BIOGRAPHY
“Get Em Gump”
It was after the movie Forrest Gump hit the theaters that Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew started calling Forrest, “Gump.” As Forrest, Burn-One, Crazy Legs and few others were representing in circles and battling in the New York City nightclubs, they would often say “Get em Gump” when provoking Forrest to battle another dancer. Thus the name Forrest Getemgump became his official B-boy name.
Forrest Webb aka Forrest Getemgump started dancing in 1982. He was inspired after seeing some of his Jr. high school classmates dancing in a school talent show. He was also inspired by crews such as Nasty With Rock, Rock Steady Crew, New York City Breakers, and other crews who were on the scene in New York City.
As a B-boy in the early and mid-1980’s Forrest spent a lot of his time dancing in the teen clubs in Central New York such as Studio 15, Sports A Rama, and Nowhere City. As the scene died in the later part of the 80’s Forrest practiced other styles of hip-hop dance and would occasionally hit the floor.
DJs Inspiration
DJing caught Getemgump’s interest in the early 80’s. However he didn’t have any DJ equipment until 1986. He was inspired to buy DJ equipment after meeting DJ Swell (former DJ for Father MC) from Far Rockaway Queens. Forrest remembers often hanging out at Swell’s house after school and watching him cut up breaks such as Take Me to the Mardi Gras, Long Red, and Funky President. He remembers hearing old school cassette tapes of Father MC rhyming while Swel was cutting up and mixing the breaks.
Breakin’ with Rock Steady
In the early 90’s, Forrest was introduced to Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew through Q-Unique and Jerry Fast Feet Fontanez. This set the wheels in motion for Forrest to start practicing breaking again. Soon he found himself practicing with veteran B-boys such as Burn-One, Ken Swift, and Crazy Legs and up and comings such as Flo Master, Shaolin Monk, Honey Rockwell, and Smerk. Eventually he became a member of the Rock Steady Crew.
By 1996, Forrest decided to form another crew with his Ohio friends Dre Live and Bobby Blaze. They would take on the name Illstyle Rockers. Illstyle became pivotal in Ohio B-boy history as they were the first crew to represent Ohio in the 90’s. Illstyle Rockers along with events such as Scribble Jam, and the Columbus Hip-Hop Expo were the first to hold B-boy jams and competitions during the 90’s.
Touring with Puremovement
Between 1993 and 1999, Forrest and Burn One were traveling all over the tri-state area representing at jams in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island, and Philadelphia. Forrest also began traveling overseas to countries such as Switzerland, Italy, UK, Germany, and France to B-boy, DJ, and judge breaking competitions. In 1999 he became friends with Philadelphia dancers Rafael Xavier Williams (Zee No Zeen) and B-girl Jules who introduced him to Rennie Harris. For the next couple of years Forrest toured with Puremovement and affiliated productions through the United States, Europe and South Asia.
Back to the Stacks
During his travels to many different cities and countries, Forrest would often spend his per diem in the record stores. The quest for beats became and everyday job for DJ Forrest Getemgump Over the years he has acquired a massive collection of breaks and beats hoping to follow the footsteps of DJs such as Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Grandwizard Theodore, DJ Whiz Kid, DXT, DJ Jazzy Jay, Louie Lou, and the late Break DJ Leacy.
Currently Forrest continues to dance, DJ, and act. He tours with his dance company Illstyle & Peace Productions, DJ’s at Brooklyn Sole, and takes on acting jobs in his spare time. His future plans are to have a touring company as well as a company that will have it’s own theatre, an assortment of mixed break CDs, and lead roles on the big screen.
