Week 12: B-Boys Don't Dance to Hip Hop

I am really enjoying Schloss' Foundation. So far (I promise to finish for tomorrow), the book has really been a clear-headed approach to hip hop studies that does not overemphasize the stuffy academic approach, nor is it devoid of serious academic analysis. Schloss' blend of styles and forms seems to be one of the best examples of accessible, authentic hip hop studies so far...

The one section I wanted to reflect on was from the bottom of p. 31 where Schloss quotes b-boy GeoMatrix who explains that "nowadays you can go to a party and you can't break to hip-hop"... When I first read this, I highlighted it and put all kinds of marks around it because it seems like such an odd thing to say. If b-boys can't (or won't) b-boy to rap music, commercial or otherwise, what explains the major division?

At first, it seemed to me that the three elements that are connected because their performance can share the same space easily would be deejaying, emceeing, and b-boying. So why is it that b-boys/girls have not shifted the aesthetics along with the other two forms, which seem to still be compatible. The b-boy/girl focus on foundation and history seemed almost fundamentalist in that they would only dance to a select canon and b-boying must continue its traditions.

However, Schloss points out rightly that unlike emceeing or deejaying which can experiment with rhythms and auditory structure, b-boying does not have that same luxury. Speeding up pushes the cardiovascular limits of the body and slowing down allows gravity too much time to work against the body. This sort of "estrangement from rap music" that b-boying has is not unlike graffiti or turntablism we have examined in class. Each form has its broad hip hop fundamentals, but within each style there are more specific aesthetics that insiders experiment with. Over time, each of the four pillars have developed their own space and unique characteristics at the expense of the broad connections between the four pillars. So it's not so much that b-boys/girls are refusing to modernize, it's that b-boying wants to continue to be b-boying, and there are certain restraints that make their canon most appropriate for improvisation and development.

Also, as a final note, I hope it class we can compare how Schloss addresses the heritage of b-boying/hip-hop with the framework of Perry. Looking forward to Monday!