The Art of Dance

There are 5 elements to Hip-Hop. Most of the time I post the elements of MCing, Knowledge and Graffiti because they were the most influential in my youth.

The art of dance is an element that I appreciate but doesn't get much attention. This post is dedicated to all the breakers and freestyle dancers who do it for the love first, then the pay. The first movie that I ever saw that featured breakdancing was Beat Street. 

The first movies that focused on breakdancing were Breakin and Breakin 2 Electric Boogaloo. These movies weren't as electrifying as watching the Rock Steady Crew give a live show but they were good because the plot revolved around breaking.

These days dance comes in many forms and breakdance is just one style. The Dubstep generation has brought different elements to the poppin and locking format. The slowed down tempo changes in Dub gives a matrix look to some of the movements. 

One of the shows that really brought this Dub/breaking mix to the masses was ABDC (America's Best Dance Crew). Although many people complain about how commercial the show ABDC has become, the first few seasons had some real talented dancers. In my opinion it brought back some of the popularity of being in a dance crew and battling for respect. 

Below are videos showing a variety of dance styles and battles from different dance groups. There's French dance sensations Les Twins, Dubstep dance crew Dragon House, America's Best Dance Crew winners Jabbawockeez and many others.

Remembering 2010

2011 Welcome to the New Year! Its a new year, new plans, and new ambitions. To start it off right I dedicate this post to remembering 2010 with a few highlights and failures.

Last year dance music took the U.S. by storm. Its always been big in Europe but now dance style music is being incorporated into most of the Hip-Hop and R&B released. 2010 also marked the "Death of auto-tune" only to have it return with a vengeance a few months later. Out of all the artists who use auto-tune T-Pain does it with style. Here are a few hot tracks from last year by artists MF Grimm, Brotha Lynch Hung, Wu-Tang Clan, and Wiz Khalifa.

In 2010 was the attack on Wikileaks a non-profit organization that reports news for the people by the people, and its founder Julian Assange. It also documented the privatization of the military and the rise of Black Water mercenaries being deployed in the U.S. and Iraq. Black Water has been termed the secret police working from the shadows to spread terror democracy throughout the Middle-East. Check out the clip below.

Finally, there were technological advancements in cell phones, medicine, aviation, and space exploration. Below are a few notable advancements in 2010.

Reggae & Dance Hall

I was talking to a friend of mine and she told me she never heard of Beenie Man. So I sent her one of my favorite Beenie tracks "Who Am I." Afterward it got me thinking, its summertime and Reggea has always been summer music to me. When I listen to Bob Marley it makes me feel like I should be outside in the sun or sitting on the beach watching the waves.  There are quite a few Reggae artists I used to listen to. I'm a fan from the older school back when Dancehall was really poppin and reggae and Hip-Hop were spoken about in the same sentence.

Below I posted clips from the old school Beenie Man, Buju Banton, Mr. Vegas, Bounty Killer, Super Cat and new school, Damian Marley one of the many sons of Bob Marley. He is a new artist with talent like his daddy.