It was a sunny day as I walked down San Pablo Avenue in Oakland. I looked around and enjoyed the scenery, because I had never been to this area of town before. As I walked by a couple of buildings, I heard loud music coming from one of them. As I got closer, I heard the sounds of kids practicing karate. I knew I was in the right place, because I knew the dance studio was also a martial arts studio.
I looked up and saw the words Destinys Arts, drawn in red paint across the top of the building. I walked through two double doors that led me to the loud music I was hearing. I entered a small office where several people were on the phone. This seemed ironic to me because when I had repeatedly called the studio, the answering machine was always on. I came to the studio because I was looking for a man named Rashad, a hop music Culture Rap">hip hop dance teacher.
I walked up to a lady and asked her if she knew Rashad. She said yes, and that he would be coming back around 6: 30 pm that evening. Since it was only 4: 30 pm then, I knew I did not have the time to sit and wait, so I decided to write a message for Rashad and leave it in his mailbox. I wrote out a page long letter requesting a phone interview, and left it in his mailbox. As I walked out of the studio I had a feeling of great insecurity, because I did not know if I was going to be able to interview him or not. Time was ticking away, and I was getting closer and closer to my deadline.
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A couple hours after returning home, I decided to call Destinys Arts again to check to see if Rashad had gotten my message. When I called, a young woman picked up the phone. I asked for Rashad and she handed him the phone. I asked him if he got my message in his mailbox that day. He said that he had and that he would be happy to be interviewed.
We decided on 9: 00 pm that night to conduct the interview over the phone. He gave me his home phone number and we hung up. I was so happy that I got my interview set up that I organized all my information for the interview that second, so I would be ready when I called him. At 9: 00 pm I called him and he picked up the phone. “Hello, this is Max from Head-Royce,” I said. “Hey,” he replied.
I planned on asking Rashad the same questions that I used on my other interview with Scorpio, and then planned to compare and contrast their responses. My first question was how he got started with hip hop. He told me that he had always loved making movement with or without music and he incorporated music into everything he did. He had a love for music ever since he was very young and loved moving to music. “It was an alternate way to express myself,” he said. In the early 1990’s, when hip hop was on the rise again, Rashad got into hip hop.
As hip hop got more and more mainstream, Rashad was exposed more and more to the culture. More precisely, the dance aspect of the culture. Rashad loved moving to the music, and now he had hip hop music to move to. Coming from Oregon, Rashad did not have the same exposure that most city kids have to hip hop.
Hip hop was not as widely accepted in Oregon, as it was in a more urban society. This led Rashad to the underground scene of hip hop where the dance aspect is almost as important as the music itself. In the 1990’s, some of the popular songs to dance to were “The Freaks Come Out at Night” by Houdini, and almost any song by Run DMC. Some of the popular dances of the time were the Cabbage Patch, a dance that is done by moving your arms in an outward circular motion as if you are picking something out of a patch. And the Running Man, which was also very popular in the 1990’s.
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It is a dance that makes a person seem as if they are running in place by going forward a step then sliding the same foot backwards as if you are running in place. Rashad explained to me how hip hop dance has changed over the years. He explained that in the beginning, hip hop was expressed as representing where you ” re from and it portrayed a certain idea or theme. “Now, it’s all about excess, how much you can flaunt, the more women, cars and “bling bling” the greater your status. It’s about how much you can show off,” explained Rashad. During the conversation Rashad told me about a common misconception between break dancing and hip hop.
He said that hip hop is a culture as well as a dance form, while break dancing is a sub culture to hip hop. Hip hop is a more free flowing form of dance, while break dancing is more restricted and has precise moves that are part of the dance. “With hip hop you can become very creative in what you do; your movements come from within. Your movements come from how your feeling and how you want to move to the beat. Break dancing is an art form that contains many techniques and exact movements that cannot be altered.” replied Rashad. While he said this, I wondered what he leaned towards in his dance, more hip hop or break dance.
So I asked him. “Definitely hip hop!” he replied. “I love to create new moves on my own and I can do that through hip hop dance.” Next, I asked Rashad about his preferences on popular hip hop dances of the time. Before I could give any examples of what I meant by popular dances, he replied with the Harlem Shake, booty dances and the infamous C-Walk. I was extremely happy to hear this because my opinions were exactly like his on the subject of popular hip hop dances. Rashad told me that almost every day when he teaches hip hop, he sees someone do the Harlem Shake in a routine.
He expressed his appreciation for this dance, because of the creative twist you can put into it. “I really like the Harlem Shake because there are so many things that you can do with it. You have the base move of the shaking shoulders, but then you can put your own original twist on it and make it something cool,” Rashad explained. I wanted to know what Rashads’ thoughts were about the raging popularity of these three dances.
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“A Reflection of Hip Hop’s Past: Is it Still Relevant? ” Have you ever noticed the similarities between hip hop dance and African dance? Has the rhythm in African drums ever remind you of hip hop beats? How about Minstrel shows and the purpose behind them; are they similar to hip hop shows today? There is in fact a strong connection between the three topics and the hip culture. Hip hop is full of ...
He said that they were just another group of dances in the on going cycle of hip hop. He said that for each generation a new group of dances are made and accepted, but now with the growing popularity of hip hop music, the dances to the music are continually being created. I was glad to hear someone else’s thoughts about the dances of today, and to obtain some information on the constant creative cycle of popular dances in hip hop culture. I also wanted to know how Rashad taught hip hop dance to other people and what type of techniques he used to teach people how to dance.
Rashad replied that he teaches “dance vocabulary” which is the choreographed movements of a certain dance performance. Rashad does not usually teach individual dances. He typically teaches the “base moves” to a dance, which is the generic form of the dance, but then he lets the students put their own creative vibe into the dance. Rashad himself specializes in something he calls “Tribal House Hip Hop” which is a mixture of three types of dance that are of the same theme.
Tribal stands for the dances of the indigenous peoples and how they moved to the music. House stands for the under ground form of dance which is a very creative interpretation of hip hop. And Hip Hop stands for the primary representation of urban dance in its freest form. Another subject I wanted to learn more about was the actual scene of a live dance performance in a club.
In clubs, this type of dance often leads to a “battle” which is a competition between two people, showing an attitude towards one another. Battling has been a part of hip hop since day one and is still a large part of the culture today in lyrical form, and with dance. In a battle, two dancers will engage in a back and forth competition to see who has the best moves. The first competitor will show off their moves, and then he or she will stop and give the other competitor a chance to showcase their moves. The battle goes back and forth until a winner is decided by the crowd or by the dancers if they feel there is a mutual tie between them. Battling is often done at clubs or dances in order to showcase ones talent.
The Term Paper on Hip Hop Music Culture Rap
HIP HOP'S AFFECT ON CULTURE Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the ...
I asked Rashad about his preferences for hip hop music now, and what songs he liked dancing most to. He said that any song with a cool beat he likes, but a good beat is mandatory for hip hop dance, because that is what a dancer moves to. The song, “Lets Get It” by G-Dep, is the anthem for the Harlem Shake and many songs by Missy Elliot are popular amongst hip hop dancers. Rashad mentioned that The Neptunes are a duo of producers who are producing all the songs that are currently heard on hip hop radio. “The Neptunes are shaping hip hop music right now, and bringing it to the forefront once again.” said Rashad. For my final question, I asked Rashad to give me some advice for a person who is just starting out with hip hop dance.
He said to first research what part of hip hop dance interests you the most so you can have a strong knowledge about the subject, so you are clear about what you are trying to accomplish by getting into hip hop. He also stressed that you should learn about the entire culture before you jump into it, as you do not want to misrepresent hip hop culture. Through my interview with Rashad I have gained a new aptitude and appreciation for the hip hop culture. I learned that hip hop was more than a dance or a song; it is a whole culture that has influenced many and still continues to have large affect on people all over the world.
