Tony ‘Mr. Wave’ Wesley: Breakin’ Boundaries
- Muzikscribe
- Dec 13, 2025
- 9 min read
Tony ‘Mr. Wave’ Wesley’s roots run deep in New York City’s legendary breakdancing scene, a birthplace of innovation and raw energy. Growing up amid the city’s vibrant street dance culture, Tony immersed himself in battles and crew competitions in parks, subway stations, and underground venues. The NYC dance scene’s rebellious spirit and relentless creativity shaped his style and passion for rhythm and storytelling. These experiences not only honed his skills as a dancer but also inspired his approach to music and art. In this interview, we explore how the iconic NYC breakdancing scene influenced Tony’s journey and continues to fuel his artistic vision today.
Let's hop right into the three-part docu-series. ‘Beat Street: Where Are They Now?’ — How long exactly has this taken from its initial conceptualization to finished product?
‘Beat Street’ took 40 years. To think about it, the initial filming, interviewing and sending to post, took about four months because of the relationships.
Centered around the 1984 landmark movie of the same name; while actually filming did you even realize at that time the classic it would eventually become?
When we actually filmed ‘Beat Street,’ we had no idea or any thought of it becoming anything. It was just the thrill of all of us young people coming from nothing, being in a major film, that was the highlight at that moment for us.
In it, nineteen original cast members have been reunited -- How difficult really was this entire process?
When I decided to - along with Jon Chardiet and my partner Miki Packett - put this series together, I knew it would not be a difficult task because of the relationships that we've built over the 40 years.
At what particular juncture did Nas become involved? And, actually how did that come to fruition?
When we were invited to New York City for the announcement of Nas being the producer of ‘Beat Street,’ the musical, he wanted to gather a lot of us into a setting and show the film ‘Beat Street’ and let us know how he felt about it as a child. And in that moment, me and Melle Mel had a conversation in reference to the actual film ‘Beat Street,’ understanding that today -- the way we see it -- was different than 40 years ago, and we had more respect today. Nas was a big fan of the film, because he was actually Kid Wave before he was Nas.
And so, he immediately jumped on the offer when I made the offer for him to speak to ‘Beat Street’ and what he loved about it. He insisted on giving that interview.
‘Beat Street: Where Are They Now?’ is a Reel Sung Productions' project -- In addition to this body of work, what all else are your future plans and / or goals for the company?
‘Beat Street’ is one of our projects. We also started an eight-part series and completed ‘You Can't Erase Me.’ And, ‘You Can't Erase Me’ is based on legends that have built this platform, this culture, and given up blood, sweat and tears for this culture, but not received any of the accolades or most of the accolades or the financial gain from it. So ‘Where Are They Now?’ tells that last piece that they have in their life before they transition, because we're dying. Because of technology, we have lost stance in the world, and legends have been forgotten.
So, ‘Where Are They Now?’ and ‘You Can't Erase Me’ allows the world to see that these stories are legit and they come from the actual people that actually lived it. And it's true stories never been told to social media, to other producers and writers. It's from their heart, so it's deeper, and that's what a Reel Sung Productions’ project represents, a deeper story.
In addition, you're an original member of the famed '80's Bronx based The New York City Breakers, f.k.a. "Floor Masters" -- Take me back, shed a lil light on those days...
Well, I was never a member of the Floor Masters. Michael Holman put together the New York City Breakers, and when he put them together, they had already started doing shows like a Gladys Knight & the Pips video. They did a film called ‘16 Candles.’ When they went from Floor Masters to New York City Breakers, and Michael was putting together a super team. So, I was one of the super teams that he developed. And I was asked by Noel Mangual, he saw me at Delancey Street in New York City.
I was originally called Dr. Electric, from the Nine, on 99th Street, Webster Avenue, Washington Avenue, where our jams were isolated to public. Anybody wouldn't come into those areas. And he saw me in Delancey Street, and he was on a motorcycle. He came in, he said, ‘Hey, man, we have an audition to dance with Katherine Dunham at the Kennedy Center Honors.’ Ronald Reagan was the President at the time. I went down to the audition.
When I went to that audition, I saw a lot of dancers famous today, that weren't famous at the time, trying to go to this event. And I was in the corner practicing, Michael Holman saw me, the manager of New York City Breakers, and the leader, Chino Action, they called me outside. I never practiced for the event, I never auditioned for the event, and they asked me to join the New York City Breakers.
So my first show from the projects, on Washington Avenue, to the stage, in Washington, D.C., was with the New York City Breakers, and they made me a New York City Breaker in that audition.
Now August 11th 2023 also marked the 50th Anniversary of hip-hop — What does that mean to and for you?
So the reason for ‘Beat Street,’ for ‘Wild Style,’ for ‘Krush Groove,’ for ‘Breakin’,’ any of these films was for longevity. The 50th anniversary of the culture represented almost the end of a culture. Because the culture is not an element, it's all of the elements.
And the 50th anniversary represented rap, not the culture. Although I was happy that they recognized it, I was saddened that they didn't understand it. So when you say 50th, I knew some of us would be left behind, and I had to capture those people in ‘You Can't Erase Me.’
So the 50th anniversary makes ‘You Can't Erase Me’ stronger, because they've erased a lot of that first and second generation, and part of the elements around the world.
To quote the late, great The Notorious B.I.G., “You never thought that hip-hop would take it this far!” — Was this something that you ever could’ve imagined?
So when Notorious B.I.G. said, ‘You never thought hip-hop would take it this far,’ it's because that's third generation removed from first generation. And we gave them the light, the guiding light. We gave them the vision, the viewership, the possibilities. So when you say you never thought hip-hop would take it this far, it's an overstatement to the first, second, and third generation, because we weren't trying to take it anywhere, we were trying to survive in our ‘hoods. And we needed a way, a vessel. There were no parks, there were no playgrounds, there was nothing for us to hold onto. There were no jobs.
There was a degrading situation in the four barrels of New York City. So when Biggie said, ‘You never thought hip-hop would take it this far,’ he's not wrong, but there was a pipeline. There was a way. There was a visual way to see that it could move further.
What are some of your fondest, most stand-out moments / memories during your lengthy tenure in this thing called hip-hop?
The fondest moments was I saw that you can go from nothing to something. I realized that in every genre, there are people that are chosen. And in our culture, people like Crazy Legs, people like Melle Mel, people like Afrika Bambaataa, people like Mr. Wave, we were chosen no different than Michael Jackson and Prince, and El DeBarge, and Lisa Lisa, you know, Sha-Rock.
It's all, the culture, all cultures are melting pots for success, but you have to be chosen by internationally, nationally, globally, to survive decades. So, the one thing that really elated me is that I was one of the ones that were chosen. So I danced for three Presidents. That was amazing to me, and I think I'm the only one in our culture, definitely, maybe Michael has seen three Presidents and performed for three Presidents, but I performed for Reagan, George Bush, Sr., and Barack Obama.
That's the highlight of my life.
On a more serious note, are you happy with the current state of hip-hop?
I will always be happy with the current state of hip-hop and saddened at the same time, because it's moving, and it's allowing a lot of our kids to breathe, to live, to dream, to hope. But the way that it is told, the stories are not in the greatest fashion because there are no real research done to the culture, and people like me that have a vast amount of knowledge that's not being asked.
What I think, and there's not a lot of directors and producers that came from the culture that can sit down with these legends and break the silence. So the culture's watered down, and as we move further towards newer generations, it will be further watered down.
What do you feel has and will continue to be the key to your longevity?
God has blessed me to be able to perform, to still speak with all of my roadblocks, to be able to speak intelligently and be articulate, and I think that's the biggest win.
You know, I didn't have any high school, I didn't have any college, I didn't have any technical education, but my street knowledge is uncanny, and it has allowed me to become a CEO. And so, my longevity is endless. When I'm gone, I'll be relevant.
I've always said I don't want to be a legend, I want to be legendary. And, this is all for the babies.
What's an average day like for you?
An average day for me is, of course, my wife, my grandbaby in contact with him, my son, but mostly it's work.
So, an average day for me is 18 hours. It is to work as a manager for the first 8 to 10 hours, and then come home and see my wife and talk to my son and kind of project plan my evening. Then by 2 in the morning, wake up, and begin working on my company. To process and think. I've always believed that when you wake up to an idea, that is your best idea at that time. And so, it has helped me grow real song productions.
So my days are always full; 18, 19-hour days. I average 4 to 5 hours of rest.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
I think very deeply when it comes to fans because they are the reason for my longevity. When I say some people are chosen, those fans chose me. And so I respect, respond to all of them.
Even my thousands of birthday wishes, I respond individually with a thank you. It's very important that we treat the people that continue to see you on YouTube, hear you on Spotify, to appreciate you and love the culture because of you, that you respect them and know that they are the reason for you.
What is your favorite part about this line of work? Your least favorite? And, why?
My favorite part for the new position I've taken as far as CEO of Reel Sung Productions is to produce, to develop, to be able to have a sit down. Everyone that I've put in my films, I have interviewed them personally. To be able to do that in a short amount of time, and sit in on the edits and bring out their stories and watch them.
And, watch them emotionally attach to their stories that I've created; me and my partner, Miki Packett. That's the highlight. The difficult part is having them understand how the business works. How the timeline has to satisfy companies. How being turned down is normal. From a project and how everyone praises a project, but it's more harder because of industry and AI to get commitment and funding for that project.
How to fund yourself, and with nobody funding or helping you build these projects or this company is the hardest part of this business. Production is easy for me. It's like natural.
But to get funded, to have support, to have a stranger invest in you is the hardest part in this business. And then, to have the subject of a legend understand that part of the business.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
The advice I have for anyone wanting to follow in my footsteps is to be serious about the game. Love it and appreciate it, and know that it's going to take a lot of your time. It's going to make and break relationships. It's going to show you who is in your corner and who is not. And if you don't have a strong will, a soft but difficult heart for decision making and understand business, don't do it.
Looking ahead, say five or maybe even ten years from now, where do you see yourself?
I just had a conversation with my partner, Miki, and I told him we've won. We've developed 13 or 14 stories that are and will be etched in history or a culture.
We've already won. Maybe not monetarily, but this is a lifetime of material that is owned by Reel Sung Productions. And to come from 7th grade education, group home, being shot, to manufacturing a company with little to no help is the biggest win.
But to have a partner, a wife or a husband, to be there when it all goes bad some weeks and looks promising the next week is everything. So I say that you find someone that could be your partner in crime, as well as partner in business, as well as partner in stability. You kind of could do this.
As for the immediate, what’s next for Tony “Mr. Wave” Wesley?
What's next for Tony ‘Mr. Wave’ Wesley, is most likely to tell my story on the big screen. And to do the first legit, real hip-hop cultural movie.
Is there anything I left out or just plain forgot to mention?
No, it's perfect. I covered my family, I covered my business, I covered my job, I covered my experience. You've done it. Great questions.
Any parting words for our readers?
I would say go to my YouTube channel: Reel Sung Productions, become a part of the solution, and follow, and help, and donate, and be a part of what we're building, like the Hip-Hop Museum in the Bronx. Research the Bronx Hip-Hop Museum. Research all of us.
Research Mr. Wave. Research KRS-One. Research Special K. Research Nas. Research Jay-Z. Research Grandmaster Flash. Research Kool Herc. Research Afrika Bambaataa. Research Sha-Rock and Sparky D. Just research. That's dope
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