I am about to make a statement that many hip-hop purists will consider downright blasphemous.

Wild Style fucking sucks.

Come on. Admit it.

I know it is required viewing for any would-be hip-hop fan, but as a movie, Wild Style just plain blows.

Although lacking any sort of quality as a dramatic, scripted film, director Charlie Ahearn's ode to hip-hop's toddler years does, indeed, serve as a thorough compendium and who's who catalog of a magical time in hip-hop and New York City history. I'll definitely give it that.

The cameos by the era's impresarios like artist Lee Quinones and nightlife personality "Fab Five" Freddy are great. The artwork and dancing are great. The groundbreaking, unbelievable soundtrack by Blondie's Chris Stein is great. The rap performances, great. Double Trouble's "Stoop Rap" is legendary. All those parts still do not make a memorable whole.

Honestly, Beat Street was my shit.

As mister hip-hop nerd guy, I'm not supposed to say that. But it's true. I fucking loved loved loved Beat Street.

There is no question that, as a film, Beat Street kicked ass.

Yeah, I said it. I don't give a fuck.

Beat Street was great and Wild Style sucked.

"Cotton field chants and hollers. Very fresh!"

Lume multa, adolescenti in general, iar muzica buna a fost foarte bine legata de dans, comedie si chiar putina actorie. Baietii nu au dezamagit, totul fiind foarte bine pus la punct. Chiar si prezenta lui Moga printre fani a fost un plus pentru concert.

PS: A fost interpretata si noua piesa `Cugiubima`, care mie imi suna mai mult a `Could you be mine`:).

READ Part One of the Interview

KB: How long have you been preparing for BOTY Canada?

JH: We've been preparing for it for almost a year now!!!!

You go to the World Finals on October 18th in Volkswagen Halle in Germany. NON has dedicated themselves for this moment. What do you expect from this competition in terms of reaching new levels as a bboy crew and being part of the bigger international bboy community?

Going to battle of the year were going to go there repping canada and were going to rep canada well. We have a good routine and hopefully the judges will like it that were good enough to make top 4. We know that the level of competition is amazing out there so we really just have to be on point when we're there, and we have battled good crews in the past so we know that we measure up pretty good. Being at boty will just make us better bboys because the energy level will just sky rocket being with the top crews from around the world.

What do you think it is about bboying that attracts individuals from all different cultures?

I think its the rawness of the culture of bboying that attracts a lot of the other countries and people to bboying and also to push yourself to your own physical limits while doing it with style and grace... and the togetherness of different cultures coming together to battle each other without anyone actually dying lol!! (youknowhatimean)

NON is a multicultural crew. What has influenced your style and movement?

As we all know breaking originated in the bronx new york I would say that we embraced their culture... and my major influences were crews like the Rock Steady crew and New York City Breakers. I think its more of our work ethic that we bring to the table when we get together to practice or when we battle... we practice hard and battle even harder.

Which crews do you want to battle?

Definitely the Koreans or the Japanese just because we want to know how well or how bad we do. But most likely we will battle anyone who gets in our way!!! We would like t battle them all.

What lies ahead for NON after the BOTY?

More shows and more training and more competition... right now NON is riding high with the title but we try to stay humble we listen to what others tell us and we take what judges have told us in the past and try to just make ourselves just all around better dancers/bboys

Why isn't Canada buying into BOTY as much as I thought they would?

I'm not sure why Canada isnt buying into boty. I cant speak for other Canadian crews, but as far as NON is concerned we just want to get out there and maximize our potential as a bboy crew. Right now we're the big fish in the small pond and we want to be able to swim with the rest of the best and being in boty Germany I think we've proven that we can and we are!

I think to keep boty Canada going, crews need to step up, but like I said, I don't know what the other crews are thinking. Maybe boty is not in their minds at all...who knows? But its such a good opportunity to be a part of it, just to be standing and competing and meeting other bboys you only get to see on videos on you tube.

---

Now or Never Crew competes at Battle of the Year in Germany on October 18th.

]]> http://rawtalent.wordpress.com/?p=131 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:37:09 +0000 rawtalent http://rawtalent.pt.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/now-or-never-reps-canada-at-battle-of-the-year/ The hype around bboying has never been higher. Transcending politics, geography, language and borders, breakdancing, or b-boying, has become the global phenomenon that everyone wants a piece of. Bboys and bgirls in community centres and nightclubs in every direction are breaking new limits in the art and discipline of movement. What began in 1980’s South Bronx has grown to reach every continent.

Battle of the Year (BOTY) is the World Cup of Bboying and it began in 1990. This is the competition that attracts thousands of bboys, bgirls, hip hop heads and fans to the new international bboy headquarters! The preliminary competitions are held in 33 countries with the Finals held at the Volkswagenhalle, Braunschweig, Germany. Doc feature film, “Planet B-boy” by director Benson Lee dives into the international culture of bboying telling the stories of bboys and bgirls from around the world, and brings it together at the Battle of the Year.

Battle of the Year Canada finally joined the preliminary circuit in August 08. Vancouver’s Now Or Never (NON) crew represents Canada for the first time at BOTY International Finals and is heading to Germany on October 18th.

Current members include bboy how (Jeri), bboy G (jay), bboy eloquence (jhaymee), bboy Twist (jheric), bboy Savage (victor), bboy Trickey (colin) bboy Jax(jackie), bboy Mugg(Kenny), bboy Bminus (Brian), and bboy Sniper (York).

To read the story of how NON got it together, get it here

Jheric Hizon joined NON for the World Hip Hop Championships in Los Angeles ‘07, where they came in sixth. At this year's competition in Vegas, NON finished second, next to knuckleheadzoo (aka super crew of mtv"s America’s best dance crew). Also the founding member of Dead Reckoning Crew, Jheric is prepared. He gave me the run down about the crew, what they have been doing to prepare, what he expects in Volkswagenhalle, and where they go next.

INTERVIEW with Jheric Hizon of NON

KB: How was the BOTY Canada competition?

JH: There were only two crews that entered boty canada this year it was NON and another crew that was put together from 3 different crews in toronto..its too bad that most of the crews did not enter, either they werent prepared or they just didnt bother entering there was a two on two competition and most of the major crews in toronto entered that one. either way NON won the first ever battle of the year canada..hopefully more crews will follow in the next year( if they decide to hold boty again)

The competition wasnt too bad we definitely had our shit together we came fully prepared we won the best show for the showcase part of the competition and then we beat out the other crew for the title of boty canada....the other team was pretty good as well but they didnt have their routine down and when it came time to battle i think we shook them up with our routines and commandos cuz they tried to interrupt our runs by jumping in and out of the battle (not doing proper commando styles) yeah they were pissed off lol!!

What can you say about the caliber of talent in Canada? How do we measure up at the international level?

The calibre of talent we have in canada is incredible we just have to go out there and make a name for ourselves by hitting up international jams. There are a few bboys/Crews that make noise outside Canada (Casper, Dyzee and his crew Supernaturalz, NON). We try to do the same by competing against the best of the best out there… we don’t always win but we sure leave a presence at the end.

On an international level we’re up there its just there’s not enough of us doing it and trying to make it happen. That’s what NON is trying to change.... we want to encourage the young gens by stating that with hard work and dedication you can achieve success in what you do. It might take time but it will happen eventually!

Part two here

Este músico y dj, rey del underground caraqueño es el actor de los scrachtes en Bandas como Tres Dueños, Bacalao Men y otras que marcan la diferencia en el panorama musical de Venezuela. Por lo pronto, alquiló un anexo en www.prepatio.com, pero prometemos realizar el más fantástico sitio web de hip-hop. breakdance, graffiti y lírica que se hay construido en Latinoamérica. Es un compromiso. Mientras tanto, las marcas comerciales interesadas pueden escribir un correo a nuestra dirección y participar en este hecho inédito....

Pumping hip hop beats are filling a run-down gymnasium in the old centre of Lisbon. We can feel the heat and the smell of sweat in the air when we walk in. A group of guys with muscular bodies are doing “headspins”, “turtles” and “windmills” across the floor – the acrobatic moves of the “Formula Armada” breakdance crew. There are 10 people in the group between the ages of 18 and 28 from all over the world: Angola, Brazil, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, who all live in the close suburbs of Portugal’s capital. The “B-Boys”, which the dancers refer themselves, has got to know each other through friends and breakdancing events, and now they meet two times a week for training.

One of the founders of the group is Wilson Magalhaes, a 21 year old Angolan, who started dancing at the age of 9, imitating his older brother Owaldo and his uncle who were also performing. “But my biggest idol is Michael Jackson” he comments. Together with his brother Owaldo he founded the group “Formula Armada” in 2004. The main idea behind the group is to have a positive impact on young people and to find a way to cope with the struggles of life. “We are like a family”, says Wilson and stresses that, “everybody is an equal member”. Maria, 27, is one of the two “B-Girls” of the crew. For seven months she has practiced with “Formula Armada” after she met the crew at a national Breakdance championship. She was adamant that she had no problem keeping up with the boys, even though breakdancing is a very athletic and powerful sport - she keeps the boys in line.

At the moment the group is developing a unique style and they are becoming more widely known, both in Lisbon and beyond. Since winning some national competitions and even appearing on national Portuguese television now they regularly get booked for events and shows. Wilson tells proudly that they have started to earn some money with dancing and that they also obtained some sponsorship. Right now they are touring across Portugal with a Hip-Hop Formation named “Makongo”. To find out more check www.myspace.com/formulaarmada.

FOCUS Breakdance is a dance style which was originally performed in the streets and which is known as a part of the hip hop movement. It was first danced by African American and Puerto Rican youths in Manhattan and the South Bronx of New York City during the early 1970s. Normally it is danced to Pop, Funk and Hip Hop music. It is said that Breakdance or B-Boying was an alternative for the youth apart from the violence of urban street gangs. The Breakdance culture is known to be free of any race, gender or age boundaries and today it is a worldwide practised and accepted dance style.

but there's a whole underground culture of artists out there pushing the limits of traditional graffiti and tagging. some become legends solely through the work they do on the streets. others exhibit their artwork in galleries as well.

take, for example, this rather new idea of projecting graffiti on to buildings rather than painting it:

this projection is in Berlin, but this Friday and Saturday a similar project is on exhibit in Brooklyn.

right alongside the street artists are the DJs and the Bboys/girls, and all of their efforts together are culminating in a rich culture that goes largely unnoticed by much of the population. yet i believe when the history books are written about this time period, these are the cultural aspects that they will highlight, and so my goal is to make them noticeable.

Damn, I wish I had youtube when I was in high school! I can't even begin to count the number of times I slammed my leg or hip into the ground trying to learn how to do these by trial and error! Oh - and rhythm. I wish I had that in high school too...

...and a girl friend. That would have been pretty cool.

Two things Ms. Represent told us: our performance will be on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009, and it will be incorporating (gasp!) some breakdance moves. Suffice it to say I was the only one who gave a delighted squeal. Everyone else had a kind of deer-in-headlights look. She told us to start building up some upper-body strength by doing push-ups and planks everyday. I'm going to do her one better and actually start a pretty intense upper-body lifting routine twice a week, and doing regular push-ups everyday at home. This could be really, really good, or it could be a disaster. Stay tuned.

I left last night's class drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted, but totally psyched for next week. Evidently we have an intro number with the two other hip hop classes which is what we've been dancing the last couple of weeks (to Li'l Mama's Shawty Get Loose,) plus my class will have its own routine separate from the other classes. Can't wait to learn the rest of it.

fisherman's wharf.  sf.  holga.  double exposure by accident.

Well, we could listen to the streamed music and Mankind didn't let us down with a really good mixture of popular songs ranging from the 60s onwards.  Drax came on line and joined us and soon Mankind himself with his singer/dancers backing group took the stage and the place was really rocking.

He sang a few songs at Kensington and then moved on to Tribute island where Nikk and all the gang were waiting.  Drax, Hib, Debs and me all tp'd over there to carry on the fun, and while the rest of us were ok, poor Hib remained unrezzed looking like a cloud for some time, when she finally managed to materialize properly, Drax seemed to be doing his own thing.  Where the rest of us had chosen a normal club dance animation, Drax somehow picked a Charleston/Breakdance/throwing yourself around type dance, and seemed to be weaving in and out of poor Debs' feet, I've no idea what she must have thought, I hadn't even had a chance to introduce them.  All I can say is that I sat at my keyboard with the tears streaming down my face with laughter, as Drax's antics looked so funny, Hib too was helpless with laughter. 

We moved on to Mankind's own sim 'The Temple of Mankind' which was a really lush place and packed out with avatars.

Drax seemed to be dancing really good by then, so he must have got fed up with the break dancing stuff, and we all had a fantastic evening.  Well done to Mankind who gave a really great performance, he must have been exhausted by the end of it.

I can honestly say that when I see Breakdancers on piers and public places dancing, I'm genuinely jealous.

Also, I always wished I was a ninja. My buddy Steve , my cousin Leon and I would always do flips and play fight in my front yard, but Steve was always better at ninja shit. Steve would run up to my fence, and land into a somersault and Leon and I were just blown the fuck away...Steve was a real life ninja as far we were concerned.

15 minute Breaktime..Aqua Teen Hunger Force is on.

O.K. I'm back. That was some funny shit, Shake and Carl deep fried a whole cow, with cheese in the middle. That's banana's.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah. Breakdancing and Ninja's. Also when I was little, Voltron was king. Not Go-Bots, they were lame, but Voltron was pretty badass.
I always wanted a Voltron lion. The red one.

I'm done. Below are pictures.

Here's the house I lived in for 2 years, grades 4th and 5th. The fence is the one Steve would run and flip over...

Here's a picture of the 10 yard line from Carter's last game at San Clemente high school.

What the hell does the 10 yard line have to do with ninja shit? Well to be honest, nothing.

Leave me a comment telling me about your ninja moves..I'll mail a brownie to anyone who tells me a story about a real life Breakdancing ninja. I mean a real one..Breakdancing Ninjas are so badasssss!!

The two-day event also included a specially-commissioned dramatic show, by the internationally-renowned arts company Cirque Bijou, which featured a mix of urban art forms, circus, pyrotechnics and large-scale video, which despite some initial technical hitches was the highlight of the weekend.

It was a great weekend, lets hope it was a big enough success to bring it back next year.

For more photos check out Art-el’s Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/27892381@N04/sets/

The Cola Kid – Old School Hip-Hop (1979-1986)

Another old school mix from the Cola Kid. This time with some lesser known Hip-Hop tracks and some breakdance beats. I was searching for DJ Smalls ‘Summer Fun’ under the wrong title for years but finally got my hands on a copy. It has a great early disco/hip-hop/electro feel to it. I also included the outrageous ‘Badd Mann Dann Rapp by King Monkey. Apparently the West Coast’s first hip-hop song and in my opinion the first ‘gangster rap’ song in existence. I can picture some bogarts getting’ down to King Monkey circa 1980’. I’ve also included some early tracks featuring Ice-T, boy has he come along way!

01 Breakdance Electric Boogie - West Street Mob (1983)

02 Reckless (Feat. Ice-T) – The Glove (1984)

03 Hip Hop Bee Bop (Don't Stop) - Man Parrish (1982)

03 MC Battle - Busy Bee vs Rodney Cee (1982)

04 World Famous – Malcolm McLaren (1983)

05 Christmas Rappin' – Kutis Blow (1979)

06 Showdown - Furious Five meets Sugarhill Gang (1981)

07 South Bronx – KRS One (1986)

08 Summer Fun - Jackie 'Small' Cochran (DJ Smalls) (1980)

09 The Coldest Rap (Part 1) – Ice-T (1983)

10 Badd Mann Dann Rapp - King Monkey (1980)

11 Apache – Sugarhill Gang (1981)

12 At the party - The Treacherous Three (1980)

Download the album here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?42wakfkjkza

]]>