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Well firstly my real name is Joella Wright and i'm 28 years of age..... I'm married to a wonderful man called Doug aka Swerv1 and we have a beautiful son called Jeremiah who is 5 and I also have step twins Khan and Jahnelle who are 16. I've been part of the Hip Hop scene for about 5 years now. I started out as an mcee for a Christian crew called Strange Tongues. Shortly after I left the crew my husband Swerv who was my boyfriend at the time introduced me to the Wellington underground Hip Hop scene. He took me to a few gigs and exposed me to a scene that I never knew existed. I became intrigued and wanted to know more about it so I continued going to events with Swerv and I started getting into dancing.
A few months after I had my son Jeremiah I decided I really wanted to get into bgirling so I started practising and Swerv started teaching me the basics and from there I progressed and began to learn more about the history of hip hop and what it was about. I had no idea that hip hop was a culture.
I knew about djing, mceeing, graff and breaking but I didn't realise they were all part of the hip hop culture. I started trying to soak up as much knowledge as I could by watching videos and asking Swerv thousands of questions. He's been in the scene now for almost 20 years and has taught me alot.
As time went by Swerv and I formed our crew Time Bandits, this was in early 99, since then our crew has been involved in many of the Hip Hop events and have continued to maintain the visions and goals of our crew which is basically keeping the culture of hip hop alive and sharing our knowledge and skills with young people coming up in the scene.
As a bgirl and a female in the Hip Hop scene, one of my goals is to encourage other females not to be afraid to get out and represent. I believe that there are so many girls with potential and one of my goals is to help them find that potential and ability. I've run free workshops in which I teach young girls wanting to get into bgirling the basic foundations of the dance and also a bit of history on the culture of Hip Hop. I believe this is important coz it gives them a better understanding and appreciation for what they are doing. Having the knowledge has definitely been something that has helped me to appreciate and love Hip Hop more and I think that that's an important thing. I don't believe that you can love something if you do not know anything about it.
As far as being a Christian goes, it hasn't always been easy and there will always be people who will try to bring you down but I just look to God in those situations and thank him for his grace on me..... Like anyone else, I make mistakes, I have a big mouth a lot of the time and it can get me into trouble alot but I love the Lord with all my heart, there's no question about that. Shortly my husband swerv and I are going to be starting up a hip hop ministry at our church "The Center" and this ministry will basically be a way that we can outreach to young people by sharing the love of God with them through Hip hop.
Just recently my husband and I went through some hard times with people whom we thought were closest to us but we both thank God now because the particular situation has really strengthened us both not only as people but in our walks with God. We both came to realise that we haven't exactly been the greatest examples to the people closest to us and so it really gave us an opportunity to reflect on our lives not only as individuals but together and in the last month or so.... it's been a real time of reflection but a time of great Joy. During this time, we've seen an abundance of people close to us, coming to know Jesus and it feels like what we went through, lifted a huge burden from our shoulders. In the last month.... I have seen my cousin Taipare come to know Jesus as well as our good friend Benson, a.k.a Rumble B from our crew Time Bandits..... not only that, Bgirl Define gave her heart to the Lord on her recent trip here to New Zealand and I believe that God has awesome plans for her life. My brother Dallas also came to Jesus just last weekend and the weekend before that, 2 of my cousins came to the Lord also and God has really made it clear to us now that he has a plan and a will for us to win souls for him. At church recently, we were both given a word of prophesy from God... and that word was that we both had to step out of our comfort zones and make ourselves available to God because he has lots in store for us in 2004! So we are both very excited about what God is gonna do in this year. Another thing that God has really impressed on our hearts is to be DREAMERS and to dream big! My husband was recently called a "dreamer" by someone and shortly after that, our Pastor spoke about it at church..... he told us that God loves it when people dream big because people who have dreams and chase them, succeed in life. There are 2 types of dreamers, there are those who dream but sit on their butts and do nothing about it and there are the dreamers who dream and chase those dreams and become successful in life. So this is a word of encouragement to anyone out there who dreams and gets put down for it. Never give up on your dreams and always dream big because no dream is too big for God, God is not limited and through him, all things are possible.
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I know that it is because of dreams that my husband and I are where we are today and I truly believe that we have a bright future ahead of us because we are dreamers. We are able to provide for our family and give them a good life and we want for nothing because God provides all our needs from day to day. So "DREAM BIG" and don't let what anyone else says get in your way of chasing your dreams!! There will always be people in life who try to put you down or stop you from acheiving your goals but don't let those people affect you or what you want to do in life because while they are stuck in the same place, you will continue to move forward and be successful in life.
We both love our church, I am part of the worship band and am enjoying it tremendously. My husband and stepson are going to be getting involved with the mens ministry on thursday nights. Both Khan and Jahnelle are part of the youth group and Jahnelle is also an RDG (Radical disciple of God) leader. Jeremiah is part of Rockstars kids ministry and he loves that as well!
I believe that God has given me the talents that I have whether they be in Hip hop or outside Hip Hop so I use those talents to glorify him and only him... Bgirling is one of the things I like to glorify him with. I've often been told by people that Hip Hop and Christianity don't mix but I don't believe this to be true coz I know that at the end of the day I represent Hip Hop but at the same time I represent God. Hip hop has been an awesome tool for helping me to reach other people and I'm using what God has given me.
Being a bgirl has become a way of life for me and has become something that I'm very passionate about. To me being a bgirl isn't just about having the skills, it's about having the right mentality also, if you don't have that then you are lacking what it really means to be a bgirl, it's not just about being able to pull off all the dope moves, it's way deeper than that..... it's hard to explain that feeling but if you're a bgirl or bboy and you get to that place, you'll know what I'm talking about.
I love hip hop and I know that when I'm older I'll be able to look back and be happy with the contribution I made in helping to keep hip hop alive.... we all play our part in some way and I believe that in many ways I've played my part! Mad shoutouts to all the females who are representing New Zealand hip hop.... whether you're one who participates in the elements or one who supports New Zealand hip hop, you're all playing your part in keeping Aotearoa Hip hop alive.... mad shout outs to Jillski, spexone, P-Lee, Phaze, Angel Allstars, Praiz, Phem one, Misfit, Ladi 6, Aria, Temple Jones, Piper, Diva, Curly Rock, Sheeq, Marley and any other females that are out there representing..... if I've missed you out, please dont be upset, there are too many to remember but mad love to all of you!!
I'd also like to make shoutout to some of the bgirls I've come to know from overseas.....each of them are dope and are definitely out there making noise for all the bgirls worldwide...... Mad love to Asia 1, Abgirl, Lisa, Taija, Wendee, Jess Effecks, Jules Citrus, Define, Candy and any other girls that I've missed.... y'all are an inspiration to me also!!
peace and God bless
TWEEK
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