Hip-Hop Journal

B-boy crews in public schools?

2005-07-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

Today I went to visit one of my old high school girls at her Mom's. We both just ended our summer classes so we decided to meet up. We had a great time but I had a real Hip-Hop awakening when I was there.

Teresa and I were in the kitchen joking and laughing about good times that we had back in school. After a few hours I was on my way out, but as I headed to the front door, I noticed Teresa's brother was practicing break dancing moves in the living room. I stopped and asked him what he was doing and he said "practicing" and I was like "practicing for what?" And he said Im practicing my dance moves so that I can hang out with the b-boy crew this year. I asked him what the b-boy crew was and he said that it was the break dancing crew at Potomac High school. He said that they are basically a crew that hangs out after school every Tues and Thurs for about 2 hours and they battle with each other. He said that the girls are always hanging out and watching the b-boys and it is the coolest after school activity that Potomac has.

I was really shocked. I did not remember a b-boy crew when I went to school there. Right then and there I started thinking...Are you serious? I take one hip-hop class and it really opens my eyes to how much it affects our world and everything around us. I was completely shocked that they actually had a crew, but I was excited at the same time. I kind of want to see the guys dance one day, I think it would be pretty cool to watch high school kids battle it out! But I guess that Hip-Hop is really affecting the youth and young teens are really beginning to express thier culture more and more each day. It's just something interesting to think about.

Eminem not quittin?

2005-07-27T16:22:00.000-07:00

I had heard a rumor recently that Eminem was planning on retiring after his Anger Management Tour. I was not sure if it was true or not, but I just read an article that said the rumor was a misunderstanding. I guess that sort of misunderstanding happens a lot when you are a big time Hip-Hop artist. I'm sure tons of rumors are passed around all of the time, I don't know how the artist handle and keep track of it.

Eminem quoted "When I say taking a break, I'm talking about a break from my music to go into the studio and produce other artists and put thier albums out, that's what I call taking a break for me." I can definately see why people may have misunderstood his statement. Taking a break could mean a lot of things.

In Hip-Hop there are artists that come and go. You could be interested in one particular artist and then the next week a totally new artist could be coming out. Eminem happens to be one of the number one Hip-hop artist out there right now and I am sure that he intends on keeping it that way. At least for a while anyway - why would he want to retire now if everyone really enjoys his songs?

www.rapindustry.com

Nelly and Reebok have announced a long-term partnership

2005-07-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

In my Hip-Hop Class, we have talked a lot about fashion and fashion trends. Fashion is a huge part of today's Hip-hop in my opinion. It represents your own personal unique style. A lot of Hip-Hop artists wear the most expensive clothes and shoes to show that they have money. Other Hip-Hop artists wear clothes to represent them and their crew. For example, G-Unit...even I have a few G-Unit shirts in my closet...and why....because it's "cool" and I like G-Unit so I will rock an outfit with thier name on it. Fashion trends represent people and their styles in so many different ways.

I just read an article about Nelly and Reebok. They have decided to partner and the new line will be launched this Holiday season of 2005. The collection features clean, aggressive, sport-inspired designs with unique colors and materials that reflect Nelly's personal style and flavor. Nelly and Reebok are perfect examples of Hip-Hop Fashion Trends.

Personally, I still rock Reeboks-they are really comforatble and I like the style. I am interested to see what the new line will look like, espcially since Nelly is creating the new styles. Having a Hip-Hop artist create designs and styles really targets certain audiences and promotes Hip-Hop to everyone who is interested.

www.rapindustry.com

Nas pays 2 mil for beat?

2005-07-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

I just read an article on Nas. Nas was reportedly working on his new album when he came across the tightest beat ever. The price for that beat was $2 million! Busta Rhymes had quoted that "the beat was the craziest beat he ever heard." But I mean...is a beat really worth that much money? I guess that is where commercialization comes into play in Hip-Hop. Who ever has the most money, the tightest beats, and the best albums are the ones on top. Supposedly Nas and P Diddy went on a bidding war to see who wanted the beat the most. Money wasn't a thing...it didn't matter how much the beat ended up being. Whoever got the beat in the end was the one that was going to have the best song. We have talked a lot about commercialization in our Hip-Hop class and I think that this a perfect example.

www.hiphopdx.com

B-boys and B-girls are awesome!

2005-07-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I was watching this new show called "So you think you can dance." It was pretty interesting and it lasted for two hours, I think. Anyway, there were a lot of b-boy and b-girls that auditioned for the show! It was pretty awesome to see how many of them showed up and they were ALL excellent! The show welcomed all different types of dance; It was interesting to see all the different cultures and styles. I found the b-boys and b-girls the most interesting and I think that the judges did too because a lot of them were asked to go on to the next round.

It was great to see hip-hop on this show. It gave the b-boys and b-girls an opportunity to be on Television and also the chance to become a professional dancer. In my opinion, the b-boys showed more passion and soul than the other contestants which ranged anywhere from belly dancers to modern jazz dancers. I loved watching the b-boys because they were so fun, very talented, and they had great attitudes.

On the show, they select a few individuals here and there and show kind of like a summary of thier dance experience, where they are from, and what kind of dance they preferred. They showed a few different b-boys and all of them had the same responses which was that they enjoyed dancing, they learned on the streets, and dancing was their life. One b-boy in particular said that dancing is just him, thats what he does. He likes to show off in front of people and he likes the reactions that he gets when he shows a difficult move. His response reminded me of the attitude's that graffiti artists have. What they do is art, and it just a part of them, they do it because it means something and thats what they like to do.

Tester Blog

2005-07-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

Before taking Hip-Hop Literacies, which is a class offered at George Mason University, I really had no idea what hip-hop was truley about. I could probably have taken a few guesses here and there, but I have come to realize that Hip-Hop is a culture and there are many aspects within that culture. There is Dee-jaying, B-boyin' and B-girlin', writers or graffiti artists, Emceeing, and all kinds of other knowledge of self & culture type of people. So far, I feel that I have not experienced very much of hip-hop within my life. What I am slowly coming to realize is that hip-hop may affect me and my life more that I think it does...