Writer: Mathew Jon Marquez Photos: Bil Zelman
Rapper Tupac Shakur often referred to himself in his writings as a “rose in the concrete.”
Making this his life metaphor, he used it to convey a meaning of an extraordinary
life that deserves proper care in the face of improbable odds of surviving, yet
yielding such an extraordinary beauty it could only speak of something Greater.
It’s not every day that we come across these types of living metaphors in real life.
But recently, Risen had the pleasure of coming across one such bloom. In fact, we discovered
a full rose garden emerging from the heart of Manila’s streets named the
Philippine All-Stars.

The Risen team enters the spacious split-level house in the hills of Los Angeles to find twenty sets of multi-colored Adidas shoes lined up in the foyer. To the right and up the winding stairs are three ladies whose urban B-girl attire seems oddly out of place in such an austere upper class neighborhood. On the main floor, several young people, all in varying states of waking-up and grogginess, mill about, waiting for the day’s marching orders. It’s nearly 1 p.m. and their sluggishness and fatigue clearly tells of their wild and wonderful transcontinental ride. “Sorry, we’re still getting around. Had a really long day . . . night or something like that . . .” and then the young man trails off to follow the heavy aroma of coffee wafting out of the kitchen.

“What day of the week is it?” someone shouts from an unseen part of the house.

And another voice barks from upstairs, “Who cares?! One more day and we get to go hooomme!”

And a small wave a cheering breaks out across the house. For the All-Stars, the last three years has been a series of cramped airline seats, cabs, buses, bad hotels,and guest homes throughout Asia, Europe, and now North America. The idea of returning home to the Philippine Islands becomes more and more sacred each day. This colorful and creative band of brothers and sisters represent, to the millions of fans who follow their travels, the new kings of hip-hop dance. After all, they have just reasserted their claim to the world title for the second time, just weeks prior to this interview. The Philippine All-Stars are the 2008 World Hip Hop Dance Champions. With thirteen members here stateside on this trip and a growing posse of MCs and DJs in their wake, trying to capture the varied and beautiful facets of this urban garden would be an enormous undertaking. However, at the core of their identity is their leader, Kenjohns Serrano. His voice, in heart and vision, serves as spokesman for the group.

RM: What has happened for the group since you won the world title this year?
KenJohns: Well a lot of things have been taking place for us. First, you guys are here interviewing us, that’s amazing for us. It’s a real blessing to get the exposure. And tomorrow we’re guest-hosting on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew. Crazy, right? Which is really cool, because coming from the Philippines, this is one of the biggest things for our people. We’re going to be on MTV! And I have to give it to the “man upstairs,” you know? God is the one working on ahead of us everywhere we go and we see His hand in it all. We’re so blessed.

RM: There is a lot more to the Philippine All-Stars than just a hip-hop dance crew. How would you describe the All-Stars?
KJ: Well, we’re all stars in our own ways. I’m not trying to brag, but we got mad talent in the group, you know? There is a lot to be proud of with each of us. Before we were formed as a dance crew, each one of us had our own careers. Each one of us was on our own. We have painters, writers, musicians, rappers, business professionals, models, and actors in the crew. We really are a collection of the best of the Philippines; we’re an All-Star crew.

RM: How did you find each other if you were in such vastly different career paths?
KJ: Well, one day I found myself in a studio with ten to twelve other people just hanging out, enjoying some music and dancing for fun. It’s really as simple as that. We just started hanging out and dancing; there was so much energy with them. I was halfway through recording my first album, but I was really enjoying this group of friends. So, I wondered out loud a bit about trying to get us all together. Everybody seemed cool with it, but I decided I would try praying about it. Right after that, things just started coming together for us.

RM: You stopped what you were doing with the recording career and formed a dance crew? That seems kind of random, doesn’t it?
KJ: Well, no, not really. Because after praying for a while about it, it just seemed pretty clear that doing something with others would mean more than simply doing something for myself. Helping others and spreading that kind of energy around made more sense to me. You know, taking the focus off of yourself and giving that focus to others gets a lot more accomplished. That’s what I think, at least. Dancing is the one thing that brings us together, right? But as we each put energy into helping us all be the best as a group, opportunities are opening up for us to develop our own things we specialize in too. All that energy going into the group just keeps coming back to us all for our own dreams too.

RM: What kinds of things inspire you personally?
KJ: OK, this one might sound kind of funny, but you know the movie Kung Fu Panda? Well, that movie moved me to tears, for real. I was watching it and there is a point in the movie about how yesterday is the past, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift and that’s why the call it the “present.” When I heard that it really hit me hard [Taps his chest], you know? Today inspires me, for real. It’s Christmas today. Our future is bright, but today is the best part of it. I am with the world champion dance crew, but the best part of it all is I get to share the present with each one of them. Each of the All-Stars inspires me. Their very presence in my life is a gift to me, for real. From a competition point of view, every dance team we meet on the road is an inspiration. I feel like we’re always competing against way better crews and with more creative styles. They inspire me too.

RM: All-Stars have been a mega-hit in Europe, Asia, and even on YouTube. Is there a bit of “rock star” identity that comes with this job?
KJ: Well, there are things that come with being known