Apolgy from T.I.P. Crew
Hello, it's Hwang Dae Gyun (Virus). First off, I would like to apologize for the commotion we have caused in the society. We are especially sorry to all our fans who have supported T.I.P crew all this time. Fellow Bboys, students, and admirable school authorities (?) and other associates, we are sorry.
The members associated with the incident are Random, Differ, and I (Virus). Other members have already quit or are participating in other crews. People have been speculating and assuming that I was going to hand over my leader position. To clear things up, I have not been proven innocent. I'm not a professional in that area either. And none of the crew members have said they received the leadership position from me.
Because of this incident, T.I.P and I have lost our dignity, sponsors, money, respect, and jobs we have been working for for 15 years. And the saddest part is that we no longer can use our studio. A long time ago T.I.P practiced in the streets, public transit stations, and on university campuses. Back then we vowed that we would provide a free practice studio if we ever got one. And for those of you who know, we have kept that promise. But it seems I can't keep that promise for now. I am deeply sorry.
Now I'll talk about myself. I personally want to hide it but.. 31 Years ago, 20 months after I was born, My father passed away in a Car accident. Since then we have been in deep debt and my mother alone carried the burden, along with my brother and I, and left our home to GuhYung district. We were always hassled by loan sharks and kept moving after that. Because of that, I went to elementary in three different places. But there was one talent I had. It was dance. Since I was young, I had been athletic, and felt that breaking was very easy. I could see a move and pretty much copy it.
Eventually dance became a way for me to come over depression, and became all of me. When I was around 20, my mother realised that I had to pay off our loans and debts together, and make some money. I was thinking about what I could do, and I chose to become a celebrity. I debuted when I was around 21 years old but the result wasn't as I expected. With an official celebrity status at the time I was offended and my pride was ruined, but thanks to a friend's referral I worked part time at a bar and participated in T.I.P activities. I made more money and thought to myself, 'I'm going to pay back all of that money before I go to the army'.
Then in 2001, T.I.P was chosen to go to Battle Of The Year as the first korean crew in history. There was 2 months left before Battle Of The year, but my Military recruit letter came 2 weeks later. At the time, BOTY was the greatest opportunity in my life, and also the last opportunity (or so I thought) in my life. But I could not delay my military service farther and pondered endlessly. There was no solution. Eventually I decided to become hospitalized. My plan of only staying there for one week was extended to a month and a half. At the time I thought I could leave whenever I wanted after being hospitalized. Because of that, I only had barely 2 weeks of practice before I flew out to Germany. After all our hard works, we received the Best Show Award. Nobody knew about Korea back then and the fact that we were the first Korean Crew to go to BOTY meant so much to me, it was so special. Then and now, the 2001 Battle Of The Year Best Show Award is my first ever award, and it means the world to me.
I felt like we were going somewhere now. I was happy returning to Korea until the Military recruit letter came again. At the time I foolishly thought I would lose everything if I went to the army. I thought it would be better to die than go. Also, I was scared I could not protect my mother. She had been relying on me for support tremendously until now. Now when I see it, there are bboys who went to the army, and are still amazing at what they do. When I see these fellows, I regret my descision and wonder if things would have been better off now if I had gone earlier. Back then all my seniors were telling me that the Army was the end of my dancing career.
After that, T.I.P and I travelled the world, sweeping countless events as performers, competitors, judges, and we became a worldly-well known and respected crew. In 2006, T.I.P's original performance 'THE CODE' was chosen by the Korean Tourism Industry as one of the 6 Cultural prizes. In 2007 we won the U.K bboy championships and won a significant award of merit in 2008. Recently, some of us have debuted as the first Korean Hollywood Choreography directors and actors.
What I really want to say is that, we are now criminals who have broken the law. But I want you do understand that I made this foolish choice because of my lack of intelligence from my previous hardships in life. I humbly bow in embarrassment and ask you to see the good sides in us. Again, I sincerely apologize to everyone and promise to become a better T.I.P Crew.
-This has been T.I.P Crew Hwang Dae Gyun-
