Partial Intro to Breakdancing Hip Hop Art 2 of 4

So it's been 13 days since I last posted anything & I've been real lazy(busy)...

And while it's 2:30 in the early morn, and I'm finishing up my programming homework. And believe it or not it's valentine's day. A great start of a week I'd say. Kudos to those with their targets/lovers/partners, and to those still waiting patiently (or other wise) keep up the good wait, cuz it'll only be sweeter sooner or later.

Allow me to start off with some serious but uplifting soundtracks:


If you don't know Basement Jaxx, seems that you're missing some good party tunes (or uptempo tunes), gotta get em down if you like house or any other hip hop/electronica music. So here's another from yours truely.



Very catchy eh? While you enjoy this you also learn a phrase of Russian. (good deal ;D)

Now if you noticed the great Trepak (or Russian Style Dance) moves by those dancers, not only if its hard to perform by action, but the agility they have to perform those fresh moves at those speeds brings me to this:



It may not be the full root in the roots of breakdance, but it is certainly impressive in how they can preform those moves. But going back to the roots, breakdancing isn't always about moves. It all started about how one can enjoy "the movement to the beat". However as breakdancing got more involved in the mainstream media, complexity of recognition grew with the standards of competition. It's only natural one genre of dance that involve the expression of one self evolve. After all like all humans we change to improve.

To any one interested in breakdancing, it is as simple as moving your arms and legs without pulling off amazing acrobatic moves. (as those come with time) But I urge people should start with the foundation basics and history. Which that I will continue to update later... Until next time!

So What About DJing? (Hip Hop Art 1 of 4)

Ok, so DJing... the art that is basically plays music and/or revolves around "audio manipulation". See how I quoted "audio manipulation"? That's DJing in 2 words, the job of DJs, and the secret to being - a good dj.

Be it scratching (the current technique of today's world), mixing/mashing (often heard in clubs, dancefloors, remixes), beatmatching/beatmixing (the unexplainable transition of one song into the next without you noticing), and simply playing the music to a group of people. (Radio DJs any one?)

The irony is I learned so much today from a book called "How to DJ right" by Frank Broughton & Bill Brewster.
http://www.amazon.com/How-DJ-Right-Science-Playing/dp/0802139957
I would suggest for any starter DJs such as I buy this book before buying any of the actual equipment ASAP. The info within this book is simply refreshing and realign the path of DJs to the actual meaning of DJing after the introduction of mainstream media today.

To learn you must learn, obviously, but where to start?

Here are interviews with a few important DJs:
Francis Grasso:
http://www.djhistory.com/interviews/francis-grasso
DJ Kool Herc:
http://www.djhistory.com/interviews/kool-herc
DJ Shadow:
http://www.djhistory.com/interviews/dj-shadow

There are tons of other interviews by the authors Frank Broughton & Bill Brewster with many other DJ related goodies on this site:

http://www.djhistory.com/

And here's a little gift of old school hip hop. This track is mixed and mashed by Double Dee & Steinski which narrates the history of breakdancing favorite/classic breakbeats. 

As for review on technologies of DJing (which is often a favorite of article readers), we first go to the person that is the master of DJing (the master of mix masters haha!) - Francis Grasso. If you read his interview article link I posted before, then you would know his skills before DJ mixers without faders/crossfaders. Those techniques are:

Beatmatching:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatmatching

Slip-cueing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slip-cueing

Although in today's fader oriented world, it is a basic technique, it is not without great history behind it. And here it is the gear review of today - The history of DJ mixer.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5421938_history-dj-mixer.html

Good music playing. Cuz Hip Hop Can't Stop & Won't Stop