Born in Vientiane, Laos. Sengvilay Aphay aka “Kid Jungle” arrived in the United States in the early 80s post Vietnam War. Trying to assimilate to US culture he found his place through Hip Hop.

Coming up as a bboy,he was able to use the dance as a way to express himself while finding his strengths and weaknesses. As an independent artist he learned how to create a curriculum to teach class, be a public speaker, mentor younger dancers, create deadlines and goals, learned to negotiate, how to network, and find gigs online. This has caused him to go back to school to get his bachelor’s in sales and marketing and eventually land a career in sales.

He’s competed throughout the U.S., worked with many artists, and in 2010 and 2011, through Columbia College Asian Arts and Media, he directed his first production in Shanghai, China and at the Pritzker Pavilion downtown Chicago. He has also managed a few artists to help them find opportunities as dancers. He also has a 9 year residency teaching a Hip Hop workshop at Glenbrook Elementary school where he educates the youth about positive Hip Hop culture while applying it to daily life skills.

Recently he did a performance downtown Chicago at the Define American Film Festival event based off of his experience growing up in America and as a refugee from the Vietnam War. He has also worked with iBake films to be a part of a documentary about growing up in the US as a Lao American.

Kid Jungle’s entrepreneurial spirit has lead him to launch his own brands such as the Battle of the Breaking Dojos, which is a competition league for younger breakers and their schools going on 5 years now as well as the Power Style Radio Show which is an online radio show that speaks about Hip Hop culture. His goal has always been to find sustainability through his talents and find opportunities for those that are in his network. Kid Jungle’s entrepreneur and managerial skills has helped build an infrastructure for non profits such as Que 4 radio and Renegades of Funk to where both organizations are now growing and gaining profits through grants, donations, and fundraising.

Kid Jungle is the Vice President of the Renegades of Funk organization – a non profit that helps local neighborhoods fundraise for important causes such as the hurricane in Puerto Rico and the earthquake in Mexico. He has also fundraised for Standing Rock anti-pipeline movement. His recent event, the Writer’s Bench, is an outside Hip Hop park jam that showcases all the element of Hip Hop in Chicago and it’s going on 20 years strong.

His new goal is to now travel overseas and teach Hip Hop culture to the next generation of youth.