Foundation

Joseph Schloss's book Foundation takes a surprisingly close look at the b-boy community in New York city between 2003 and 2008. What first struck me was that the b-boy community was still very much alive. Everyone seems to associate this movement with the 70's hip hop, then to a fad in the early to mid 80's (By the way, this book is not about breakdancing!)and then fade into the annals of history. This is far from the truth. Although the scene has lost a lot of exposure in recent years, the practitioners of b-boying and b-girling are in every major city from New York to Miami.

Going down the chapters we see a gradual progression from the music and people that sparked b-boying to the methods and techniques used. The first thing Schloss wants to convey to the reader is that b-boying is more of an experience that a spectator sport. To truly understand the b-boy movement you have to find yourself in the company of mentors and peers that push you into honing your skills as a b-boy. In fact one of the references to Foundation, the books title is about going back to learn from the practitioners from years past and learn from them. Schloss tells us that the originators still have moves that could put the modern b-boy to shame.

The beat and the break are huge influences on what happens on the dance floor. Its like the opposite of christian sects that think bass is 'of the devil' and dancing should be forbidden. They know that there is a certain energy in the break that is irresistible to dace to. B-boys embrace this energy and have turned it into a science.

The dance itself is just as much of an amalgam as hip-hop. B-boy take elements of dance, gymnastics and martial arts as well as a gamut of original moves. And its these original moves that seem to be as closely guarded as any trade secret. The sources in the book tell stories of holding dance practice in remote locations and watching out for spies from other crews. Even in the battles one was very careful to only best his opponent by a fraction, least he have to reveal his full arsenal of moves. I equate it to something like a game of horse. When some one plays a lay-up you don't follow up with a shot from mid court.

Another interesting element of the book is the way surfaces and spaces play such a huge roll in how a b-boy performs. Do a back flip on a stick surface, and win some points, do it on a slick surface and expect to slip and break your face. The venues such as apartment lobbies, and cyphers also play a roll in how you break. When its in a lobby, its mostly for fun. In a cypher, it was a battle. Two totally different uses of what could look like the same room and surface.

Over all it was a very insightful book, if anything else. It went through laborious details at times, but I believe that was Schloss's intent: to produce the definitive text about modern b-boying.

Graffiti Art and Hip Hop

As a cultural movement has different facets incorporating the talents of different artists, so to does hip hop apply broadly to several different artistic disciplines. In the readings we were exposed to the visual arts of hip hop, in graffiti and in photography.

Photography is the visual record of history. Hip hop from the early 70's to today, has seen an array of people recording its evolution. From Martha Cooper, a middle aged woman who captured the first images of hip hop, to Ricky Powell, a "weed head" ,known for his colorful pictures, documenting hip hop from Def Jam and beyond. The importance of this is that they were documenting history but with their own twist added for effect. Where one photographer would favor the candid photos of everyday people on the street, to others that staged shoots of hip hop celebrities in order to enhance their image. As stated in the former, many photographers were merely taking pictures of the realities of life in the Bronx. This was important in preserving the context from which hip hop evolved. How can we understand what in means to be from the streets, without seeing the street? How can we really appreciate where someone comes from with out seeing pictures of neighborhoods peppered with trash, drug dealers, youth engaged in various actives etc. A picture really does give us a sense of the context no words could adequately describe. Technically one wouldn't place hip hop photography in the same category as, say DJing, however the purpose it serves is just as important all the same.


Now graffiti is a New York saw the evolution of graffiti from a form of vandalism to a form of art in the early 70's. Although it evolved separately from the main hip hop culture, much like skateboarding was independent from punk rock, it still overlapped in style and in the people pushing its boundaries. The style hailed from the underground comix of the 60's and 70's. One has to only look at the artistic renditions in "Spraycan Art" and look at the art of Spain Rodriguez (Trashman), Robert Crumb (Zap) and Gilbert Shelton (Freak Brothers. The stylized lettering, the off color "ballooned" caricatures and the almost psychedelic use of color and line. It was even stated in "Spraycan Art" that Vaughn Bode was one of the "spiritual ancestors of graffiti..." Its interesting to see the public's perception change over the years. The initial war on graffiti that New York undertook was center piece of many an elected official. Many could argue that is was an effort to suppress an art form from the cities minorities. Now Banksy, one of the more prominent graffiti artists of today has an entry on the website "Stuff White People Like". Its odd how things of this nature can be absorbed so completely into society where, not 30 years ago, cities were waging a war on it, much like the war on drugs today.

Gender and Racial Rolls in Hip Hop

Prophets of the Hood was a very dense book covering a wide variety of social topics and their impact on the Hip Hop world. Although Perry has a keen understanding on topics as varied as commercialism and song structure, I think she over-thinks some topics a little bit. One quote that stood out for some reason: "Much as the crochet cap-wearing and dreadlocked populist Afrocentrist sensibility operates as an affirmation of the black body, those who celebrate the "around the way" people and styles affirm the cultural spaces of the black poor." I think she needs to tone down the adjectives. After a while she starts to sound like a Pitchfork review.

Although some parts were hard to get through, the chapter that really made sense was "B-Boys, Players, and Preachers". This chapter made a lot of good points about how African American males are portrayed in the media, Hip Hop and in society. The chapter started off by telling us the hierarchy of members of society according to gender and race. Perry points out that black men subjugate black women in response to their role that white men place on them. This comes about by white men subjugating black men. So we can already see that black women < black men < white men. The roles that white society places on black men becomes sort of a caricature after a while. Perry points out that hypersexuality and hypermasculinity are attributed to black men by white society. In response, black men embrace these roles and the manifestation is made clear in Hip Hop lyrics and the posturing of black men in the media. Perry points out that these stereotypes filter down and become self fulfilling prophecies. This starts to become a chicken and egg argument after a while but it makes you think about how a culture responds to expectations placed on it by society. I can speak from experance that as a white male I am expected to complete a 4 year degree. Its an expectation placed on me by my family and by others I interact with in the community. I'm not sure I would have the drive to complete college if the expectation was that I wasn't good enough to attend college. Now think about African Americans living in the inner city's being told that their expected to end up in prison. These roles or expectations placed on black society extend to every aspect of a black persons social and private life. . Kind of makes you think about what impact your stereotypes has on others, doesn't it?