DSDS: Interview with Haleem "Stringz" Rasul

Quite. Humble. Cool. Those were the words that came to mind when I first met Haleem "Stringz" Rasul. If my memory serves me correctly, the first time we met was at an open house session at Motor City Street Dance Academy (MCSDA). It was a Saturday night and about ten dancers gathered in the small studio on 3439 Livernois Ave in Detroit, Michigan. As each dancers warmed up separately, Stringz came into the room and went around greeting each person. "Hey, how you doin'?" He greeted me with a handshake. We didn't know each other, but he made sure every person in the room was noticed. As a newcomer to the Detroit dance scene, that meant everything. 

In the months to follow, I pretty much saw Stringz at every event I attended including open sessions at Motor City Wine on Sunday nights. He greeted me, and the other dancers, the same way each time. I could tell he had extensive training by the way he freestyled in cypher circles. However, I honestly didn't know what a big deal he was in the dance scene until Standing-O's B-day Bash, where he judged the open-styles battle. He never boasted his status or flaunted his talent. He just shows up and lets his actions speak louder than words.

“I knew what it felt like to actually work on something, put it together, and present it in a certain way, doing what’s needed, feelin’ it, and obtaining the fruits of my labor.” 

I wanted to interview Stringz because he embodied the knowledge, history, and movement of hip hop. He has a unique style that combines his diverse dance backgrounds including breaking, jit, and house. To me, he is a real representation of Detroit and hip hop culture. During this interview, we covered a wide variety of topics including his introduction to breaking, jit, and house; his mentors while coming up in the scene; the motivation behind his entrepreneurial spirit; how he started Hardcore Detroit; and the process of creating the jit documentary titled "The Jitterbugs: Pioneers of the Jit.” After getting to know him more through this interview, I can say definitely say that not only is he quite, humble, and cool, Stringz is also a true entrepreneur, educator, and leader for his family and his community. 

Interview Link: https://soundcloud.com/sherry-lin-800162914/dsds-haleem-stringz-rasul/s-JMkSb 


To learn more about Hardcore Detroit, visit their website and Facebook page.

To learn more about DSDS, read this post.