whats goin down?

there r a lot of people out there that may b wondering about certain paralells between the the past and present state of the dance and the music.

well i,as some of you may know,was a popular street dancer as a kid,and currently a pretty damn good audio engineer 4 the past 32 yrs.i’ve been in some of the worlds best recording studios,the worlds most fantastic stages,and mixed some great tv show titles(not my words).but i’m not here to ride my own ego.i say this only to state a point.i’ve been fortunate enough to have been a witness 2 some things n this bizzness.

i’ve watched the nature of street dance morph.i witnessed the birth of hip hop.and i had the unique position 2 c it from both sides of the fence,so 2 speak.i have truly been blessed. ever since i was a kid,there were certain kindz of soundz,of music,that elicited an emotion from me (4 lack of a better word),that could’nt b contained. some feelings that all consuming.restraint,confinement??? out of the question!!! it was like some insane virus,b cause i was certainly not alone. I had done the exact same thing,i imagine,2 thousands of others just like me and b 4 me. it was jazz,it was blues,it was rhythm. it was soulful!!!

it was FUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

man!!! that shit was like dope.incredibly potent.i’ve seen it take over the masses.take control over clubz ,dance halls,even t.v.(where it was watered down of course),everywhere.it made people scream and go vertical.spin out of control and slap shit.i seen it.i lived it!!!!

and then i found a dance, a release called locking.

finally,a conduit 4 all the emotion that those soundz made me feel.i had this fire inside that was melting my insides.and locking allowed it 2 flow from within 2 b real, a real physical movement.my limbs had a purpose,a reason 2 exist.when i heard a kik,snare and hi hat play a certain pattern,with a 4/4 time signature i could do a stop and go.when i heard them funky ass horn stabs,i could bak front clap,lock my arms,roll my wrist and hit every 1/4 note beat.almost better than sex!!!!! it was so pure!!!

AND THEN IT ALL WENT SOUTH!!!

it ceased being a platform 4 thingz that mattered.disco had arrived and it almost killed the record bizzness.nobody wanted to sing about love anymore.nobody wanted to inform and educate anymore. it became mindless and lacked purpose! it became based in ones in genitals.it became,n a sense,mindless and hopeless.only by Godz will,did some make it thru.but the virus was so potent,it was almost like it was inbred n 2 the next generations genetics.so that shit moved from 1 2 another.the technolgy grew rite along with it.once again,the paralell.from 16 trk analog tape recorders,to literally 100’s of trks within a digital software package.synthesis allowed 1 2 emulate whole orchestras without a single musician.and who needed drumers???? u could get 1 n a box!!!! the box is never late,it duzznt have a opinion,dont get high,and got perfect timing.the music got perfect.flawess to the extreme. and and then it happened the music became extremly boring and lifeless!!!!!!!\

but some kind of way,some other shit was happening.some of those kidz understood the meaning of emotional attachment.searched for something that was more fullfiling.they looked,and when they could’nt get it from what was available,they went 2 diggin into the crates of their parents records.and they truly got it.what do u know.it had been there all along.they finally found what they had been searching 4.

SOUL!!!!!!!!!

not soul music,per se,but soul from within.catz n the west went 2 poplockin,catz n the east start breakdancin and b boyin,the north and south started went 2 creatin a hybrid of all the shit!!! it was goin down.hip hop was scary!!!!2 this day,i’ve never witnessed a bigger frenzy,collective behavior, so to speak, than i have about 2 turntables and a microphone.of course u had your mega artists who had the machine behind them.but i’m talkin bout real bad production values.atrocious sound,horrible lighting,hip hop superceded all that shit!!!! hip hop was tribal, gutteral,ethnic,and ethereal all at once.and people started talkin bout real shit.life affecting shit.dope fiend parents,suicide,poverty,racism,and last but certainly not least,

VIOLENCE AND CONFRONTATION!!!!!!!

i dont want 2 get sidetracked here,but let me say this.hip hop changed the music bizz.it changed the the way music was sold and marketed.radio no longer mattered.totally inconsequential.no longer a factor.NWA WENT 2 #1 ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS N ITS 1ST WEEK OF RELEASE WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF 1 RADIO STATION.DAMN!!!!

technology also played a role.can we say video???? promoters no longer had to take the risks that were associated with touring.A BLESSING.or SO THEY THOUGHT.

and dancing changed right along with it.

battles started jumping off,n a real way.confrontations were a given.locking catz like me were amazed,and appaled.couples stop dancing 2 gether.Cats started dancin with each other.DAMN!!!!! it became 1 big show.money got n the game.with the success of the rap phenomonon,young catz made millions of dollars.a few got it,and felt the real ! most didnt.just like they didn’t get it with the dance,the 1’z that were worththy,most likely didnt even get recognized.but the 1’z that did,FLOSSED IT.BIG JEWELZ,CARZ,EXPENSIVE BOTTLES,RIMS THAT SPUN,THE WHOLE 9!!!!

MATERIALISM AT ITS MOST HEDONISTIC.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

these things r coming at me so fast i can hardly write it down,yet alone type it(i failed that class miserably).

this conversation i’m havin with yall iz truly my personal experience,and at this point in my life i would luv 2 hear your thoughts on it. i hope that it makes sense. But then those that get it probably understand what it is to keep it real, and those that don’t are still flosing their jewles.