Pinoy hip hop

Filipino hip-hop or Pinoy hip hop (also known as Pinoy rap or Filo rap) is hip hop
music performed by musicians of Filipino descent, both in the Philippines and overseas, especially
by Filipino-Americans.
The Philippines is known to have had the first hip hop music scene in Asia since the early 1980s,
largely due to the country's historical connections with the United States where hip hop originated.
Rap music released in the Philippines has appeared in different languages or dialects such
as Tagalog, Bicolano, Chavacano, Cebuano, Ilocano and English. In the Philippines, Francis
Magalona and Andrew E. are among the most influential rappers in the country, being the first to
release mainstream rap albums. Apl.de.ap of the The Black Eyed Peas, Cassie Ventura, and Chad
Hugo of the Neptunes and N.E.R.D. are among the contemporary Filipino-American hip-hop artists.

History
Origins
Hip hop music found their way to the Philippines back when the country was under the American
rule.[2]
The towns and barrios surrounding the numerous American military bases that were scattered
throughout that country such as Clark Air Base in Angeles City and Subic Bay Naval
Base in Olongapo were among the earliest to be exposed to the culture; as contact with African-
American, Filipino-American and Latino servicemen resulted in some of the earliest exposure the
locals had to the new musical genre.

1979-1980s: Seeds of a movement

In 1979, the earliest rap recording came from Dyords Javier's single "Na Onseng Delight", a parody
of Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang, released under Wea Records. That same year, pionee r
Vincent Dafalong released the album Okay Sa-rap, with singles "Ispraken-Delight", and "
Mahiwagang Nunal".
Groundbreaking hip hop films such as Wild Style (1982), Breakin' (1984) and Krush Groove (1985)
were influences. In 1982, local breakdancing crews like the Angeles City-based Whooze Co.
International, with members consisting primarily from Clark Air Base, The Eclipse (whose former
members included Francis Magalona, Dance 10's Darwin Tuason and current Federation Sounds'
Glenn "Kico" Lelay), Info-Clash Breakers and Ground Control, whose members included Rap Master
Fordy (later to be known as Andrew E.), and Jay "Smooth" MC of Bass Rhyme Posse became
mainstays in local parks and malls in and around the Metro Manila area such as the Glorietta Mall,
which was an early hotspot for breakers. Several mobile DJ crews of the era included such names
as the Rock All Parties Crew which emerged onto the scene only to produce such future Pinoy rap
pioneers as Andrew E. and Norman B.

1990s: The Golden Age [edit]

The genre soon entered the mainstream with Francis Magalona's debut album, Yo! (1990), which
included the nationalistic hit "Mga Kababayan" (My Countrymen). Magalona became an
instant superstar thereafter.
More artists followed in Magalona's footsteps. The list includes Andrew E. who released his first
single, "Humanap Ka Ng Pangit" (Look For Someone Ugly) in 1990 and Michael V.with the release
of his first song "Maganda Ang Piliin" (Pick Someone Pretty), a cover of Andrew E.'s "Humanap Ka
Ng Pangit!", in 1991.
Known as the "Golden Age" of Pinoy Hip Hop, the 1990s marked the beginning of many rapid
stylistic innovations beginning in 1991 with the establishment of the Disco Mix ClubPhilippines which
was one of the earliest platforms for Philippine DJ mixing battles. Early innovators of the style
included DJs Carlo Yalo, Noel Macanaya, Rod "DVS" Torres and Omar Lacap among others.
Following the path set forth by their Bass Rhyme predecessors, the tri-lingual rap group Rapasia
released their self-titled debut record in 1991, garnering the hit "Hoy! Tsismosa". One of the earliest
Filipino hip hop groups to embrace such an abstract format, the album's lyrical content o ften
contained a mixture of various Philippine languages (including Tagalog and Chavacano) along with
English.[12] Rapasia's innovative style would later be built upon years later by other Pinoy rap groups
such as Zamboanga's Ghost 13. Rapasia's members included Martin "Bronx" Magalona, brother of
Pinoy rap entrepreneur Francis Magalona. The other two members are Filipino -American, Ronald
Jamias a.k.a. Ronski J and the Tausug born Ben Mohammad a.k.a . Brother BM. The group was
initiated via an International Rap Competition sponsored by VIVA records and was held at the Music
Museum in Mandaluyong. Andrew E emceed the program.
Mastaplann was also another group that did all their music in English. The group had 3 DJs and 2
MCs. The MCs were known as Type (Johnny Luna) and Tracer One (Butch Velez, brother of famous
actor Vivian Velez). They released 3 albums that went multi-platinum. The group was formed in 1992
in the Philippines, with original group members Butch Velez a.k.a. Tracer One, Johnny Luna a.k.a.
Type Slickk, Disco Mix Competition DJs Sonny Abad, Noel Macanaya a.k.a. DJ MOD, Lopie
Guzman a.k.a. DJ Ouch (also of 89.1 DMZ-FM & RSL Sound & Lighting Company), and managed
by Jesse Gonzales and DJ GILBY. Butch and Johnny were balikbayans from the San Fernando
Valley near Los Angeles, CA, Sonny a balikbayan from Hercules, CA, near the San Francisco Bay
Area and Noel and Lopie native Filipinos. In 1992, Mastaplann was signed by Universal Records,
where they released two records; in 1993, their debut eponymous release, and in 1994, The W ay of
tha Plann. These albums eventually obtained platinum status and are still selling worldwide.
The pioneering Pinoy hip hop act Bass Rhyme Posse would release their self -titled debut album
on VIVA Records in 1991 which spawned the cult hits "Let the Beat Flow", "Buhay Estudyante"
(Student Life) and "Juan T." becoming the genre's first rap group to release a record.
1992 marked a turning point for Pinoy rap with the release of Francis M's influential second
album, Rap Is Francis M, which is highly regarded as one of the greatest Pinoy rap albums ever.
Ushering in a socially awoken wave not seen in the Philippine music industry since the heyday
of Juan De La Cruz, Sampaguita and 1970s Pinoy rock, Magalona's tracks dissected the various
cultural, social & political problems that plagued his country such as drug addiction in "Mga Praning"
(The Addicts), political corruption and instability in "Halalan" (Election) as well as the detrimental
effects of a colonial mentality to Filipino culture in "Tayo'y Mga Pinoy" (We Are Filipinos). The
record's complexity and socially sentient message quickly earned it its classic status and became
the standard by which future albums of the genre were to be compared to. Magalona's enduring
contributions to the genre would later be recognized in the All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The
Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop (2003) published by Backbeat Books; as well as in the U.S.-
based hip hop publication The Source (May 2004).
Another Filipino hip hop artist who achieved prominence during the 1990s is the formerly Los
Angeles-based DJ Andrew E (born Andrew Espiritu), whose tracks "Humanap Ka Ng Pangit" ( Look
For Someone Ugly) and "Makati Girl" (as done by Norman B. of Bass Rhyme Posse; the first Pinoy
rap track recorded to contain beatboxing) became monster hits in the Philippines, rivaling even
Francis M's previously untouchable reign on top Pinoy rap's throne. Prior to landing a recording
contract, the rapper had competed in various rap contests around the Philippines; the likes of which
also produced Pinoy rap stars Michael V., Denmark and Martin "Bronx" Magalona. Andrew E's 1991
hit "Humanap Ka Ng Pangit" was the first to spawn a plethora of response records from other
rappers in the country, such as Michael V's "Maganda Ang Piliin" ( Pick Someone Pretty). The
rapper's ability to combine unique storytelling with raunchy and humorous wordplay la ced with
catchy beats made Andrew the first of his kind in the genre. He then went on to release a movie
entitled Andrew Ford Medina: Huwag Kang Gamol in 1991 which was the first film in the Philippines
to include a full-on freestyle battle on screen. By the mid-1990s he had established his own record
label, the controversial Dongalo Wreckords, as well as many successful rap groups,
including Cebuano rappers The Anthill Mobb, Madd Poets and Bicolano rappers Salbakuta. The
former, known for their complex and versatile lyrical ability, achieved fame with their debut
album Ikatlong Mundo. In 1997, Andrew E produced and hosted the first Pinoy rap television
show, Rap 13.
1994 saw the emergence of another rap group, headed by a female balik bayan from New York. T he
group called 4 East Flava consisted of 3 homegrown rapistas - Von "Mack" Padua (who was molded
by Martin "The Bronxman" Magalona and now with the group Pinoy Republic), Bernard "P -Slick"
Santiago, and Paul "Shorty" Navarro, 2 DJs (DJ Edge and DJ Mec), and Jug "Honeyluv" Ramos,
hailing from New York who was known as "the rose among the thorns". They brought out the hit
"Check the Hood" (used for a shoe commercial) which was misunderstood as a diss towards
Mastaplann.
The same year, going against the wave of radio-friendly rap tracks that dominated at the time, the
group Death Threat, founded by rappers Beware and Genezide, released the first Filipino gangsta
rap album which told tales of the daily lives and struggles impoverished Filipino youth faced growing
up in the slums of Metro Manila's barrios entitled Gusto Kong Bumaet (I Want To Be Good).
In 1997, the underground Pinoy rap group Pamilia Dimagiba released their groundbreaking
album Broke-N-Unsigned on Tenement Records, marking the re-emergence of the conscious emcee
in Pinoy rap. A coalition of sorts, Pamilia Dimagiba composed itself of several underground Pinoy
rappers and crews such as 8th Messenger, Shadowblyde, Spoon, Murder -1 of Khan's Assassins,
and Young Galaxy of Iron Triangle among others. The raw seven-track, politically minded album was
a breath of fresh air at the time; as Pinoy rap during the era had taken a more hardcore, gangster
persona. Known for their coarse lyrics, serious subject matter complemented by heavy be ats fused
within traditional Filipino folk music, the camp's records by the names of "Duelo", "Manila's Finest",
"Reality Hurtz" and "Brainstorming" among others were largely in essence a throwback to the early,
nationalistic Francis M inspired days of the genre.
The widespread popularity of Pinoy rap in and around the islands has resulted in the spawning of a
new breed of Pinoy emcees: Junior "Rapistas". Far from being a new trend, Jaymie "Baby" Magtoto
and her 1991 hit single "Eh! Kasi Bata" (Cause I'm a Kid) was an early example of Pinoy kiddie
rappers. The single was also included in the soundtrack for Jaymie's motion picture debut of the
same name released later that year.
The 2000s saw the resurgence of grade school rappers in Filipino hip hop. 2005 was a breakthrough
for kid rappers in the Philippines as Aikee, through the Madd World/Circulo Pugantes Camp
released his debut Ang Bawat Bata (Every Child) on Alpha Music and at eleven years of age,
became the youngest Filipino rapper to release a full rap album.

2000s: The rise of Philippine hip hop scene [edit]

In the new millennium, Filipino hip-hop rivalled Pinoy rock's traditional popularity amongst Filipino
youth. Artists who are currently active and have released both rap albums and music videos in the
Philippines since 1990 include: Andrew E, Denmark, Francis M, Beware, K-Ozz, Micheal V.
and Gloc-9. Other popular rap artists and groups of the 2000s included: 2 High, 6 Signs, 7 Shots Of
Wisdom, 8th District, Anak Ni Bakuko, Lawiboi, Apokalipsis, Artstrong, Akuma, Bass Rhyme Posse,
BB Clan, Black Pro, Blanktape, Boom, Brownstyle, C-4, Candy Cousart, Chill, Chinese Mafia,
Circulo Pugantes, Cris Asero, Cypha-Sis, Dagtang Lason, D.O.P.E. Rekordz, D-Coy, Deceivious,
DFT, Death Threat, Defuca Zapata, Down Earf, Dugong Pasay, Dugong Ponebre, EHP, El Latino,
Flipz, Fungzoi, Genezide, Ghetto Doggs, Gio Alvarez, Grounded, H-Bom, Heaven Scent, Hidyas
Clan, Hi-Jakkk, IPK, Jawtee, John Rendez, Johnny Krush, K-9 Killaz, Kain @ Abel, Kartada Nueve,
Karayama, Katuga, Kawago, KFS, Kruzzada, Kulay, Kut-5 Trilogy, Lady Diane, Legit Misfitz, L-
Smith, Lyrical Assault, Madd Poets, Mastershock, MC Lara, M.C.M.C., MC Dash Calzado, Mega
Force Crew (formerly known as Grand Assault Tribe), Rapskallion Familia, SYKE, O-Man, O.G.
Sacred 1, DMJ, Mike Kosa, Mike Swift, Godswill, Mista Blaze, Misteazas,Nuztradamuz, OBLAXZ,
Quickie, Rap Asia, Razzamanazz, Renegade Souljaz, Sakit ng Sucat, Salbakuta, Seedz, Sly Kane,
Stick Figgas, Sun Valley Crew, Syke, Urban Flow, and Verbal Sativa.
In 2000, the golden-era rap group Mastaplann released a third album through BMG Records, under
the new sub-label, Francis M's Red Egg Records, entitled Mastaplann.com, a reference to their
newly developed website. Additionally, the group scaled down their line-up to just Butch and Johnny,
and then added Johnny Krush, another balikbayan from the San Francisco area. This album has
already obtained gold status in the Philippines, and is also still selling. Currently, the group is based
in the States where they still perform and make music. Mastaplann is currently working on their
fourth album, yet to be titled, to be released under True Asiatik Productionz.
Since 2004, the Philippine Hip-Hop Music Awards has been held annually in Metro Manila. The
show is reminiscent of The Source Awards in the US. Gloc-9, considered to be the fastest rapper in
the Philippines and former member of the rap group Death Threat, held the title for Best Rap Artist at
the awards show for four consecutive years, from 2005 to 2008, achieving mainstream popularity
and releasing successful commercial albums every other year. Like the American hip hop industry,
music videos have become an important trend (even containing small cameos from different Filipino
rappers) and air on TV channels like MTV Philippines and MYX. Despite Metro Manila's powerful
position over the music industry, rap groups in the south have started to gain their own share of
popularity, like Dice & K9 a.k.a. Mobbstarr from Cebu City with their first hit single "Itsumo" in 2003,
Thavawenyoz from Davao City with their debut album Hubag in 2005, and Zambo Top Dogz from
Zamboanga City, known for their Chavacano rapping in the songs "Noticias" and "Conversa Ta". It is
also not uncommon for Filipino-American artists to perform live, sell records, and win awards in the
Philippines while living in the States, for example Pikaso from San Francisco, California who won the
Producer of the Year award in 2008.
In 2002, Carlo Maniquiz and Nick Tuason, together with the assistance of FUBU's headquarters
in New York City, established the FUBU Philippines clothing line, opening up several stores in the
Philippines. In promotion of the new franchise, Francis M released a compilation album showcasing
new local hip hop talent as well as two volumes of Tha Rappublic of the Philippines series, which
featured young unsigned Filipino rap artists that were discovered through the nationwide talent
search of the same name (including groups Crazy as Pinoy, Kamandag ng Marikina, and the Stick
Figgas). Francis M would also go on to form his own clothing line in 2006 called Francis Magalona
Clothing Company (FMCC) which are sold at his own branches of stores ca lled Three Stars & a Sun.
The F-Word was an album Francis M was rumored to be working on in 2008 to follow his last album
from 2000, but leukemia and other health problems interfered later that year.
The popularity of artists such as Dice & K9 a.k.a. Mobbstarr (Singing the popular combination
of Japanese and English Pinoy hip-hop single, "Itsumo"), Pikaso, Audible, and Krook and J.O.L.O.,
who primarily use English lyrics in their tracks, has given way to the ongoing divide between Tagalog
lyricists and English lyricists. With English tracks dominating the airwaves, several Tagalog -based
emcees have felt a sort of bias in the Philippine music industry, which favors artists who use English
rather than Filipino. The conflict over language became evident in the 2004 Black Eyed Peas concert
in Manila in which rapper Mike Swift's Tagalog-based track was cut short halfway through the song
due to the "English Only" policy enforced by the event's organizers towards Black Eyed Peas'
opening acts.
Rap group Salbakuta, under Andrew E's Dongalo Wreckords, recorded the track "Ayoko Ng
Ganitong...", which contained lyrics partly attacking such "English Only" Pinoy rap artists.
In 2006, the group Stick Figgas, runners-up in Francis M's Rappublic of the Philippines talent search,
released their debut album Critical Condition under joint-release with Dice & K9's 6000
Goonz imprint and Francis M's Red Egg Records sub-label, which, amidst critical acclaim, sparked a
resurgence and renaissance of sorts in Tagalog rap. The Stick Figgas relied on clever punchlines,
creative lyricism and intricate rhyme schemes, re-introducing a technical poignancy that has been
absent in Tagalog rap since B.B. Clan's first album Mabanges. This rap style has arguably inspired
the current generation of Tagalog rappers to place much more emphasis on multi -syllable rhyme
schemes, punchlines and metaphors than before.
Some Time in 2008, B-Block Release a single titled, "Ika'y akin lamang".
In 2009, after the death of Francis Magalona, independent rap label and production emerged in the
local rap scene such as Wika Records of D-Coy and PR Records and Entertainment (as owned by
Von Padua of Pinoy Republic), Pikaso's Hustlin Records, Longevity Records and Turbulence
Records, Young JV's Doin' It Big Productions. Pinoy hip hop fashion has also emerged such as
Pinoy Republic, Turf Clothing, Rapista Clothing, Boss Balita and Wika following Francis M's clothing
line FMCC.

2010s: FlipTop battle league, trap genre emergence and Second

Golden Age
The influence of the original rap battle leagues in the West – Grind Time Now (U.S.), King of the
Dot (Canada) and Don't Flop (UK) – all founded in 2008, inspired the creation of other battle lea gues
around the world, FlipTop being one of them, in 2010. This local rap battle competition typically
involves both parties (either 2 rappers or 2 duos) hailing mudslinging words and rhyme s at each
other, who are then judged at the end based on a number of factors including flow and use of
insults/punchlines and audience impact. The one with the most votes from the judges is declared
winner. Some popular artists who participate in FlipTop include Loonie, Smugglaz, Abra, Dello,
Zaito, Bassilyo, Batas and BLKD. Due to success of FlipTop, many amateur and other rap battles
arose such as Sunugan, Bolero Rap Battles, Bahay Katay, etc. The emcees also began to make and
produce their own music. Famous battle emcees turned musicians from the early 2010s period
includes Abra and Shehyee, the two most popular and also Loonie, Smugglaz and Bassilyo, most of
them signed with big-time record labels in the country. Shehyee signed with Viva Records while
Loonie and Bassilyo signed with Universal Records and MCA Music, respectively. However, Abra
founded his own Artifice Records that would eventually become defunct.
During the late 2000s up to early 2010s, some Filipino rap artists began to concentrate and
incorporate homosexuality issues into their songs. In 2009, indie rapper Dagtang Lason released a
song called "Nagmahal Ako ng Bakla", a song about lads who prefer to love a gay because of their
disappointment with girls. The song became popular among teens, internet cafés and
the jejemon culture at the time. In 2012, Gloc-9 released the song "Sirena", in which the music video
features a gay person from his childhood to teenage years being abused by his father. Also in
2012, Abra released "Gayuma", which features a man who is in love with his partner, but it turns out
the partner is a gay, which the man realizes later on after being given a potion.
By 2015, several prominent trap & hip-hop recording artists emerged with notable hits, unknowns
from the underground scene became household names. The most popular artists which carries
styles mixed with R&B and soul associated with trap beats influenced by Western hip-hop nowadays
includes the hip-hop collective, Ex Battalion, with the hit "Hayaan Mo Sila" that almost topped the
now defunct Billboard Philippines Top 20 chart, teen prodigy hip-hop sensations Shanti Dope (with
hits including "Nadarang" and Mau"), kiyo, Angelo Acosta and Because. Rising star BJ Castillano
(popularly known as Because) striked a deal with Viva Records after his track entitled "Marlboro
Black" first released on the platform SoundCloud became viral. Other names include Al James,
Arvey, Skusta Clee and his own trap & hip-hop trio, O.C. Dawgs, with the track "Pauwi Nako" that
became a nationwide-hit in 2019. Filipino hip-hop acts also began to incorporate trending hip-hop
sub-genres from the U.S. in their tracks such as lo-fi and trap soul. Hip-hop groups like ALLMO$T
and Manila Grey (based on the U.S.) also made a huge influence and garnered tens of millions of
streams from Filipino music listeners in 2019. Their tracks were used in social media challenges like
the "Dalagang Pilipina Challenge" which uses the track entitled "Dalaga" by ALLMO$T, the one of
the most streamed hip-hop tracks in 2019.
Since 2017, the local hip-hop underground scene led by prominent hip-hop collectives such as
Baryo Berde, 727 Clique, OWFUCK, 357 Pro (Rekta Sa Kalye) and Bawal Clan was established.

Other elements of hip hop

The art of MCing or rapping in Filipino hip hop is also represented in other forms such as battle
rapping, or freestyling. Several annual contests such as the Fête de la Musique, the Blazin' Freestyle
Battle and PR's Rap Mania are held annually within the Philippines specifically aimed at showcasing
such talents, often drawing masses of undiscovered, amateur Pinoy "rapistas".
Artists representing other elements include b-boy crews such as The Battle Krew (TBK), Funk Roots
Crew, Soulstice Crew, Air Grounds Crew, Tru Asiatik Tribe (TAT) and The Balikbayan Tribe (BBT);
"grapistas" such as Flip-1, Bonz, Ripe-1, Dope, Chas-1, Meow and Xzyle, and graffiti crews such as
Samahan Batang Aerosol (SBA), Pinoy Bomber Crew (PBC), Pinoy Style Insight (PSI), Day Night
Bombers (DNB), Katipunan Street Team (KST) and Crime In Style Crew (CIS), as well
as beatboxers Christopher Oreo a.k.a. BoomBuster and Cool MC Norman B (of the Bass Rhyme
Posse).

Beatbox
Beatbox is another element of Hip-hop, Xam Penalba a.k.a. The Bigg X represented the Philippines
at the Beatbox World Championship last May 29–30 of 2015 at the Astra Kulturhaus Berline. He is a
member of the Philippine Human Beatbox Alliance and beatbox group Microphone Mechanics with
members G-Who, Leaf, Mouthfx and Abdhul.

Filipino-American hip-hop
Birth of a culture
Filipino-American hip-hop culture bases its historical roots in the Filipino American, Latino
American and African-American neighborhoods along the West Coast, specifically in Los Angeles,
the San Francisco Bay Area, and San Diego. The movement that had been born in the South
Bronx among Jamaican, Puerto Rican and African American youth in turn had its West Coast
identity formed within the respective African-American, Filipino and Latino communities. Similar to
the Filipino-American zoot suiters, be-boppers and ballroom dancers of previous generations, the
dynamics within these respective communities would reincarnate itself once again in the form of hip
hop. Since the 1990 Census, Filipino Americans have made up the secon d largest Asian Pacific
American group in the United States (after Chinese Americans), and until 2000 were the largest
Asian group in California. In West Coast hip hop, their role has been comparable to that of Puerto
Rican artists on the East Coast, who were an integral part, along with African Americans, in the
creation of the foundations of hip hop culture.
As early as the late 1970s, during hip hop's infancy, pioneering mobile Bay
Area Filipino mobile DJ crews such as Sound Explosion, Unlimited Sounds, Electric Sounds, Fusion,
Ladda Sounds, 3-Style Attractions, Ultimate Creations, Sound Patrol, Soundsation, Sound City
Productions, Kicks Company, Images, Non-Stop Boogie, Imperial Sounds, Unique Musique, Nite
Life Sensations, Rok A Long and Sound Sequence among many others helped capitalize on the
massive Filipino party scene by introducing the newly formed genre of music while spreading its
popularity throughout South San Francisco and its surrounding areas through paid gigs on
house/block parties, family gatherings, school pep rallies, weddings and church halls; primarily
playing and mixing electro funk alongside Latin freestyle. Rival crews would often one-up each other
by showcasing superior equipment and providing elaborate set-ups. Early mobile DJ stars included
DJ Ren (born Rene Anies), founder of one of the first Filipino American DJ crews Electric Sounds,
DJ Dynamix (born Dave Refuerzo) Sound Patrol established 3-Style Attractions a widely known
mobile DJ crew in the Bay Area, and DJ D-Styles (born Dave Cuasito), who in 1987 established the
mobile DJ crew Sound City Productions. In 1983, a real-estate agent by the name of Mark Bradford
established Imagine, which began primarily as a showcase for Filipino DJ talent in and around the
Bay Area and came to serve as the premier event for DJs until the founders' murder in 1991. The
movement would reach its pinnacle in 1987, when more than one hundred mobile DJ crews would
participate in all-important DJ sound clashes and showcases. By the late 1980s, the "mobile DJ"
movement had declined in popularity and had given way to the "turntablist", largely due to the rise
of Q-Bert and the innovation of scratching within the DJ community. The legacy of the "mobile DJ"
would live on however, because many of the Bay Area turntablists that would go on to define the art
in the 1990s such as Q-Bert himself, along with DJ Shortkut, often had their beginnings in mobile DJ
work. Also in New York City, early hip hop musician and Salsa legend Joe Bataan (half Filipino and
half African American) had one of the first rap hits, "Rap -O Clap-O", in 1979, released on
his Salsoul label. In 1986, DJ Nasty Nes (of Rap Attack fame) of Seattle launched the specialty
show Fresh Tracks on Seattle's 1250 KFOX introducing the first ever hip-hop radio station on the
West Coast. He would later go on to serve as the DJ for pioneering Seattle rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot.
In the 1980s, several legendary Filipino B-Boy groups such as the Renegade Rockers, Knuckleneck
Tribe, Rock Force Crew, Daly City Breakers, Jughead Tribe and Concrete Rockers also emerged
from the Bay Area rivaling even the New York City-based Rock Steady Crew, whose official West
Coast contingent is known to consist of several Filipino American members. Kalifornia Noize
Terrorists' Paul Sirate, better known as P-Kid[38] emerged from the Bay Area becoming one of the
early premier breakdancers and later went on to MCing and producing, lacing tracks for the likes of
the Bronx's Terror Squad and L.A.'s Pharcyde. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, pioneering Filipina rapper
Lani Luv (born Melanie Cagonot) became one of the early West Coast female MCs.
Several tagging crews such as Oakland's Those Damn Kids (TDK) were some of the originators of
"graf art" on the West Coast. It was during this time in 1983 that TDK's King Dream (born Michael
Francisco) surfaced out of the graf art world. Francisco utilized his pieces to celebrate, express and
educate from his own Filipino American background in order to promote tolerance while
simultaneously strengthening bonds with others from differing cultures, eventually achieving
international recognition. Now deceased (Dream was murdered in 2000), he is considered by many
to have been one of the greatest and most influential graf writers whose work had been expressive
of his urban environment while focusing on social issues concerning not only Filipino Americans, but
also other people of color in America such as police brutality, racism, nationwide liberation and
rebellion.[
Although generally associated with the West Coast with individuals and groups such as Blue
Scholars and Native Guns, Filipino American hip hop is increasingly represented by emcees in other
regions, from East Coast performers such as Q-York hailing from Queens, New York, (currently
residing in the Philippines) to Midwestern groups such as Chicago's The Pacifics. West Coast
rapper/producer hailing from Los Angeles, Sevenes who is one of the top versatile Filipino Hip Hop
emcee and known for his track "Lakas" which is known to be the first Tagalog rap to feature on an
American TV show NCIS: Los Angeles. Maryland's Gagong Rapper crew gained fame in the early
2000s by flooding the internet with their home-recordings and heading the underground sub-label
Sandamukal Records. L.A.'s Grupo ni Berdugo and Sunog Baga, under F.O.B Entertainment, has
recently been making names for themselves, the latter being signed by Andrew E's Dongalo
Wreckordz and opening up for Gloc-9's L.A. show. Hailing from San Jose, California, Yung Rizzo of
Fly High Music Group, is one of the hottest up and coming rappers from his region. Currently he is
working on projects that include singles featuring mainstream artists The Jacka from Mob
Figaz and Mistah F.A.B., as well as his first studio album, Back of My Mind which is planned after
releasing the EP titled, Mindset.
Even further north of the American border in Canada, Filipino hip hop has established an active
scene, with the likes of Montreal's New Elementz, Vancouver's conscious rap-tandem The On Point
Collective, the veteran emcee Jae Spillz, Filipino rapper ONE3D, and the hip hop power label
Cashtown Records; home to a variety of artists including the underground Tagalog emcees
Franchizze One and Lyrikal Abstrakt, or Dos Armados, who went on to form their own label
subsidiary, Southeast Cartel.

Rise of the turntablists

By the 1990s, hip hop artists of Filipino descent (particularly turntablists like Q-Bert, Mix Master
Mike, and the Invisibl Skratch Piklz) achieved prominence and came to dominate the DJ art form of
scratching, introducing the world to a more innovative style of scratching utilizing a wide variety of
new techniques, including the playing of actual melodies, [47] as well as the inventions of the "crab
scratch", "tweak scratch", "strobing", and furthering the development of "flare scratching". [48]
In 1996, the International Turntable Federation, which hosts the largest international turntablist
competitions, was established by Alex Aquino. DJ Glaze of Long Beach's Foesum have together
been staples in the West Coast gangster rap scene since the G-funk era of the 1990s. DJ
Babu (born Chris Oroc) has gained notoriety for his work with the turtablism group Beat Junkies and
the alternative hip hop act Dilated Peoples. Many other notable DJ champions from other countries
around the world such as Canada, Australia, Japan and Germany have also been of Filipino
descent.
Other notable DJs include DJ Kuttin Kandi (the first woman to place in the US finals of the
prestigious DMC USA competition in 1998) [50][51] and DJ Roli Rho (1999 East Coast regional DMC
Champ/1999 & 2000 Vibe Music Seminar Champion of New York City's 5th Platoon), DJ Icy Ice of
Los Angeles' KDAY 93.5 FM, DJ E-Man of Los Angeles' Power 106FM, DJ Marlino a.k.a.
da5footafunk of San Diego's XHITZ-FM Z90.3, DJ Enferno (2003 US DMC Champ/2003 1st runner-
up DMC World) and DJ Geometrix of the Trooperz Crew, both from the Washington DC area, and
DJ Manila Ice (2007 DMC US Finalist) and DJ Jester a.k.a. the Filipino Fist, both from Texas.
Another longtime contributor is music producer and Hawaii's 1st hip hop DJ champion, Joseph
Netherland, better known as DJ Elite of Elite Empire Entertainment, LLC. Two longtime staples for
entertainment in Sacramento, CA are DJ Eddie Edul and DJ Billy Lane.

The "raptivists"
Filipino American hip hop also infuses influences from the native Philippine literary art of Balagtasan,
or Filipino spoken word poetry; although most Filipino American rappers primarily use English or
"Taglish" in their lyrics, as opposed to their Philippine-counterparts. In the millennium, underground
rap groups such as Blue Scholars, Native Guns (now defunct), and Kontrast have utilized this
method in their styles, producing pure hip hop while promoting community activism and social
consciousness through their lyrics, earning the title of "raptivists". Some groups, like San Jose,
California-based Sons of Rebellion, also unify several communities through their music as they
represent the Filipino American, African American, and Muslim experience. Lyrics from Sons of
Rebellion have even been used as part of a nationwide high school curriculum, for the technology -
based high school SiaTech, and tracks from former Native Guns member Kiwi's album Writes of
Passage: Portraits of a Son Rising have also been used in a Filipino-American literature course
taught at San Francisco State University. Many socially conscious and community minded Filipino
emcees often perform benefit shows to help out the Filipino community locally and internationally. In
February 2007, Filipino American emcees Kiwi, Kapatid X, Power Struggle, Praxis Roks, Blue
Scholars, and Rhapsodistas joined forces with other Filipino American community artists to perform
a Stop the Killings benefit concert in San Francisco, CA to help raise awareness about the political
climate in the Philippines. The Stop the Killings event utilized the power of hip hop to expose the
numerous killings of innocent people in the Philippines. [54] Blue Scholars and Kiwi went on to do a
subsequent Stop the Killings tour, with shows happening in several major cities across the nation.
apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda Lindo)
Perhaps one of the most successful mainstream Filipino-American rappers is The Black Eyed
Peas's apl.de.ap, who has released songs such as "The Apl Song" (Elephunk), "Bebot" (Monkey
Business), and "Mare" (The E.N.D.) which not only contain Filipino (Tagalog) lyrics but also native
Filipino musical elements. Pineda has also founded his own record label, th e Los Angeles-based
Jeepney Music, to help discover and promote Filipino hip-hop talent from both the United States and
the Philippines. "The Apl Song" not only contains elements of Tagalog and Filipino elements, but the
track itself according to video producer, Christina DeHaven, represents Allan Pineda Lindo's view of
the Philippines when he travels back for the first time since he was 14 years old. In the English
verses of the song, Pineda describes aspects of Filipino life back home which is seen in the lyrics,
"How would you feel if you had to catch your meal, Build a hut to live and to eat and chill in, Having
to pump the water outta the ground?". The shifting between Tagalog and English can be interpreted
as showing both languages as equal or in an equal hierarchical relatio nship to one another which is
especially important having included another language other than English in an American pop song,
even though English is one of the two official languages of the Philippines.
Pinoy Production: Chad Hugo
One of the most successful Filipino-American producers is Virginia Beach's Chad Hugo. One half of
the popular music production duo The Neptunes, Hugo, with his production partner Pharrell, have
laced chart topping hits for the likes of Jay-Z, Nelly, Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg among many
others. He has also collaborated with The Black Eyed Peas' apl.de.ap, making an appearance in
Apl's music video for "The Apl Song".

Media
Films
The 2000 documentary film Beats, Rhymes and Resistance: Pilipinos and Hip Hop in Los
Angeles (produced and directed by Lakandiwa de Leon, Dawn Mabalon, and Jonathan Ramos)
chronicles the development of hip hop culture among Filipino Americans in Southern California
during the 1990s.

Radio
There were two FM stations in the Philippines that played all kinds of R&B, hip hop and rap music.
These are the now defunct radio stations Power 108 FM & Blazin' 105.9 FM, which were the stations
that recognized the latest and the greatest of the hip hop genre. The former project known as
'Project: Hip hop' was founded in 2002 by three high school friends, namely DJ Caine, MC Satoshi
and Quaizy Ileon. Former radio stations such as 89 DMZ are now online
radio stations, streaming live on the Internet.
In 2007, Wave 891 eliminated its pop jazz/easy listening format and switched to full hip hop and
R&B in order to retain the Pinoy hip hop scene.
Hip Hop Dance is a style of dance with deep historical and social roots in African culture.

It’s a part of a whole culture of Hip Hop, which started in the 1970’s in the Bronx, New York.

The History of Hip Hop Culture

The Bronx in the 70’s was a rough, dangerous place to grow up. The youth were surrounded by
drugs, crime, poverty, gang violence, and overall struggle.

Yet they, particularly the African American and Latino youth (minority groups), were at best
neglected by mainstream institutions.

Desperate for a way to escape their everyday struggles, they invented their own art forms.

These art forms, which the youth embodied in the way they dressed, talked, moved, and expressed
themselves, soon became a lifestyle. A way to live.

This lifestyle and culture became known as Hip Hop.

Despite the negativity and tumult in the South Bronx, Hip Hop heads were able to rise above their
environment and create a positive form of release.

Instead of substances and violence, their energy was redirected to values like originality, creativity,
identity, respect, and community.

The same way that our religious, ethnic, familial backgrounds inform our way of being in the world,
Hip Hop was the way that people could be in a way that felt right to them.

Deejaying, Emceeing, Breaking and Dancing, and Graffiti weren’t just hobbies, they were
sanctuaries.

As much as the art forms within Hip Hop have evolved over the decades, the core tenants of the
culture remain.

What does “Hip Hop” mean?

KRS-One defines the etymology of “Hip Hop” in this lecture below.

“Hip” = present “Hop”= action.

Hip Hop is a movement that represents the freedom to learn, grow, and evolve.
It is still the same movement it was in the 70’s – the one that gave the inner-city youth the motivation
to live a better life.

He stresses that in order for you to be Hip Hop, you must actively participate in the culture by means
of…

Deejaying (turn tabling)

Emceeing (rapping)
Graffiti (writing / art)
Breaking (dance)
Knowledge
These are the 5 elements of Hip Hop.

Hip Hop music and Hip Hop dance

Hip Hop DJs

Photo by The Guardian

The first form of Hip Hop was turntablism, or deejaying.

DJ Kool Herc (AKA the “Father of Hip Hop”) used to start block parties in the West Bronx (AKA
the “birthplace of Hip Hop”).

He played music on his turntables and the community would come out to mingle and dance.

If you’ve ever heard of “1520 Sedgwick Avenue” that’s the address of the iconic building where
many of these first parties took place.

As Kool Herc watched the party people, he noticed that they got the most hype during the breakbeat
of a song.

(The breakbeat is the instrumental, percussive section in funk and R&B records.)

And since his job as a DJ was to keep the energy of the party up, he found a way to extend the
breakbeat by isolating it, then using two turntables to play it back to back on a loop.

Grandmaster Flash further innovated the art of DJing by using his headphones to pinpoint exactly
where the beats started and ended.

This allowed him to “precue” the beats and make seamless transitions between the breaks. (Price
156)

Afrika Bambaataa also expanded turntabling techniques.

As this happened, the Master of Ceremonies, or MC, or Emcee, would hype up the DJ and the crowd,
keeping the energy going.

By the late 1970s, DJs and Emcees were getting together regularly to– spin, scratch, cut, mix for the
community.
Photo by Voices of East Anglia

Hip Hop dancers

Breaking, later known as “breakdancing,” is a style of dance that was born through these parties.

Herc originally called these dancers break boys (b-boys) and break girls (b-girls) – because they
danced to his breakbeats that he looped.

Early Breaking also incorporated steps from a standing position and drops to the ground.

It also involved gestures associated with mock-battle forms, and movement on the ground including
spins and freezes.
Footwork and toprock both require being able to think in three dimensions, the ability
to create your own moves, and the originality to imbue every individual movement
with style, flavor, and originality. (Rajakumar 19)
The early b-boys and b-girls came from all kinds of backgrounds of movement.

They brought salsa, Cuban mambo and rumba, Brazilian samba, Jazz dance, as well as martial arts
like Kung-Fu and Capoeira to influence Breaking.

So imagine this scene – a DJ playing breakbeats, dancers (young and angsty) looking to release
emotion or assert their dominance or just be somebody.
The intertwined nature of the DJs and MCs trying to keep the dancers moving on the
dance floor with innovations in music as well as the efforts of the dancers to “one up’
each other contributed to flexible and organic creativity. (Dimitriadis 181)
*Note: Uprocking, also alled Rocking, is a whole dance in itself that came before Breaking. Dancers
that Uprock were called Rockers.

The culture of Breaking

Breaking battles became tests of athleticism, attitude, originality, and dominance.

B-boys and b-girls would dance against each other, trying one-up their opponent with each round.

They earned pride, respect, and a sense of identity and purpose from entering and winning battles.
Dance battles can be seen as a non-violent alternative to violence. Instead of asserting themselves
with weapons or violence, they did so through dance.

The dancers, DJs, and emcees all created an environment where everyone was respected for who they
were and how they expressed themselves.

Hip Hop party dance

But not everybody could do the athletically demanding moves of Breaking, nor were they interested
in competition.

And a different type of Hip Hop music prompted people to move a different way – a way that is
social, light-hearted, and fun.

Some examples of these social or party dance moves are the Snake, Chicken-head, Cabbage Patch,
Harlem Shake, and Running Man.

The Happy Feet was an iconic move in the 1980s, always danced to the rap song “The Show” to get
the party started.

As the dance scene expanded, multiple Hip Hop clubs sprang up all over New York. Two popular
ones were Latin Quarters and Union Square.

The Whip, Nae Nae, Dougie, Cat Daddy are examples of new school party dances that came from
recent songs. (Brandon Allen Juezan, Versa-Style Dance Company)

You can learn all these Hip Hop party dance moves with Jade “Soul” Zuberi on STEEZY Studio.

Click here to try it out for free.

Hip Hop culture and dance reminded those in the city that their differences – the color of their skin,
their background, their socioeconomic status – didn’t matter. That music and dance were for anyone
and everyone.

Other “Hip Hop” styles?

Styles like Popping/Boogaloo, House, Locking, and Waacking are often incorrectly grouped under
the Hip Hop “umbrella.”

However, these are not Hip Hop styles, but their own individual styles of dance with their own
techniques, vocabulary, and origin.

The social dances that developed in the 1980’s like Locking and Popping are more accurately
described as “West Coast Funk” styles.
Hip Hop dance in the media
Hip Hop started being noticed by the media in the early 1980’s.

Films like Wild Style, Style Wars, Beat Street, and Breakin’ were significant in introducing Breaking
and street dance culture to a wider audience.

In 1981, a battle between Rock Steady Crew and the Dynamic Rockers at the Lincoln Center gained
national exposure.

It was covered by several New York Publications, and even National Geographic.

In 1983, the movie Flashdance featured dancers from Rock Steady Crew (Crazy Legs, Ken Swift,
Frosty Freeze, and Mr. Freeze) in a cameo performance.

Graffiti Rock, though short-lived, was a show that bridged all the foundational elements of Hip Hop
together.

It is still “remembered as one of the pioneers of hip hop culture.” (Rajakumar, 35)

Soul Train, created in the 70s by Don Cornelius, also popularized Hip Hop social dancing along with
Popping, Locking, and other styles.
Breakers went on to be featured in commercials for major brands such as Burger King, Pepsi, Coke,
Panasonic, talk shows, news shows, and even the 1984 summer Olympics.

Charles “Cholly” Atkins and James Brown popularized several dance moves that would later
influence the future Hip Hop generation (Durden).

The ”King of Pop” Michael Jackson drew inspiration from the dancers of this era – particularly the
Lockers and Poppers he saw on Soul Train.

In 1983, he did the Backslide (often mislabeled as the Moonwalk) in front of a national audience
during his performance of Billie Jean on Motown 25,

Michael Jackson continued to fuse the things he liked from multiple generations of movers to create
his own unique style – one that continues to resonate with dancers today.

Elite Force, a dance crew from the 90s, was made of Hip Hop heads that also worked as professional
dancers.

The dancers were getting more exposure and opportunities, but the style and culture were depicted in
a watered-down and commercialized manner.
“Critics now find flaws in the films as examples of the early commercialization of
break dancing diluting the intensity of the socioeconomic roots of the origins of
breakdancing and hip hop culture – part athletic creativity and part struggle for
meaning in the midst of poverty and social alienation.” (Rajakumar, 38)
Universal Zulu Nation is an organization dedicated to the preservation and education of Hip Hop
culture.
Afrika Bambaataa was an early promoter of political consciousness in Hip Hop as a
means to address the social, economic, and political situation of nonwhite people
against the mainstream. (Rajakmar, xxvii)
The worldwide movement continues to practice, teach, and live all things Hip Hop.

Mainstream media’s effect on Hip Hop

It’s difficult to make anything appeal to a mass market while fully preserving its authenticity.

Mainstream media often inaccurately uses the label “Hip Hop” for marketing purposes. This distorts
the value of the culture and meaning that it carries.

Modern shows like America’s Best Dance Crew, Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can
Dance, and movies like Save The Last Dance, You Got Served, and the Step Up series further
popularized urban movement to younger dancers, but depicted underground Hip Hop culture in a
way that was more packaged, for the screen.

Because of the way the term was used in movies and shows, we started to see “Hip Hop” dance
classes in studios teaching “Hip Hop” choreography (that was more ballet, modern, and jazz-based
than Hip Hop based).

Documentaries like Planet B-Boy aim to depict the breaking culture in a more authentic way.
Featuring Ken Swift of Rock Steady Crew, the film follows b-boys who are training for the Battle of
the Year competition.

“Although b-boying is very popular and highly regarded in Europe and Asia, the
majority of Americans just see it as a simple street dance that street kids do.
Obviously, this is not the case and projects such as Planet B-boy continue to spread
the word and culture in the proper light.”
– Johnny Lee, executive producer

What Hip Hop dance means to us

Though Urban Dance Choreography* is not Hip Hop dance, we can trace some of its movements
and techniques to Hip Hop and street styles.
*I would more accurately describe “Urban Dance” as “Choreography” – or come up with any other
label that might be more fitting than “Urban.” But whatever we’re calling it, it’s not so much a style
as it is an act, or its own sub-culture within dance.

Anyway – the choreography that you see on your Instagram feeds or in dance studios or competitions
is a mix of any and all styles, sometimes including Hip Hop (Breaking or Party Dance influences).
Choreography mostly depends on the the training that the choreographer of that piece draws from,
and how they interpret the music. There are no real rules in “choreography,” as there are no real rules
in “freestyle” – unless it’s specified to be a “House freestyle” or “Waacking choreography.” So most
of the choreography you see can be a combination of whatever.

You can find out more about the differences between “Urban Dance” and Hip Hop here.

As a part of our jobs as dance educators and because of our personal understandings of how deep
dance cultures root back, STEEZY does everything we can to preserve and share the right
information – especially with the younger generation of dancers.
The History of Hip-Hop dance encompasses the people and events since the late 1960s that have
contributed to the development of early hip-hop dance styles, such
as uprock, breaking, locking, roboting, boogaloo, and popping. Black Americans and Latino
Americanscreated uprock and breaking in New York City. Black Americans in California created
locking, roboting, boogaloo, and popping—collectively referred to as the funk styles. All of these
dance styles are different stylistically. They share common ground in their street origins and in their
improvisational nature.
More than 50 years old, hip-hop dance became widely known after the first professional street-based
dance crews formed in the 1970s in the United States. The most influential groups were Rock
Steady Crew, The Lockers, and The Electric Boogaloos who are responsible for the spread of
breaking, locking, and popping respectively. The Brooklyn-based dance style uprock influenced
breaking early in its development. Boogaloo gained more exposure because it is the namesake of
the Electric Boogaloos crew. Uprock, roboting, and boogaloo are respected dance styles but none of
them are as mainstream or popular as breaking, locking, and popping.
Parallel with the evolution of hip-hop music, hip-hop social dancing emerged from breaking and the
funk styles into different forms. Dances from the 1990s such as the Running Man, the Worm, and
the Cabbage Patch entered the mainstream and became fad dances. After the millennium, newer
social dances such as the Cha Cha Slide and the Dougie also caught on and became very popular.
Hip-hop dance is not a studio-derived style. Street dancers developed it in urban neighborhoods
without a formal process. All of the early substyles and social dances were brought about through a
combination of events including inspiration from James Brown, DJ Kool Herc's invention of the break
beat, the formation of dance crews, and Don Cornelius' creation of the television show Soul Train.

Birth of breaking
According to hip-hop activist Afrika Bambaataa and b-boy Richard "Crazy Legs" Colón, the purest
hip-hop dance style, breaking (commonly called "breakdancing"), began in the early 1970s as
elaborations on how James Brown danced to his song "Get on the Good Foot". People mimicked
these moves in their living rooms, in hallways, and at parties. It was at these parties that breaking
flourished and developed with the help of a young Clive Campbell. Campbell, better known as DJ
Kool Herc, was a Jamaican-born DJ who frequently spun records at neighborhood teenage parties in
the Bronx. Jeff Chang, in his book Can't Stop Won't Stop (2005), describes DJ Kool
Herc's eureka moment in this way:
Herc carefully studied the dancers. "I was smoking cigarettes and I was waiting for the
records to finish. And I noticed people was waiting for certain parts of the record," he says. It
was an insight as profound as Ruddy Redwood's dub discovery. The moment when the
dancers really got wild was in a song's short instrumental break, when the band would drop
out and the rhythm section would get elemental. Forget melody, chorus, songs—it was all
about the groove, building it, keeping it going. Like a string theorist, Herc zeroed in on the
fundamental vibrating loop at the heart of the record, the break.

In response to this revelation, Herc developed the Merry-Go-Round technique to extend the
breaks—the percussion interludes or instrumental solos within a longer work of music. When he
played a break on one turntable, he repeated the same break on the second turntable as soon
as the first was finished. He then looped these records one after the other in order to extend the
break as long as he wanted: "And once they heard that, that was it, wasn't no turning back,"
Herc told Chang. "They always wanted to hear breaks after breaks after breaks after breaks." It
was during these times that the dancers, later known as break-boys or b-boys, would perform
what is known as breaking.
History of hip hop dance

A b-boy performing in Union Square, San Francisco.

Breaking started out strictly as toprock, footwork-oriented dance moves performed while
standing up. Toprock usually serves as the opening to a breaker's performance before
transitioning into other dance moves performed on the floor. A separate dance style that
influenced toprock is uprock, also called rocking or Brooklyn uprock, because it comes from
Brooklyn, New York. The uprock dance style has its roots in gangs.Although it looks similar to
toprock, uprock is danced with a partnerand is more aggressive, involving fancy footwork,
shuffles, hitting motions, and movements that mimic fighting. When there was an issue over turf,
the two warlords of the feuding gangs would uprock, and whoever won this preliminary dance
battle decided where the real fight would be. Because uprock's purpose was to moderate gang
violence, it never crossed over into mainstream breaking as seen today, except for some
specific moves adopted by breakers who use it as a variation for their toprock. [
Aside from James Brown and uprock, hip-hop historian Jorge "Popmaster Fabel" Pabon writes
that toprock was also influenced by "tap dance, Lindy hop, salsa, Afro-Cuban, and various
African and Native American dances." From toprock, breaking progressed to being more floor -
oriented, involving freezes, downrock, head spins, and windmills. These additions occurred du e
to influences from 1970s martial arts films, influences from gymnastics, and the formation of
dance crews—teams of street dancers who get together to develop new moves, create dance
routines, and battle other crews. One b-boy move taken from gymnastics is called the flare,
which was made famous by gymnast Kurt Thomas and is called the "Thomas flair" in
gymnastics.
B-boys Jamie "Jimmy D" White and Santiago "Jo Jo" Torres founded Rock Steady Crew (RSC)
in 1977 in the Bronx. Along with Dynamic Rockers and Afrika Bambaataa's Mighty Zulu Kings,
they are one of the oldest continually active breaking crews For others to get into the crew, they
had to battle one of the Rock Steady b-boys—that was their audition, so to speak. The crew
flourished once it came under the leadership of b-boy Richard "Crazy Legs" Colón. Crazy Legs
opened a Manhattan chapter of the crew and made his friends and fellow b-boys Wayne "Frosty
Freeze" Frost and Kenneth "Ken Swift" Gabbert co-vice presidents. RSC was instrumental in the
spread of breaking's popularity beyond New York City. They appeared in Wild Style and Beat
Street—1980s films about hip-hop culture—as well as in the movie Flashdance. They also
performed at the Ritz, at the Kennedy Center, and on the Jerry Lewis Telethon. In 1981,
the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts hosted a breaking battle between Dynamic Rockers
and Rock Steady Crew. The Daily News and National Geographic covered this event. In 1982,
their manager Ruza "Kool Lady" Blue organized the New York City Rap Tour, which featured
Rock Steady Crew, Afrika Bambaataa, Cold Crush Brothers, the Double Dutch Girls, and Fab 5
Freddy. This tour traveled to England and France, which spread hip -hop culture to those
countries. In 1983, they performed for Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Performance. The
following year, they recorded a song titled "(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew", which was
commercially released. RSC now has satellite crews based in Japan, the United Kingdom, and
Italy.

Capoeira debate [edit]

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art, described by Pabon as "a form of self defense
disguised as a dance." [27] Its influence on breaking is disputed and debated; one side believes
that breaking came from capoeira, while the other side denies this. Capoeira is hundreds of
years older than breaking, and uprock is similar in purpose to capoeira in that both translate
aggressive combat movements into stylized dance. Both breaking and capoeira are performed
to music and, since both art forms are acrobatic, some moves look similar to each other.
However, capoeira is more rule-oriented. One rule in capoeira is that a capoeirista's back can
never touch the ground. [28][29] In contrast, a breaker's back is almost always on the ground, and
the only rule in breaking is that you do not touch your opponent during a battle. [30]

Two capoeiristas dance-fighting in Rijeka, Croatia.

Jelon Vieira and Loremil Machado brought capoeira to the United States in the
1970s.[31] Throughout this decade Vieira taught capoeira workshops in New York City and started
a capoeira performance company called Dance Brazil that toured across the United States. In
Gerard Taylor's Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace (2005), master
capoeira teacher Mestre Acordeon is quoted as saying: "Demonstrations by Mestre Jelon
[Vieira] and Loremil Machado are considered by many to be responsible for the incorporation of
capoeira movements into breakdancing." Former Village Voice reporter Sally Banes and her
colleague, photographer Martha Cooper, witnessed breaking in 1980 while covering Henry
Chalfant's photography exhibit of subway graffiti. She wrote of the dance: "Its spatial level called
to mind capoeira, the spectacular Brazilian dance cum martial art form that incorporates
kartwheels, kicks, and feints low to the ground, but the two were dissimilar enough in shape and
timing that capoeira seemed at most only a distant relative, and certainly one the breakdancers
weren't acquainted with—at least on a conscious level." In his book Hip Hop Had a
Dream (2008), Damien Morgan states: "Breakdancing can have its origins in capoeira , because
it does not focus on injuring the opponent; it rather emphasizes skill towards your opponent, to
express yourself away from violence... in most cases, it is blatantly obvious to see some of
Breakdancing's foundations in Capoeira."
 "We didn't know what the f-ck no capoeira was, man. We were in the ghetto! There were no dance schools,
nothing. If there was a dance it was tap and jazz and ballet. I only saw one dance in my life in the ghetto
during that time, and it was on Van Nest Avenue in the Bro nx and it was a ballet school. Our immediate
influence in b-boying was James Brown, point blank."
Richard "Crazy Legs" Colón;
Rock Steady Crew

Several breaking practitioners and pioneers tend to side with the camp that does not believe
breaking came from capoeira. B-boy Crazy Legs states: "We didn't know what the f-ck no
capoeira was, man. We were in the ghetto!" According to Pabon, "Unlike the popularity of the
martial arts films, capoeira was not seen in the Bronx jams until the 1990s. Top rockin' seems t o
have developed gradually and unintentionally, leaving space for growth and new additions, until
it evolved into a codified form." B-boy crew Spartanic Rockers adds: "Despite of [sic] many
rumours and opinions Breaking didn't originate from Capoeira but d uring the last few years many
moves, steps and freezes of this Brazilian (fight-) dance have inspired more and more B-Girls
and B-Boys who integrated them into their dance." B-boy Ken Swift was breaking long before he
saw capoeira: "In '78 I started [breaking] and I didn't see it [capoeira] til '92 ... I was around,
too—I was in Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, I went around and I didn't see it. What we saw was
Kung Fu—we saw Kung Fu from the 42nd Street theaters. So those were our inspirations...
when we did the Kung Fu sh-t we switched it up and we put this B-boy flavor into it..."

Funk styles
While breaking was developing in New York City, New York, other styles of dance were
developing in California. Unlike breaking, the funk styles—which originated in California—were
not originally hip-hop dance styles: they were danced to funk music rather than hip-hop music,
and they were not associated with the other cultural pillars of hip -hop (DJing, graffiti writing,
and MCing). The funk styles are actually slightly older than breaking due to fact that boogaloo
and locking were developed in the late 1960s.

Locking and roboting

Like breaking, the different moves within the funk styles occurred due to the formation of crews.
Don "Campbellock" Campbell created locking, and in 1973 founded The Lockers (originally
called The Cambellock Dancers) in Los Angeles. Locking is characterized by consistently
freezing or "locking" in place while dancing. Campbell developed locking accidentally while
pausing in between dance moves when trying to remember how to do the Funky Chicken. [43] He
developed routines based on his new style using these pauses or "locks". Chang lists some of
the other dance moves performed in locking, including "...points, skeeters, scooby doos, stop 'n
go, which-away, and the fancies."
The Lockers made several appearances on Soul Train—the song-and-dance television program
featuring funk music, soul music, disco, R&B, and social dancing. They also appeared on The
Carol Burnett Show,[46] The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Dick Van Dyke Show,
and Saturday Night Live.[27] Three original members of The Lockers were Toni Basil,
who doubled as the group's manager; Charles "Charles Robot" Washington, a pioneer
of roboting; and Fred "Mr. Penguin" Berry, who played the character of Rerun on the television
show What's Happening!!.[47] Berry left the group in 1976 to be on the show and was replaced by
street dancer Tony "Go-Go" Lewis. After The Lockers disbanded, Tony Go-Go went on to open
a locking school in Japan in 1985.
Roboting comes from Richmond, California. Before joining The Lockers, Charles Robot had his
own dance crew called The Robot Brothers. He was inspired in 1969 by a mime artist named
Robert Shields, who would pantomime in front of the Hollywood Wax Museum where he
worked. On October 27, 1973, The Jackson 5 performed "Dancing Machine" on Soul Train,
which popularized roboting, but this was not the first time the dance had been performed on the
show. Charles Robot had performed roboting on Soul Train two years earlier with his dance
partner Angela Johnson.

Boogaloo and popping

A popper dancing at Solntsevo industrial building in Moscow.

Boogaloo is a freestyle, improvisational street dance movement of soulful steps and robotic
movements which make up the foundations of Popping dance and Turfing; Boogaloo can
incorporate illusions, restriction of muscles, stops, robot and/or wiggling . Throughout the 1960's
and 1970's - Boogaloo groups in Oakland, CA such as One Plus One, the Black Resurgents and
the Black Messengers would help popularize the dance. Boogaloo street dance from Oakland
would influence Northern California cities and movements would spread to Fresno via the West
Coast Relays. In Fresno, The Electric Boogaloos are another funk styles crew founded
in Fresno in 1977by Sam "Boogaloo Sam" Solomon, Nate "Slide" Johnson, and Joe "Robot Joe"
Thomas. Their name was originally The Electric Boogaloo Lockers, but they dropped "Lockers"
the following year at the urging of their manager Jeff Kutash after the group moved from F resno
to Long Beach. Boogaloo Sam is credited with innovating popping from earlier boogaloo
movements done in Oakland, CA. However, there is disagreement as to whether he created the
dances himself or borrowed moves from other street dancers. What is not contested is how
influential he and his crew were in exposing popping and boogaloo to mainstream audiences.
Boogaloo is both a style of dance and a style of music. It started out as a fad dance, and several
songs were released in the 1960s celebrating it including "Boogaloo Down Broadway", "My Baby
Likes to Boogaloo", "Hey You! Boo-Ga-Loo", "Do the Boogaloo", "Boogaloo #3", and "Sock
Boogaloo". In response to this song-and-dance craze, Puerto Rican artists in New York City
created a style of music called Bugalú (or Latin boogaloo) that combined mambo, soul,
and R&B. Singer Joe Cuba was a pioneer of this style.
Although boogaloo was already a fad dance and a music genre in the 1960s, it did not become a
dance style until Boogaloo Sam learned it, expanded it, and started performing it in public
venues. He was influenced to expand boogaloo by cartoons; the 1960s social dances the T wist,
the Popcorn, and the Jerk; and the movements of everyday people. As a dance style, it is
characterized by rolling hip, knee, and head movements as if the body has no
bones. Electric boogaloo is the signature dance style of The Electric Boogaloos. It is a
combination of boogaloo and popping.
Popping is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in
the dancer's body, referred to as a pop or a hit. Popping is also an inadvertent umbrella term
that includes several other illusory dance styles such as ticking, liquid, tutting, waving, gliding,
twisto-flex, and sliding. Most of these cannot be traced to a specific person or group and may
have influences earlier than hip-hop. Earl "Snake Hips" Tucker was a professional dancer in the
1920s who appeared in the film Symphony in Blackand performed at the Cotton Club in
Harlem. Since hip-hop did not exist in the 1920s his style was considered jazz, but his
"slithering, writhing" movement foreshadowed waving and sliding.
The most recognizable popping move is the moonwalk. In 1983, Michael Jackson performed the
moonwalk—called the backslide in popping context— on ABC's Motown 25 television
special. This performance popularized the moonwalk all over the world. However, it was not the
first time the backslide had been performed on television or on film. Cab Calloway performed the
backslide in 1932, and Bill Bailey performed it in the movies Cabin in the Sky (1943)
and Rhythm and Blues Revue (1955). Furthermore, in 1982 during a performance in London
on Top of the Pops, street dancer Jeffrey Daniel performed the backslide during the song "A
Night to Remember".
In the 1970s, while Los Angeles was known for locking and Fresno was known for popping,
several other cities in Northern California had their own local funk styles. Sacramento was
known for a style called sac-ing, San Jose for dime stopping, and Oakland for snake hitting. T he
San Francisco crew Granny and Robotroid incorporated stepping moves and JROTC rifle drill
movements in their dancing to make a unique funk style called Fillmore strutting. This dance was
named after the Fillmore district in San Francisco where Granny and Robotroid were
from. Granny and Robotroid performed on the Gong Show in 1976. Although strutting had
exposure on national television, it (and the rest of the localized funk styles) faded and never
became mainstream.

Terminology
When the movies Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo were released, all the styles of
dance performed in those films were put under the "breakdance" label. In addition, Break in was
released outside the United States as Breakdance: The Movie. The media followed suit by
calling all represented styles "breakdancing", which caused a naming confusion among the
general public. This was problematic for two reasons.
The first reason is that "breakdancing" became an inadvertent umbrella term among the general
public for both breaking and the funk styles. The funk styles were created in California
independent from breaking, which was created in New York. They are called funk styles
because they were originally danced to funk music. This name gives them a separate identity
from breaking, which is traditionally danced to break beats.
The second reason this was problematic is that "breakdancing" was originally called b-boying or
breaking by the street dancers who created it. A break is a musical interlude during a song—the
section on a musical recording where the singing stops and the percussive rhythms are the most
aggressive. When 1970s hip-hop DJs played break beats, dancers reacted to those breaks with
their most impressive dance moves. DJ Kool Herc coined the terms "b-boys" and "b-girls", which
stands for "break-boys" and "break-girls." To describe the movement, the suffix "ing" was added
after the word identifying the dancer (b-boying) or the music beat (breaking). According to
Timothy "Popin Pete" Solomon, one of the original members of the Electric Boogaloos, and
Raquel Rivera, author of the book New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone (2003),
"breakdancing" is a media-coined term and incorrect.
Dance crews
A dance crew is a team of street dancers who come together to develop new moves and battle
other crews. As hip-hop culture spread throughout New York City, the more often breaking
crews got together to battle against each other. It was during this time that the different dance
moves within breaking developed organically. All styles of hip-hop are rooted in battling, and
being a part of a crew was the only way to learn when these styles began because they were
not taught in studios: they all started out as social dances. Forming and participating in a crew is
how street dancers practiced, improved, made friends, and built relationships. In breaking in
particular, battling is how b-boys/b-girls improved their skill.
Aside from Rock Steady Crew, several breaking crews were active in the 1970s such as Mighty
Zulu Kings, Dynamic Rockers, New York City Breakers, SalSoul, Air Force Crew, Crazy
Commanders Crew, Starchild La Rock, and Rockwell Association. In the same way b-boy crews
were active on the east coast of the United States spreading breaking throughout New York,
funk crews were also active on the west coast spreading the funk styles throughout California.
Aside from The Lockers and The Electric Boogaloos, other funk styles crews such as Medea
Sirkas/Demons of the Mind, Black Messengers, The Robot Brothers, The Go -Go Brothers,
Granny and Robotroid, and Chain Reaction were active during the 1970s performing on stage.

Boy Blue hip-hop dance company performing at Breakin' Convention 2006 in London.

Chain Reaction was a four-man dance crew from Reseda, California whose members included
Thomas "T-Bopper" Guzman-Sanchez, Paul "Cool Pockets" Guzman-Sanchez, Robert "Bosco"
Winters, and Mike "Deuce" Donley. Just like The Electric Boogaloos had their own signature
dance style called electric boogaloo, Chain Reaction also had their own signature dance style
called crossover locking.They performed on the talk show Thicke of the Night and in the
movie Xanadu. Xanadu premiered in 1980, four years earlier than the hip-hop dance
classics Beat Street and Breakin'. Xanadu was the first time boogaloo, popping, and crossover
locking were performed on film. In 1984, T-Bopper created a new dance crew called United
Street Force. By invitation, this crew performed at the White House for President Ronald
Reagan.
Crews still form based on friendships and neighborhoods. For example, dance crew Diversity—
formed in 2007—consists of brothers and friends from Essex and London.[94] Crews also form for
other reasons such as theme (Jabbawockeez), gender (ReQuest Dance Crew), ethnicity (Kaba
Modern), dance style (Massive Monkeys), and age (Hip Op-eration). In 2013, Hip Op-eration
performed an exhibition routine at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in Las Vegas. At
the time, their youngest member was 66.
In the 1970s, b-boy crews were neighborhood-based and would engage in battles held at local
block parties called "jams".Today crews can battle in organized competitions with other crews
from around the world. New Zealand crew ReQuest won the Australian -based competition World
Supremacy Battlegrounds in 2009 and the American-based competition Hip Hop International in
2009 and 2010. On October 12, 2010, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sport, and Tourism
presented the Certificate of Merit to dance crew Big Toe for winning a variety of international
dance competitions. Dance crews are more prevalent in hip-hop, but hip-hop dance companies
do exist. Examples include Zoo Nation (UK), Culture Shock (USA), Lux Aetern a (USA), Boy Blue
Entertainment (UK), Unity UK (UK), Bounce Streetdance Company(Sweden), and Funkbrella
Dance Company (USA).

Social dancing
Hip-hop social dancing (party dancing) began when hip-hop musical artists started to release
songs with an accompanying dance. In 1990, rapper MC Hammer created the Hammer
dance and popularized it in his music video "U Can't Touch This". The Hammer dance was a
social dance that became wildly popular and then faded as the album it was associated
with, Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em, lost popularity. Most social dances are short-lived fad
dances, some are line dances, and others spawn new dance styles that stay relevant even after
the life of the songs they came from come to an end. The development of hip -hop social dancing
extends further back than the 1990s with the Charleston, a jazz dance; Chubby Checker's Twist,
which was considered rock & roll; several 1970s fad dances made popular by James Brown;
and the influence of the television show Soul Train.
The Charleston was created in the 1920s by African-Americans in Charleston, South Carolina as
a rebellion against prohibition. It gained popularity once it was embraced by Caucasians, but it
was still considered an immoral dance due to its association with alcohol. This dance relied on
partnering and eventually led to the creation of Lindy Hop. Lindy Hop and the Charleston fall
under the swing dance genre; however, there is a dance move used in breaking that is taken
from the Charleston called the Charlie rock. Singer-songwriter Chubby Checker released the
song "The Twist" with an accompanying dance of the same name in 1960. He performed the
dance on the television show American Bandstand, and the song reached number one in 1960
and 1962. The Twist was the most popular dance craze of the 1960s because it broke away
from the trend of partner dancing enabling people to perform on their own.

Hip-Hop Social Dances

Influences

The Charleston, the Twist, the Boogaloo, the Good Foot, the Funky Chicken

1980s-1990s social dances

Two-step, the Wop, the Cabbage Patch, the Roger Rabbit, the Running Man, the Rooftop, the Hammer dance,
the Humpty, the Worm, Kriss-Cross, the Bartman, the Butterfly*, the Kid 'n Play kick-step

2000s-2010s social dances

Toe Wop, Harlem shake, the Chicken Noodle Soup, the Reject**, the Dougie, the Cat Daddy, Getting Lite,
Shoulder Lean, Swag Surfin', Bernie Lean, Whip/Nae Nae, Twerking, the Dab

Line dances

Cha Cha slide, Cupid shuffle, the Soulja Boy

 *The Butterfly came from Jamaica.

**The Reject is one of many dance moves used in Jerkin'.

James Brown was a major contributor to social dance. He popularized several fad dances in the
1970s such as the Mashed Potato, the Boogaloo, and the Good Foot. His accompanying songs
to these dances include "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes", "Do the Boogaloo", and "Get on the Good
Foot". The song "Do the Boogaloo" influenced Boogaloo Sam when he created the boogaloo
dance style, and the Good Foot triggered the creation of breaking. In addition, James Brown
also popularized the Funky Chicken, which was a major influence to Don Campbell when he
created locking. In an interview with NPR, Lockers' member Adolpho "Shabba Doo" Quiñones
stated "We're all children of James Brown... And you know, if James Brown was our father then
you'd have to say Don Cornelius was our great uncle."
In 1970, Don Cornelius created Soul Train. Before officially becoming a crew, members of The
Lockers made several appearances on this show They introduced different dance moves such
as the Robot, Which-Aways, and the Stop-and-Go during the "Dance of the Week" segment of
the broadcast. Disco was very popular during the 1970s, so some dance styles at that time such
as waackingand hustle stemmed from disco music rather than funk. Hip-hop became more
mainstream in the 1980s, and this surge in interest combined with the popularity of Soul
Train kick-started the rise of hip-hop social dancing.
One of the more popular social dances created during the 1980s was the Cabbage Patch. The
rap group Gucci Crew II created the dance and introduced it in their 1987 song of the same
name, "The Cabbage Patch". Another popular social dance was the Roger Rabbit. This dance
imitates the floppy movements of the lead cartoon character as seen in the 1988 film Who
Framed Roger Rabbit.[ The rap duo Kid 'n Play created the Kid 'n Play kick-step and performed it
in their 1990 movie House Party. It is a variation on the Charleston with elements of the Roger
Rabbit and the Running Man. The Running Man is one of the most recognizable hip-hop social
dances. According to Essence magazine, Paula Abdul created the Running Man and taught the
dance to Janet Jackson when she was working as her choreographer during
Jackson's Control era. Jackson further popularized the dance when she performed it in her 1989
music video "Rhythm Nation", and rapper MC Hammer kept the fervor going when he started to
do the Running Man in his performances. The pop duo LMFAO brought the Running Man back
into the mainstream with their song "Party Rock Anthem", which was named the 2011 song of
the summer by Billboard.com. The accompanying dance in the song called The Shuffle
combines three social dances: the Running Man, the (half) Charleston, and the T-step.
DJ Troy "Webstar" Ryan and Bianca "Young B" Dupree released the song " Chicken Noodle
Soup" in 2006. The dance was so popular, at one point YouTube had over 2,000 video clips of
kids performing it. The song sold 335,000 ringtones, but it was not strong enough to sustain
momentum for the full length album "Webstar Presents: Caught in the Web", which was not
successful. For this reason, the Chicken Noodle Soup song and dance faded.
The Dougie comes from Dallas, Texas. The dance was named after the 1980s rapper Doug E.
Fresh and popularized in the 2010 song "Teach Me How to Dougie" by the rap group Cali Swag
District. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Dougie has been particularly popular as a
celebratory dance among professional athletes. In 2010, CNN news anchor Wolf
Blitzer performed the Dougie at the Soul Train Music Awards.

Line dances
The Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and the Soulja Boy are examples of urban line dances
that were created from hip-hop songs of the same name. These line dances have the same
premise as the more widely know Electric Slide. There are variations to the Electric Slide, but the
dance is always performed to the song "Electric Boogie" by Marcia Griffiths.[122] In keeping with
this tradition, the Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and the Soulja Boy are always performed to
their respective songs.
DJ Willie "Casper" Perry created the song "Cha Cha Slide" in 1996 for a personal trainer in his
hometown Chicago. It did not get commercial airplay until 2000 when Chicago radio
station WGCI-FM started playing the song as part of its rotation. Soon after, other radio stations
across the United States also started playing the song, and this increase in popularity led to a
record deal with Universal Music Group. After securing a deal, the label began producing and
distributing instructional videos of the dance to nightclubs, which helped spread its
popularity. On February 20, 2011, dancers in Anaheim, California set a Guinness world
record when 2,387 people performed the dance at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The song "Cupid Shuffle" was released in February 2007 by singer Bryson "Cupid" Bernard
from Lafayette, Louisiana. In August 2007, 17,000 people set a world record when they
performed the Cupid Shuffle (dance) to his song in Atlanta. The Soulja Boy dance became
popular through MySpace when rapper DeAndre "Soulja Boy" Way posted his song "Crank
That" to his MySpace page and uploaded an accompanying instructional video showing viewers
how to perform the dance. After amassing more than 16 million page views, he was signed to
Interscope Recor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_hip_hop_dance

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