Why Am I Doing What Im Doing? Ive been around the Breaking block many times and have asked myself this questions on several occasions. The simple answer is for the love of the the dance we call Breaking. Ask me this question 10 years ago and I would say to be the best dancer. Ask me today and my answer is still the same, however, I no longer care to be the best compared to others but the best compared to myself. I found that the EGO gets in the way of progression of our culture and the BBoy scene. Its true that competition is part of BBoy culture but theres a time and place. Be ready for the battle when its time to battle, be a real person otherwise. I recently had a short conversation with an old school Hip Hop cat by the name of Bhudder that moved from Albuquerque to Denver. He was telling me how the Hip Hop and Breaking scene there is huge and constantly growing. He explained how the attitude out there is different and very communal: its all about building and helping each other reach new potentials. When it comes to the drive and love for Hip Hop, Albuquerque is no different than Denver. Guys in Albuquerque represent hard and have all the love for this culture and have just as much skill. So whats preventing the scene here from flourishing as much as our neighbors to the north? In one word: EGO. As he put it, guys in Albuquerque want to be the best and have so much pride that they cant put it aside to help others develop. I recognized what he was saying and had to post this because I felt the truth in his words. We shouldnt feel threatened by helping others develop and if someone I helped along the way gets better than me, Ill feel honored for passing on the knowledge. Back to the question at hand. I opened the studio not to increase my EGO, for those that truly know me can confirm I left mine at the door years ago. Im not doing this to get recognition, Im not having events at the studio to boost myself up and have the dopest jam but to spread the love and keep the scene going. As the RZA explained (paraphrasing), Hip Hop is not for one group of people but it is for everyone. Hip Hop cannot be looked at as some secret society where membership is exclusive, we have to willingly spread the knowledge. Look at it from this perspective. There will always be people out there spreading a watered down, corny, mainstream, inaccurate version of our culture. Its up to the people that know whats up to educate others about the realness. I feel a certain obligation to preserve my culture for the next generation. If no one speaks my name but I end up influencing a handful of BBoys then Ive succeeded. My soul is content that Im doing it for the love. Keep It Real --BBoy Versatility
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:21:45 +0000
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