So here's a poppin' mixtape for everyone to get (for free). I mixed this using DJ Smoke's turntables, about a month ago.
It was meant as a sort of promo for Sexy Diamond Singapore, but I've also decided to share it here.
It's mainly a Poppin' mixtape but I'm sure you hip hop heads can get down to it too :) (Sorry to the lockers, housers and bboys! but I got love for you guys yeah?)
Anyways, here's the tracklist: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Above The Law feat. Heather Hunter - Freak In Me (Instrumental) Myko - Give It To You (Instrumental) The Alkaholiks - Run Wild (Instrumental) Utada Hikaru - Addicted To You (Underwater Mix Instrumental) The Tyrezz Project - Chill Fix Zone Dabrye - Smoking the Edge Styles P. feat. Miri Ben Ari - We Gon Win (Instrumental) [Props to Bobby Mileage (Elite Force Crew) for this track!] Suga Free - Where You From DNOI Edits - Doin It Movin (DNOI edit) Unknown Georgee Talkbox - A Brighter Star (Phat Mix) Mr. Wiggles - Bump Tiffany Affair feat. Jody Breeze - Start A Fire (Instrumental) Aelpeacha - Jamais Grandir (Dogg Master Remix) Big Pig - The Best Works C-Ray-Z - Bangloose DJ Warrior - New West Same Gang (Remix) J Wells - One Shot Kill (Big Pig Remix) Brian McKnight - Don't Know Where to Start Olli - BUUMMM Kay Bee - Bring The West DJ Renegade - Home Sweet Home! G Funk feat. Rocky Padilla - Get Ready pSyk - Flip That Shit The Tyrezz Project - Strobelight Machine Zone DJ Mulder - Bump (Remix) JG - Ni Hao [Props to Kie Loong for the track] pSyk - Bump (Remix) The Tyrezz Project - Groove Zone Act 2 Michael Jackson - Can't Let Her Get Away [R.I.P. King of Pop] Roger Troutman - So Ruff So Tuff (Remix) The Tyrezz Project - Groove Zone Act 1 Unknown The Tyrezz Project - Block Party Zone Shalla - Funk Paradise Skalp - Funkin' For Jamaica The Tyrezz Project - Thriller Night Zone Olli - Back To Decade 80 pSyk - Step To This Studio R feat. Capitol A - A And R (Original Mix) JG - Real Marvelous Funk 3 Olli - Pockets Fat Rufus Troutman - Fight Of Faith Dayton Project with Gutch-G - Party Down (Nu Tune Beat Mix) DNOI - Sexy J. Holiday - Oh Sheila Michael Jackson - Just Good Friends Black Eyed Peas - I Can't Make You Dance Prince - Dance 4 Me Unknown DaFONK - Twin Cities Nelly - Spaz Out ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beat boxing has got to be a dancer's best friend when it comes to wireless speakers and battery-less music players. Haha... Well, creating music purely from your mouth is difficult. Lets give these guys some credit man. Do support the Beatboxers as they do their stuff.
Who knows? Maybe they would replace all the music players in the future. :)
Food For Thought : If you're stuck, seek your thoughts.
Yo yo! It's KS in the house *flabbing arms frantically* In this post, I will be touching on how dancers can improve themselves BY themselves :D
I believe that every dancer has experienced the 'stagnant period' before, where you are unable to get a breakthrough from your dance.
YES. You might be wondering, what ways are there to get out from it.
Obviously, that the best way to breakthrough from it is to continue improving. (In terms of free-styling) For me, I like to take videos of myself down whenever I have the chance to session. Usually I'll just ask my friends to help me comment on me, and we'll repeat it vice versa. Here's the thing: You don't get to see yourself dancing. So whenever I comment on my friends, I will take a mental note on myself not to repeat those mistakes. Similarly, if there is any good parts, I will try to make an analysis on why that particular set was good.
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DISCLAIMER:
There are some 'theories' that should not be analysed, and BY RIGHT should not be explained (notice the contradiction here), because I believe that these are things that differentiate the good dancers and the BETTER dancers, in terms of both dancing and judging. If you know it, good for you. If you don't know, learn :D
This one, quite bo pian, you need to train by yourself and learn through experience. Otherwise you'll never be able to apprehend it completely.
One more thing. Don't try to explain too much of dance in theories. Bad for health *coughs*
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This is how I break it down: (comes with additional locking terms) 1a.Flow (how the movements alone transit from one step to another)
I like to see movement alone when people are doing sets. Like for example, how a person transits from a wrist twirl to a double lock and then a kick-ball-change. You could do it the simple way. Or maybe do a single lock on both sides. Or you could transit to a whichaway after the kick-ball-change. You could break it down into isolations, dance with a stiff body (which looks more animated), or add in the upbeat rhythm.
1b.Flow (How the movements goes in sync with the music) Obvious examples would be like: When you hear a trumpet sound in the song, it is natural to 'whip' out a point. Or you don't do beat-ish steps when the music has a drag in it.
In general, every song has their own 'feel' interpreted differently from each dancer, expressed through different musical instruments. That 'feeling' that you get from your interpretation, will represent your flow when you dance to the song.
For example, a locker doing moves to a funky song, as compared to another locker doing moves with and extra upbeat to a funky song. The flow that comes will definitely be different, because the second dancer has added rhythm into his dance.
2.Rhythm Rhythm is referring to the way your body move in a rythymic manner. A good example would be drum beats. Simple rhythm, 1 2 3 4, 5 6 7 8 Alternatively, 1 2, 3 and 4, 5 6, 7 and 8 OR maybe 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, 5 6, 7 and 8
So when the music goes a normal basic rhythm "Boom, pa, Boom, pa, Boom, pa, Boom, pa", This is where you start to create your own rhythm. Take note, you don't have to neccesarily follow the normal rhythm. In general, good dancers are able to follow the rythym. But better dancers create their own rhythm and add it into their freestyle.
3.Musicality What's the difference between musicality and rhythm? Well, rhythm is representing the basic and regular beats that you dance to when you freestyle. Musicality on the other side, refers to hitting irregular beats, or very subtle sound effects that may come out in the song.
Let me use a song as an example: Blockbuster - rhythm heritage A simple explanation of rhythm, would be dancing to the basic beats of 1 2 3 4, 5 6 7 8. Musicality comes in when you hear the very climatic parts (eg. trumpet) These are the parts where the beats are irregular, and hence different from the normal basic beats of the song (rhythm)
After understanding these 3 basic components in doing a good dance free-style,then you will be able to do your homework - record your dance videos and comment on it. This will help you to see your weaknesses and strengths in a clearer view so that you can work on them.
Just one point to take note of: One thing about musicality, is that dancers are trying too hard to hit all of the subtle sound effects and crazy beats. However, when we dance, we need to maintain the rhythm and flow to be able to present the crazy beats at its best. Otherwise, you'll just end up waiting to freak the beat and it's back to waiting for the next beat to freak, which doesn't make sense because you're supposed to dance.
I will recommend everyone to get a pair of good inner-ear earphones and start listening to the different layers of instruments to understand the song better. House songs in general add/remove another instrument in the song in every 4 sets of 8, so it will be easier for people to differentiate the layers :D
Hey guys! Its Marzipan here with your style article of the month on Popping!
As you all know, popping has been viewed as rather "solo freestyle"- Thanks to all the hao lian kia around ... hahah you know im just kiddin about that last part right? Dont get offended all you poppers! Freestyle is the main element but choreography or group dynamics dont escape either. But for now, ill just elaborate on one of the main aspects of freestyle : The Dance Circle
Anyways, when we all first started, most of us are pretty scared of the circle. Yea you know which one im talking about, THAT circle. THE Circle. Otherwise known as The Arena, The Cypher, The RITE OF PASSAGE. Im sure you get my drift.
This Circle is an intimidating one, and you find your knees sometimes reduced to agar-agar, the cold wind blowing your teeth to a chatter and you might also end up vibrating into a pop... Haha. But yet, its such a part of our lives like our waistline....Ummm.. Yes the growing circle is good but not a growing waistline :P Anyways back to the circle, it is a place for you to show what you got and to just dance your heart out. Dancers sometimes say they get into the "Zone" where by they just get possessed by the music and everything else just comes subconsciously! Waaaaaay better than drugs dont you think?? Also, the circle is sort of like a platform for dancers to just come out in any situation, formal or informal. Think of it as a Personal Stage. Isnt it nice? A personal stage at almost anywhere with music!
Almost anything can happen in a circle: a callout, a battle, a showcase or just taking turns dancing. But as all dance ethics go, no fighting. The most popular forms are the Cypher and Battle Circles.
Now how do you get those nerves to stop shaking when you enter this nefarious sounding circle? Why, Practice of course! The more you enter the more confident you will feel. It may sound so simple but it really takes alot of time and frequency before you finally find your comfort level in a circle.
This now leads to the question of how to find a circle? Well, the best way is to find out if any poppers around you are going for a "session". Alternatively, you can start your own session and call others down! Sessions are a great opportunity to form a cypher circle and just watch each other dance. Comments and suggestions can come after the dancing is done. This is also one of the fastest ways to improve your dance as well as your circle-nerves. :) Thats why having a community is so important. Sessions also help to keep people together and helps new dancers feel more welcomed. So guys go out there and LET THERE BE SESSIONS!!!
As part of the effort that SGD is putting into growing the scene, we may come up with Session timetables next time. So you guys can find the nearest cypher location and dance! But please try to get this culture going. Its not just popping that has this culture. Every other street dance was born like this!
"When you dream you dance with your eyes closed. When you dance you dream with your eyes open"
Sup everybody, it's Jasmine and Ben aka pSyk comin' at you with our first post for the revamped SGD!
As you know, we're part of the SGD team and we're going to cover anything that is under "Hip Hop Freestyle", so we both decided that a great way to kick things off is by having our first spotlight feature on the legendary Elite Force Crew.
Since both of us are doing this post together, we'll write it in a "third person" sort of perspective so it's easier for you, the reader, to see who's writing what.
If you guys don't know about who the Elite Force Crew are, they are, in a very concise nutshell, a group with a long history, and are the very people who helped shape the culture of "Hip Hop" as we know it today. (talk about Living Legacies eh?)
On a side note, if you haven't watched Reckin' Shop: Alive TV, then you're really missing out on a whole lot of history on the dance and the culture.
So on to the video(s) that we are highlighting on this post:
This footage is taken from a guest performance that they did earlier this year in Beijing, China, at Keep On Dancing Vol. 5.
Ben spoke to Buddha Stretch and Bobby Mileage regarding this performance, and so he decided to spread what he learnt here. (For identification purposes, at the start of the video, from left to right: Buddha Stretch, Bobby Mileage, and Henry Link)
We'll start off with part 1, and then move on to part 2 as we progress.
They start things off with a tribute to Michael Jackson, and maintain the "Who's Bad" theme throughout the entire showcase. If you're wondering why "Michael Jackson" since this footage was before the King of Pop passed on, it was because the Elite Force were choreographers for some of MJ's music videos, most notably "Remember The Time" in which they invented and performed the move known as the "Bart Simpson". They actually perform a part of the "Remember The Time" choreography at 2:12, right after the trademark "Thriller" move. The "Bart Simpson" is performed at 2:19-2:27. I'm pretty sure alot of you know this move but just didn't know the name of it. We'll talk about names and history of moves in another post!
Well anyway, just watch and enjoy as they display their vocabulary in Hip Hop and House. The amazing thing to note is that they build their choreographies around basic and foundational moves, without much variation.
Some of the House vocabulary they use are "Farmer" at 2:42, followed by "Criss/Cross", "Skate", "Loose Legs", "Salsa Step", "Jacking", "Tip-Tap-Toe", and even some toprocking! It's amazing how much vocabulary we can learn just by watching them dance.
"It's very important to expand our vocabulary, because not only do we aquire more knowledge, but it also helps to aid us in our freestyle. " - Jasmine
Sometimes we feel stagnant, or rather repetitive when we try to freestyle. It's okay to be repetitive as long as you have your swagger on and you know what you are doing. But if it's the same vocab in every stage of your freestyle, it just means that there's more vocabulary to be learnt!
The term here is "Swag" - the short form of "Swagger". It's all about your swagger.
Swagger: to walk or strut with a defiant or insolent air.
It's not about how difficult your moves are, it's all about how you perform / execute them. How much swag do you have? It's about enjoying the music, enjoying the dance, and showing how well you can do what you do best: be yourself.
Most of the time, we tend to think too much when we dance to a song (especially songs that we don't know). We get so caught up in thinking of what we should do, and we end up forgetting to enjoy the pleasure of dancing. Usually we attend classes to learn new techniques, and we just keep practicing them. We can pre-plan choreographing techniques and steps but we cannot do so in when it comes to freestyling. Freestyle puts us to a test of skills in everything we have experience and learned throughout our dancing exploration.
Especially in freestyle battles, that's the time for you to get your swag on.
So after the first solo (Bobby Mileage), they come back together and perform a choreography to T-Pain & Ludacris's "Chopped & Skrewed". The beauty of this choreography is that it truly shows what Hip Hop is about, not conforming to any particular style or genre. It's all about drawing inspirations and falling back on different roots of dance, and putting your own swag into it.
Next is Henry Link's solo. This solo is one of Ben's personal favourites of all time, simply because Link destroys a track that is labelled as a "Popping Track". Look at his swag... as Kanye West would say it, "Swagger on a hundred thousand trillion". No boundaries, and not conforming to any rules. Link dances with a myriad of influences such as Popping, Locking and House, but he puts that "Link Swag" into the dance, and tears the roof down.
After Link's solo we see a canon-type of routine (made very popular back in the day by groups like Medea Sirkas aka Demons Of The Mind). Simple yet effective. What struck me was that the Elite Force were bringing things back to the roots, not just in dance, but in the music. The song they performed to is "Universal Mind Control" by Common, and Common mentioned in an interview that he drew inspiration for his track from Afrika Bambaata's "Planet Rock". Really puts a spin on "Old Skool, New Style" haha...
Following that is Buddha Stretch's turn to perform his solo. He, like Bobby, performs in 2 segments, which sees him start off in straight Poppin (because Popping is his favourite dance style), followed by Hip Hop. In Ben's opinion, he feels that Stretch is the most technical dancer out of the whole of Elite Force, because he's able to dance a handful of styles but he never "fuses" them. When he dances hip hop, it's 100% hip hop. Likewise when he dances Locking, Popping and House.
"Every time I watch Stretch perform his solo, it strikes me really hard that he's able to dance a full-length solo based on only foundational and basic moves with very few variations, but 100% swag." - Ben
They end off their showcase with a "routine". "Routine", because Stretch told me that they wanted to introduce 2 new moves and this was how they wanted to do it. (and of course, they picked the perfect song: "Swagger Like Us")
The last routine begins with a new move called the "Imari Stomp" (7:25), named after Bobby's son, who invented the move. at 7:36 we see them do the "Bad One". I'm pretty sure you've heard some tracks (especially DJ Webstar's tracks) with the vocals saying "Bad One, Bad One" or "Do the Bad One". This is the move!
We hope this spolight entry will fill you with some insight and inspiration. Stay tuned for the next post... until then, remember, it's all about YOUR SWAG!
Hello guys, its been a long while since ive posted. Hope everyones been doing great! It was a pretty eventful year thus far, with many overseas talents inspiring sunny Singapore. What surprises will the year end hold? I wont know, but i can only hope to be pleasantly surprised. Haha.
As you guys can already see, the blogsite is currently under revampment..if there is such a word. Give us some feedbacks and let us know if it is too glaring for your eyes, or if you fell asleep navigating, or if you are just plain fussy...haha kiddin on the last bit.
Articles coming your way VERY VERY soon...and ill bring back more stories from Korea :)
