Tech Styles 9 took things to new heights in 2024, with Bboys and Bgirls arriving from all over the world, the anticipation of the event was magnificent. We were able to connect people from every continent and walks of life, to celebrate and experience the breakin culture and scene here in Bradford. Within the community, this event fueled and kick-started a whole new energy and level for the next generation of Bboys and Bgirls in the city and showed them the possibilities and heights they can reach.
The event was a real celebration of Bradford history, bringing hometown legends Dr Candy and Skittles back to the city to share their stories, expertise and experiences will all the generations of Bradford and beyond. It meant a lot for the team to have these incredible dancers join us once again, as if it weren’t for their contributions, the landscape of the Bradford scene would look a lot different. Bradford was also blessed to be the home of so many international and national guests, such as the iconic Bgirl Asia One (USA), one of France’s premier crews and our defending champions Immigrandz! We also saw Beast Boogie return to the judging panel, alongside UK legend Lil’ Tim and the well respected Bboy Marius.
The first guest to arrive was very special to the Tech Styles team. Back in 2020, we put on our ‘Tech Styles Digital’ event and through this we were able to connect with many phenomenal dancers from across the world. One of these dancers was called Bboy Rodi, representing Rock Star Crew from Lome Togo (Africa). With the help of the British Council and Bradford 2025, we were finally able to bring Rodi over to Bradford! This was a long time coming, so we were all very happy to have him join us for Tech Styles 9. It meant to lot to Rodi to come to Bradford and it showed with the drive and passion he had towards getting here, it was inspiring to witness. When Rodi was here, he taught across all the breakin community and school classes we have in the city which was partnered with Tranquil Productions. He definitely made a huge impact during his time here and we had no doubt that this would be the case. We have to give a big thank you to the British Council and Bradford 2025 for all the efforts in making this happen.
Over the course of the week, the team worked hard to ensure all the guests had a true experience of Bradford and what our city and our scene here is really about. The tour of our favourite spots in Bradford has slowly become a Tech Styles tradition. From brunch at The Pepper Mill, Friday’s curry at La’hores and evenings at The Corn Dolly – there is something for everyone to enjoy.
Our first ever hip hop collaboration took place at Tech Styles 9 with non other than Bgirl City (Houston, Texas) Some of the Tech Styles team We were able to experience Bgirl City in March 2024 and it is such an important event for the scene with an unmatched atmosphere. Hip Hop is truly present at that event and it was an honour to be able to collaborate with them and have Beast Boogie join us once again to help deliver the Tech Styles 9 x Bgirl City Bonnie & Clyde battles. This took place at The Hip Hop Collective, where we also had live graffiti, MCs, DJs and special guest speakers.
Big congratulations to our Tech Styles International x Bgirl City Bonnie & Clyde winners Bboy Joenormous and Bgirl Pretzel. They really brought the energy to the battles and were a pleasure to watch throughout the whole event.
Day 1 of the event gives everyone a true sense of what Hip Hop is about, having all elements showcased together. Our guest speakers for the event were Bboy Rodi, Asia One and Dr Candy. They all delivered powerful talks, giving great insight and inspiration through their personal stories and journeys shared. If you haven’t experienced Friday night’s ‘The Hip Hop Collective’, make sure you are there this year as everyone who has attended previously tells us what a hidden gem this night is and how much they love it, it is not to be missed!
The Hip Hop Collective also featured the sensational Hip Hop trio Flame Griller (ExP, JND, Addverse) and DJ’s, 3E Productions’ (Blackbelt Jones and Musicarl). We had Yorkshire on full display on the Friday night and it was incredible to witness the talent. They have all shown great support for Tech Styles over the years and it is always a pleasure to have local artists join us at our events.
There were many returning dancers alongside the new, bringing fourth amazing energy and teamwork in the battles on the Saturday. There is nothing like seeing crews work together in battles and we hope to see this continue, as crew battles are hard to come across in the breakin scene these days and we want to see this grow. Congratulations to our 2v2 16 and under winners Bboy King Khalil & Bboy Cookie. These Bboys reached the finals in 2023 and returned to win it all in 2024.
It was great to see Payback Season, Powered By Hip Hop, Wild Technique Breakers, Artful Breaking Crew, Immigrandz, Gully Nest Warriorz, Fresh Skillz and all of the Bradford crews representing. Returning crews made for some great rematches at Tech Styles 9, but there could only be one winner. Our B.Tactical crew battle winners were Gully Nest Warriors. They worked well together as a team, using key tactics that propelled them to victory over Immigrandz, the defending champions. Thank you to our judges, Marius, Rodi, Asia One, Beast Boogie, Lil’ Tim. Fair and transparent judging is extremely important to us and we always put a lot of thought into who we select for our judges. They did an incredible job all day, big respect to them.
The people’s choice award for the Graffiti Exhibition, our first back to back winner, is FiVEZ! His piece using canvas and markers this year, with the theme of ‘Home’ was beautifully captured, he did a fantastic job once again. We can’t forget our hosts 10Tonn from Leeds, always bringing the realness to the mic and Captain SugarRush for bringing the energy. Hosting is no small task and these guys did a great job. We also need to say a big thank you to DJ Rasp on another spectacular display, his showcase had everyone in awe.
Special Ops Award
This year’s Special Ops award is the first of it’s kind. We have had many incredible dancers win this award who have showed a lot of heart in the years that they represented. This year’s recipient is someone who really brought the energy at the event, not just being in the moment but helping to create them with others. He wasn’t able to compete for various reasons, but still came to give support and represent. In the time that he was in attendance, he really left a positive impression on everyone around him, really leaving his mark.
Hip Hop changes lives, it has done for so many people for over 50+ years, and it is crucial to remember what the culture is really about. Competition is a huge factor within our community, but it is important to remember that it isn’t the only part of it. The culture cannot grow in the right way if the mentality is to take and to not give. With the rise of competitions all across the world, we believe it’s more important than ever before to uphold true Hip Hop values wherever you go. Going to events to represent, regardless of the competition, to exchange with others and give support to the community just shows the kind of values people like this have. This year’s winner truly gave and embodied all the things we push for in the scene. This year’s Tech Styles 9 Special Ops winner is none other than Bboy PHILTHEE! This is historic for Tech Styles as this is the first breaker to win the award from representing at The Hip Hop Collective!
We have to give a huge thank you to all of the Tech Styles team and everyone who was involved in making Tech Styles 9 happen. Thank you to our videographer Luke Hogan who captured all the footage for the event. The Tech Styles 9 official recap is out now, so please check it out below. All the battles can be viewed on the Tranquil Productions YouTube Channel – click here to watch now. Thank you to the Fountains Church and the tech team for helping to bring it altogether, along with Raven Staging. We have to thank Pizza Amici for providing the amazing food for everyone at the event too. Thank you to Kasper Trilby Photography for joining us once again and for capturing all the spectacular images. All images can be viewed on our Facebook page – click here to view now. All images featured in the blog post have been taken by him.
Lastly, thank you to all of our invited guests, all of the Bboys, Bgirls and crews in attendance and all those who came to spectate, especially parents, families and friends that continue to support. Everyone came together to make the event what it was – HISTORIC!
The celebration of ‘Home’ was a long time coming for us here in Bradford and we are really grateful to everyone who took the time to be with us. It would not be possible without our funders, Arts Council England & Bradford Council and also the support of Kala Sangam Arts Centre, we want to say a huge thank you!
Next up is the 10th edition of Tech Styles and trust us when we say, you don’t want to miss
this one! We hope to see you in November 2025!! Date to be announced soon!!
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