JC said that the crowd's response weren't wrong and they deserved it. He also told the crew that they were very intelligent and unique and that they created new pictures that were unexpected and exciting. D-Trix was left speechless and said that the crew had "brain-banged" him. He complimented the crew on performing as themselves and that the crew had just "murdered" the "Isos (Isolation)" part. Lil Mama agreed with both judges that I.aM.mE were inspiring as dancers with unique styles. She noted that whatever happened, they would be champions. Phunk Phenomenon was spirited and had wowed the judges, but I.aM.mE rose to the top two to battle against ICONic Boyz for the title of America's Best Dance Crew. After the mid-show elimination, they then had to perform their Last Chance Challenge to ask viewers to keep voting them to be winner of ''ABDC.'' For their final performance before voting lines opened, the crew worked with District 78 to create their own performance. They created their own original songs, wardrobe, and performance, resulting in the "Ill-Emental" performance which showed each of the members' skills and talents, as represented by their own elements: Emilio as Earth, Chachi as Fire, Jaja as Electricity, 747 as Wind, Moon as Machine, and Pacman as Water. The performance ended with the crew creating with their bodies the I-M-E letters. They received a standing ovation from the audience and the judges.


Week 9: Battle of Final Two/The Ultimate Battle

I.aM.mE and ICONic Boyz, as the top two crews at the ninth week, were given the task to extend the choreography from one of their previous performances picked by judges and to perform it, before the ultimate battle that consisted of three rounds. The crew performed to an extended performance of "S&M" and were praised by the judges. JC noted again that they were unique. Lil Mama was excited as Chachi turned back into Spider-Girl and showed a new way to "knock" her enemies. D-Trix said that the crew was getting better and better. At the end, both crews faced off in a three-round dance battle with music provided by
Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ in 1994. At the age ...
. At the end both crews showed their own original sign: ICONic Boyz with the thumb and I.aM.mE with the letters ''I, M,'' and ''E.''


Week 10: The Finale

The finale opened with I.aM.mE and ICONic Boyz performing in a dance collaboration to " Raise Your Glass" by
Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...
. After the performance, '' America's Best Dance Crew'' champions JabbaWockeeZ (from season 1), Super Cr3w (season 2), Quest Crew (season 3), We Are Heroes (season 4), and Poreotix (season 5) returned to the stage to perform for the season finale. That same night, I.aM.mE performed a routine to " Rocketeer" by
Far East Movement Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American Hip hop music, hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles, composed of Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Splif, Jon Street, Ray Ro, DJ Virman, and Jerm Beats. They signed with Martin Kierszenba ...
for one moment before the announcement. The performance featured some flips and examples of choreography that were already shown on past episodes, but largely featured
popping Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance), boogaloo cultural movement in Oakland, California. As boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as "robottin'" in Richmond, California; strutting movements in San Francis ...
. The performance ended with Emilio performing a backflip, Moon and 747 showing their thumbs, while the music ended with the audio "One small step for I.aM.mE, one giant leap for ''ABDC.''" After 50 million votes were cast, I.aM.mE was declared as the winner of '' America's Best Dance Crew'' for season 6. The crew performed their victory dance to " Written in the Stars" by Tinie Tempah.


ABDC Season 8

I.aM.mE joined the competing teams for ABDC Season 8, '' America’s Best Dance Crew All-Stars: Road to the VMAs'', in 2015. This season features the winners of past 7 seasons, except Poreotix, who won in season 5 and JabbaWockeeZ, who won season 1. Both female members from I.aM.mE's appearance in season 6, Džajna "Jaja" Vaňková and Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales, did not participate in season 8. Jaja is under contract with '' So You Think You Can Dance'' for its 12th season, and Chachi decided to focus on her solo projects, thus missing I.aM.mE's rehearsals. This led to speculations that the I.aM.mE members decided to eject her from the group, as they also stopped tagging her in social media but still tagged Jaja. I.aM.Me ended up in the Bottom 2 of episode 4, together with Quest Crew, who ultimately won the competition I.aM.mE finished in fourth place of Season 8.


Appearances


Television

* Pacman has auditioned in seasons 3, 4 and 5 of '' So You Think You Can Dance''. He got to perform in the finale of season 4 as a guest performer. After auditioning again in season 5, he made it to the finals, where he was eliminated in the Top 12 of the season. Emilio auditioned in season 10, and after making it into the finals, he withdrew due to an injury. He then auditioned for season 11 and made the Top 20, where he was eliminated in the Top 10 of the season. Jaja auditioned for season 11 and season 12, and made the latter's Top 4. * Pacman later went on to choreograph for SYTYCD, choreographing Zack and Fik-Shun's routine in Season 11 and the Top 20 Street Routine with Christopher Scott in Season 12. * Chachi was one of the backup dancers for the Tribute to Britney Spears in the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. * Emilio and 747 performed as backup dancers for LMFAO's performance of " Party Rock Anthem" and " Sexy and I Know It" on the American Music Awards 2011. * I.aM.mE performed at MTV's NYE in NYC 2012. The crew danced to " Party Rock Anthem" by
LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off) was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu (rapper), Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu ...
, " We Found Love" by
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
, " Beautiful People" by
Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...
, " Give Me Everything" by
Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...
and Pitbull, and " Till The World Ends" by
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
. * I.aM.mE performed in a '' Shake It Up'' episode on June 3, 2012.


Miscellaneous work

* They performed at hip-hop dance charity showcase, Ken-Ya Dance, in April 2012 with other notable crews like Instant Noodles. * The crew taught workshops at the Urban Dance Camp in southern Germany in 2011 and 2012, and performed at the corresponding Urban Dance Showcase both years. * They performed at the International Secret Agents 2011 in Seattle, San Francisco, and at the Los Angeles Festival. (Jaja did not perform with the crew in Seattle. Chachi and Moon did not perform with the crew in San Francisco. Pacman did not perform with the crew in Los Angeles.) * They performed at the Kinematix I.aM. PHUNK'tion event at
Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...
in Boston on November 4, 2011. * They visited the Philippines in April 2012 for a series of events. They were judges for a local dance contest, Dance Off 2012: The Grand Finals, and they performed two mall shows as part of the Brain Bang Mall Show. Each member also taught workshops for the Brainstorm Workshop 2012. A meet and greet event also took place. * They made a guest appearance on the ninth episode of '' The LXD: Rise of the Drifts''.


Film

* Pacman made an appearance in the film '' Step Up 4''. * Pacman, Emilio and Jaja appeared in '' Step Up 5''. * Chachi took the lead role in the 2014 film ''The Legend of Dark Horse County'', directed by Shawn Welling, creator of the ''AXI'' series on YouTube which they regularly star in. * Chachi made an appearance in East Los High.


YouTube/music videos

* Pacman and Moon made a cameo for
Nigahiga Ryan Higa (born June 6, 1990), also known as nigahiga ( ), is an American internet personality. Best known for his comedy videos on YouTube, Higa began making YouTube videos in 2006 and was one of the most popular creators on the platform in i ...
(Ryan Higa), a popular videomaker on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. * Each member of the crew stars in Welling Films' ''AXI'' (''Avengers of eXtreme Illusions''). * Moon made an appearance in
LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off) was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu (rapper), Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu ...
's video for " Sorry for Party Rocking". * Pacman and 747 made an appearance on D-Trix's video "20 Michael Jackson Moves". * Pacman, Jaja, Moon, Millie and 747 made an appearance in Nigahiga's "Clenching My Booty" music video. * Jaja made an appearance on D-Trix's "20 Twerks" video. * Pacman appeared in the video for
Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
's hit song " Don't". * Pacman appeared in
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's music video for "
Shake It Off "Shake It Off" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the lead single from her fifth studio album, '' 1989'' (2014). She wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. Inspired by the media scrutiny on Swif ...
". * Chachi appeared in Meghan Trainor's "Lips Are Movin." * Pacman (and sometimes Moon) makes lots of appearances in D-Trix's videos (theDOMINICshow) including "Now Add A Dancer" 1-4 and "How Dancers Do College."


References


External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:I.Am.Me America's Best Dance Crew winners American hip-hop dance groups