Five Things on Freestyle: Vocabulary (New School Hiphop)

New School Hiphop Dictionary:

1. Monastery
2. C-Walk
3. Bankhead Bounce
4. Walk It Out
5. Harlem Shake
6. ATL Stomp
7. Tone Whop

Five Things on Freestyle: Vocabulary (Middle School Hiphop)

Middle School Hiphop:

1. Party Machine

2. Running Man
3. Roger Rabbit
4. Steve Martin
5. Bart Simpson
6. Pepper Seed
7. BK Bounce
8. Butterfly

Five Things on Freestyle: Vocabulary (Old School Hiphop)

In connection with the "Five Things on Freestyle" by Buddha Stretch, I am determined to share what I have learned from the Dance Dictionary. I've seen some of these steps in movies before when I was younger. I just didn't know then that they had names, and they actually are part of the vocabulary of Hiphop (lol)!

More than just a type of dance, hiphop is a culture. Without knowledge of the foundations and vocabularies, one can NOT claim that he or she is dancing hiphop. So I hope this can help you on your journey to real hiphop. Peace!

Hiphop Old School  Dance Dictionary

1. Smurf

2. Prep

3. Reebok

4. The Wop

5. Cabbage Patch

6. Happy Feet

7. The Fila

Watch the video here:

Difference Between LA and New York's Style of Hiphop (by Bobby Mileage)

Bobby Mileage of Elite Force Crew shares his opinion of the difference between LA and New York's style of hiphop.

At the end of the video, he emphasized the following:
1. "Learn your history. There are documentaries out there. There are 'Suns of James Brown', 'Everything Remains Raw', 'Respond to Sound', 'Reckin Shop: Live'."
2. "Hiphop does have history, it does have steps, it does have technique"
3. "...And for all you people who claim you're hiphop, if you don't know who the originators are, stop calling yourself hiphop. Go out there and research."


This video from Youtube is not meant to offend anyone, just sharing legit stuff. Peace!

Dance is Inspired by Music First (from Brooklyn Terry)

Brooklyn Terry of the Elite Force Crew shares his connection with dancing. Here are the highlights I noted from the video:

1. "The way I approach dancing? I don't approach it actually, it approaches me through music. I don't consider technique first because what matters is what the music is making me feel. Before these things (techniques) ever existed at all, we were just dancing, just moving to the music."

2. "People call me a house dancer which I think is funny. But I'm just a dancer. When I'm out there on the dance floor, I'm just dancing to the music...whether it be funk, hiphop, house, breaks, whatever. I'm just dancing."

3. "Some of them dance-dance first, not music first. They see someone dance and get inspired by someone dancing, that's why they dance. While on the other hand, most of us we were first of inspired by the music that's why we dance."

5."Is there a way to get people to understand that? People only listen to music while they are dancing. I listen to music constantly. That special connection between you and the music, that time where you just close your eyes and you forget that anyone is there, that's the special thing."

6. "Everyone is focused on being the 'best'. Once you're the best, where you gonna go? Instead of focusing on being better, they focus on by being the 'best'. That's why they spend too much energy on battles, and not on music first."

Five Things on Freestyle: Rhythm (vs. Musicality) by Popula

After watching the video of Buddha Stretch regarding the Five Things on Freestyle, I was inspired to know more about them. I found videos of Popula on Youtube. In this video, he talks about the difference between Rhythm and Musicality.

This came in prefect timing for my dilemma. As I've noticed in recent battles that I've joined at or served as prod staff, it's no doubt that the crowd cheers for a dancer who kills the beat, a throwdown that's hard to battle with.

This video explains that a dancer must NOT ONLY hit the beat, but also DANCE THE BEAT.  Things to ponder on:

1. "So what if you hit the beat? If you hit the beat but you didn't dance in it and out of it,it doesn't matter."
2. "Rhythm gives you the flow into the beat before it breaks"
3. "If you try to hit EVERY BEAT in every 8 count outside of the boom-clap,then you don't have rhythm, only musicality."

So before the concept of musicality and trying to catch all the different throwdown beats, remember the basics and essence of dance. Every dancer has his or her rhythm. It's your own flow to the music, regardless of musicality. If not, then everybody can hit the beat and claim they're a dancer, don't you think? Hence, rhythm and musicality must blend and work together to have a good flow and break to your freestyle.

Watch Part 2 of the video in here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWV19BluK04&feature=related

"Five Things on Freestyle" by Buddha Stretch

Buddha Stretch of the Elite Force Dance Crew is the OG (originator) of hiphop. In this video, he shares the different elements of freestyle which are:

1. Rhythm
2. Technique
3. Vocabulary
4. Style
5. Character

Listen and learn from this. Peace! :)