IMO
Photo: Still1 "Pocos pero locos" 2010
I want to talk about something that's very near and dear to my heart: Hip Hop CULTURE. I first want to preface this by saying that I am in no way shape or form an authority on Hip Hop, Hip Hop culture, Hip Hop music, Hip Hop dance, etc... The following statements are all purely my opinion based on my experience over the past decade.
A friend of mine DM'd me on IG about what i've been up to and if i've been BBoying much, and I replied with the whole work and schedule and hiatus thing I took about 5-6 years ago. Then he asked me what I thought about today's Hip Hop/Bboy/Bgirl culture and how I felt about it. This question caught me off guard, because up till that point I never really thought about it, so then I thought about it and thought about it some more. I replied with saying that I'd love to see more cypher based events, these types of events, or as we like to call them "Jams", are where you earn your stripes and build your reputation as a bboy/bgirl. For me it's where I feel the most comfortable, just me and the music and the vibe from the cypher, letting the music do what it wants to my movements. These types of jams are where we experience the real rawness of hip hop culture, the intricacies of breakin, and the control that the DJ has over the crowd/dancers. IT'S IMPORTANT. PERIOD. As I say this, I also understand that competition events thats wildly popular now amongst the youth in breakin is what is catching their interests.
Competition has and will always be a driving force behind Hip Hop, it's how we as practitioners get better. However, social media has changed the way Breakers and hip hoppers alike interact with each other, which I think is great. What I want, for me, is to be able to take someone under my wing again and mentor them the same way I was mentored. Through this type of teaching I can pass on lessons i've learned from those that came before me, and what I feel like is needed right now. Don't get me wrong I see there are efforts in our communities to keep that tradition alive and for that I'm appreciative. I just want our youth to know the importance of being able to hold your own in a cypher battle where you're not critiqued by a handful of judge, but instead being judged by a crowd. Maybe im spoiled, maybe I didn't enter enough competition style battles to understand the full grasp of battling someone or a crew I know nothing about, but then again I preferred to bug out in cyphers. Thats where I stand right now, it could change, after all I've been dormant for about 5 years.
Shout out to those that's worked their asses off to be successful in hip hop, it's not easy and I recognize that! I appreciate you all that's keeping the culture alive and all the hard work y'all put in, it inspires and motivates me and for that I thank you!
