The Terp Who Provided the Soundtrack to the Olympics’ Most Viral Moment

Four years ago, when the International Olympics Committee announced that breakdancing—or breaking, as it’s colloquially known—would premiere as a sport in the 2024 Games, the public wondered: Would we be seeing Cirque du Soleil-esque feats of physicality, or something more akin to that gangly kid who’d undulate, wormlike, at middle school socials?

The answer turned out to be: Both. And behind much of it was Stephen Fleg ’08, one of two DJs who soundtracked the inaugural breaking competition in Paris this month. The Baltimore-born, Brooklyn-based DJ said that scratching records at the Olympics—in what turned out to be one of the most viral moments of the games—was a singular experience.

“When I started, there was no thought that I’d ever be in this position to be involved in the biggest platform that breaking has seen, and maybe that it will ever see,” said Fleg.

Fleg first put a toe into the breaking world in his adolescence, after watching VHS tapes of skateboarding that included snippets of breakdancing. “At that time, in 1999, it was definitely an uphill battle to get information” on how to breakdance, Fleg said, but he’d try to copy moves he’d see on television or from other kids.

Soon, he wanted to learn what happened inside the DJ booth. “I thought the scratching in songs was super cool, and I wanted to learn how to do it.” He got a “not very good” pair of turntables as a gift and started learning how to DJ, eventually spinning records at local breaking events. (At the University of Maryland, Fleg majored in government and politics and joined the unofficial breaking club known as the UMD Undergrounduates, where he was known as “Octopus.”)

As Fleg’s career grew, he began DJing major international competitions like the Red Bull BC One and Outbreak, becoming known for his horn-heavy musical selections often rooted in Brazilian or Afro funk. He also expanded into musical production, creating his own pieces by looping songs like rapper J.I.D’s “Never” and the work of Brazilian musician Jorge Ben.

Fleg, who works full-time as a DJ and producer, DJed at Olympic qualifiers in Hangzhou, China, and Budapest, Hungary, but thought that the Olympics themselves would be reserved for French DJs. About a month before the Games, though, he received notice that he’d been selected to DJ in Paris, and went “straight into work mode,” he said.

He assembled playlists from the list of 390 songs cleared for use during the Games (plus 20 of his own compositions), comprised largely of canonical breaking music like ’90s hip-hop and ’70s funk. Fleg created his compositions with an ear for what matched his style and the more technical aspects, too, like whether songs were in the same key to make for a smooth transition.

When Fleg arrived in Paris three days before the first round of competition on Aug. 9, he’d already created his playlists, which would remain a mystery to the breakers until the moment they hit the floor, when they were expected to bust out windmills, the six-step and freezes.

“The level of dancing was very, very high,” Fleg said. “It was cool to show people the diversity of styles and how crazy some of these moves can get, but also teach people what these competitions look like.”

Canadian Phil Wizard (Philip Kim) and Ami (Ami Yuasa) of Japan took gold in the event, winning for their smooth transitions, head spins and bravado while performing.

Fleg noted that one competitor cast a kangaroo-shaped shadow over the other dancers. Of course, that was Australia’s Raygun (Rachael Gunn), who became an international sensation as soon as she showed off her mom-like moves.

Raygun’s performance stood out in the moment, said Fleg. “Usually I have a very keen sense of when someone is about to be done with their moves. She did a move where I thought she was going to end, and she kept going. How she paced her moves was very awkward.”

The attention Raygun garnered wasn’t all bad for breaking, said Fleg, even though the dance sport won’t be among the events at the 2028 or 2032 Olympics (a decision announced long before this year’s Games).

“They’re not going to be thinking about Raygun in a month, but the hope is more people come out to events locally or get into classes,” he said. “We hope there will be a lot of positive outcomes from here on out.”