Quote:
Originally Posted by homeopt
There are two things going on, and you touched on one of them.
The first is NOSTALGIA. That's right, the phenomenon where everything in hindsight is better than it is now. It's funny to hear guys talk about the 'fun days' when hip-hop first started coalescing in the mid 70's in NYC.
Fun days ? Man, NYC was grimy as hell back then. Do you remember the South Bronx? It was the poorest county in the entire nation. Jimmy Carter came to look at it, just like Eisenhower did when he went to visit nuked out Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And to be honest, I think Hiroshima and Nagasaki looked better !
NYC was a cesspool in many areas. You couldn't travel to many areas in the Bronx or Brooklyn or even Queens without taking your life in jeopardy. Some of ya'll are young, so you may not remember pre-Disneyfied Time Square, or even Hells Kitchen in Manhattan. Manhattan is like a wonderworld right now, but even it used to be grimy as hell. NYC used to regularly catch approx 1800 homicides a year in the late 70's, topping out at 2100 circa 1986 when the crack wars were going on.
So, we have a tendency to reimagine the past by glorifying the positive aspects and conveniently skimming over the negative aspects.
Cros, you touched on the 2nd aspect which is true for not just bboying but many aspects of culture and that is the shrinking of the world with the internet and 24 hour cable with hundreds of channels. Regionalism is not as striking as it used to be. I remember when I used to vacation in Florida back in the day and would hear all kinds of music that never made it up to NYC except via tape that your 3rd cousin shipped to you if you were lucky. Doo Doo Brown ?!? That stuff never got play in NYC. Granted, back in the 80's, NYC was the center of the hip-hop world and there was a certain arrogance that tuned out regional music, but even now, when we look at music and bboying worldwide, we see a greater level of homogenization than occured locally back in the 80's.
So yes, bboying is perhaps less individual and not quite as unique as it was back in the 80's and 90's, but so is everything else. Just as with anything else, there will always be those who innovate and lead the way. Typically, these people account for 1% of the population. The rest are followers. That will not change.
I suggest that we all try to appreciate rather than deprecate what we have. That is surely a recipe for killing a culture.
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Thank you for pointing this out. I'm a young head i guess, but i was surrounded by old school bboys when i first got started. I've heard the great tales and have been part of the developing scene.
I've met several "types" of bboys- the ones who do it for the glory of being known and those who do it cuz they love it. The roles have been swapped tho. Those that do it for glory try to copy this "raw" image people always talk about. they're assertive and call people to show how "authentic" they are. it's like the more of an asshole you are- the more of a bboy you are. at least that's been the flavor in the Northern VA scene.
Then you got the people that do it cuz they love it- and they're more laid back. There isnt that "rawness" where you have to call everyone and their mom out to try to dominate.
This aint NYC in the 80's/90's. It's not a street dance so much anymore- no crews are walking down the streets defending their territory or some shit like that. We have nice smooth floored studios and do performances at college. It's not the same. Kids get into it these days cuz the sheer fact it's dope and addictive. i gotta laugh when i see these "raw" modern bboys at jams who walk back to the car their parents paid for acting like they're such bad asses only to drive home to their white bread house in Tysons, VA.
And yah- all the styles have bled into each other which is frustrating. people look the same it's harder and harder to stand out cuz we're all watching the same damn footage!
i aunno. culture and style is not stagnant. things change and evolve. just cuz it aint what people reminisce of the scene- doesnt mean it's totally whack. it would be weird if things just froze. who knows what the next stage will bring in the evolution of breakin....