dijilog beboy philosophy
So the fusion of digital and analog definately has analogous implications in the field of anotomical mobility arts otherwise known as breaking or b-boying. This is 2005 and I'm not settling for that same old same old rivalry bullshit. Power vs style, dancing vs breaking, battling vs fun... all futile differentiations that are good as far as they go, but when a Hiphop practitioner is advanced to a certain level or degree of understanding of the medium, a much vaster space is created in which the freedom of expression is released to grow and develop. I've heard it called evolution this or true skool that, whatever. The point is, the element of Be-movement is not contained in the sum of all the little ego-centric universes that manipulate it to make themselves out ot be stars.
Give God more respect. The Creation of Hiphop has deeper, wider, and higher realms than this petty competition and bickering over bites, reputation, crew politics, and getting taken out. I'm not saying these facets don't have their place but they need to be transcended if their inclusion is to be healthily in line with Hiphop's bigger picture.
So after you take every b-boy out and prove your crew is untouchable, that every other crew and dancer is biting your shit, that "dancing" is for pussies and "breaking" is the real shit, then what? Where does that leave the culture? Gangstarr's last LP title comes to mind. Who are the real "Ownerz"? The one's who horde their skills and knowledge and use it only to glorify themselves/crews... or the one's who can do all of that but choose to keep an open mind, heart, and spirit to the collective as well as the younger generations to pass their skills on to?
A more encompassing awareness of the elements is crucial here, because no 1 element could exist without the love and appreciation of all Hiphoppers who keep the culture moving as a whole. I've often toyed with the notion of Love being the fifth element (de la el delicula) and its relevence could be emphasized that way but I also think that love is a little more foundational, or at least it needs to be if this culture is to continue to be a positive influence in the world. It definately seems to be one of the main things overlooked in the heat of the breaking scene right now.
It's getting more and more like the WWE everyday and that scares me cause that's wack as hell. The whole point of our culture is that we DON'T do the same shit as other cultures. We INNOVATE and PUSH ourselves and eachother but support and show LOVE at the same time. I'm trying to spread the Integral gospel as it applies here... Integration is the threshold stresser and the true avante garde instigator so those who intend to be at the top of their game in any domain need to develop their understanding of the depth and span of the term, to Integrate.
To Integrate is to take all things available for consideration in a given moment, context, or domain and embrace that which is beneficial while jettisoning all which is dead wieght or negative. A process that begins with a differentiation but is careful not to dissociate(or ignore), however by building a higher viewpoint breaking previously subjective realities down into objective aspects to this new approach, a more transcendant reality presents itself to one's Self. A transformation then occurs, sometimes radically intense and immediate, other times subtly and gradated over a period of time.
This happened to everyone reading this as they learned that words were on a lower level than sentences, and paragraphs then transcended and included these senetences, and so on. This also happened when all of us were going through adolescence grasping at many different ideas of who "I" was going to be. At some point all the positives from our various self-experiments were incorporated into a new higher Self that started the whole process over at a new level, continuously growing and developing, or regressing into shadow realms of pathology and denial if that's the case. When one dissociates a potential reality of self and excludes it from the possibility of being without sufficiently exploring all things to be considered within it, that ignorance, be it out of fear, hate, or arrogance is very detrimental to the overall movement of growth & development through the spectrum of consciousness.
To tie that back into B-boying or Hiphop in general, I feel the scene is dissociating itself within itself by stressing the competitive aspect too much and not realizing the inherent blessing of our unifying force... our common love of the culture. Too many practicioners are stuck at ego-centric levels of development, perpetually striking out at "other" to somehow benefit their little self. Thus the art of b-boying is a vehicle of validating their masculinity and power over all mortals and weaklings who dare to fuck with them. haha, I gotta love it. I'm kind of hating on it but I don't want it to go away... I think is so fucking dope that we have an alternative to actual violence when it comes to beef and that eternal quest to prove ourselves. I just feel that a balance must be maintained by those who are big-minded and bog-hearted enough to open up a loving embrace instead of constantly being on that power-trip ego nonsense.
It felt good to just get thorugh that little tie-raid, as a be-boy, I feel inclined to represent my gut feelings for me and those who might not have the abilities to state it as I have. I know I don't represent the majority, but that's why I feel it's even more important that I speak up a little bit this way that I can. I'm a always do this culture for the love and art of it, even though I see myself getting dope enough to start taking toys and clones out in battles and such, that is not my primary motivation.
I'm always battling myself in the sense of previous limitations I've encountered at prior stages or levels of development with my craft. But if a sucker steps up when I KNOW they on some weak shit, best believe I aint gonna keep this talent I got secret. Plus I believe in a playful battle mentality I still hold valuable from my experiences with Capoeira. So when people I know can take me out challenge me, I'm not going to back down. I'm going to push my self and learn what I can do to improve against that more experienced or skilled "opponent".
I have to address the feeling I get when I see my influence directly resultant in what some call "biting". I catch people incorporating shit I've done in fits of truly being a catalyst of originality and I gotta say, I want to call them out on it a lot. But my humility usually pervades as I realize that I probably do the same thing all the time no matter how original I intend to be. It's natural but at the same time, I see haughty MF's get all worked up when they see their influence realized in an "other". Now don't get it twisted, if someone straight up chomps a move or pattern and claims it as their own, they need to be regulated like corporations who break copyright law. Fuck the bullshit. But I see cocky mf's getting way too carried away with this when they could just as easily and far more effectively take that imitation as flattery and respond by pushing the bitten move or pattern beyond the level of application said "biter" just presented.
Not only would this benefit themselves more but it has a greater impact on Hiphop as a whole because it shows how we can build off eachother's energy without trying to overshadow or destroy the motivation of those who might unwittingly or even consciously emulate the innovators. In fact, I will go as far as to say it is incumbant upon the innovators to humble themselves and take responcibility to carefully handle a biting situation with care and still handle the business of setting things straight. Hiphop is now getting mature enough that this should be a common occurence and an area where we can superceed wack institutions version of competiton and rivalry as it applies to a culture's healthy worldview and embrace of all its practitioners with love and respect.
word. peace.
beboy Humble, Connect Force
Jæzi the dishwasha, 3be
dijilog provelopment, AQ
Give God more respect. The Creation of Hiphop has deeper, wider, and higher realms than this petty competition and bickering over bites, reputation, crew politics, and getting taken out. I'm not saying these facets don't have their place but they need to be transcended if their inclusion is to be healthily in line with Hiphop's bigger picture.
So after you take every b-boy out and prove your crew is untouchable, that every other crew and dancer is biting your shit, that "dancing" is for pussies and "breaking" is the real shit, then what? Where does that leave the culture? Gangstarr's last LP title comes to mind. Who are the real "Ownerz"? The one's who horde their skills and knowledge and use it only to glorify themselves/crews... or the one's who can do all of that but choose to keep an open mind, heart, and spirit to the collective as well as the younger generations to pass their skills on to?
A more encompassing awareness of the elements is crucial here, because no 1 element could exist without the love and appreciation of all Hiphoppers who keep the culture moving as a whole. I've often toyed with the notion of Love being the fifth element (de la el delicula) and its relevence could be emphasized that way but I also think that love is a little more foundational, or at least it needs to be if this culture is to continue to be a positive influence in the world. It definately seems to be one of the main things overlooked in the heat of the breaking scene right now.
It's getting more and more like the WWE everyday and that scares me cause that's wack as hell. The whole point of our culture is that we DON'T do the same shit as other cultures. We INNOVATE and PUSH ourselves and eachother but support and show LOVE at the same time. I'm trying to spread the Integral gospel as it applies here... Integration is the threshold stresser and the true avante garde instigator so those who intend to be at the top of their game in any domain need to develop their understanding of the depth and span of the term, to Integrate.
To Integrate is to take all things available for consideration in a given moment, context, or domain and embrace that which is beneficial while jettisoning all which is dead wieght or negative. A process that begins with a differentiation but is careful not to dissociate(or ignore), however by building a higher viewpoint breaking previously subjective realities down into objective aspects to this new approach, a more transcendant reality presents itself to one's Self. A transformation then occurs, sometimes radically intense and immediate, other times subtly and gradated over a period of time.
This happened to everyone reading this as they learned that words were on a lower level than sentences, and paragraphs then transcended and included these senetences, and so on. This also happened when all of us were going through adolescence grasping at many different ideas of who "I" was going to be. At some point all the positives from our various self-experiments were incorporated into a new higher Self that started the whole process over at a new level, continuously growing and developing, or regressing into shadow realms of pathology and denial if that's the case. When one dissociates a potential reality of self and excludes it from the possibility of being without sufficiently exploring all things to be considered within it, that ignorance, be it out of fear, hate, or arrogance is very detrimental to the overall movement of growth & development through the spectrum of consciousness.
To tie that back into B-boying or Hiphop in general, I feel the scene is dissociating itself within itself by stressing the competitive aspect too much and not realizing the inherent blessing of our unifying force... our common love of the culture. Too many practicioners are stuck at ego-centric levels of development, perpetually striking out at "other" to somehow benefit their little self. Thus the art of b-boying is a vehicle of validating their masculinity and power over all mortals and weaklings who dare to fuck with them. haha, I gotta love it. I'm kind of hating on it but I don't want it to go away... I think is so fucking dope that we have an alternative to actual violence when it comes to beef and that eternal quest to prove ourselves. I just feel that a balance must be maintained by those who are big-minded and bog-hearted enough to open up a loving embrace instead of constantly being on that power-trip ego nonsense.
It felt good to just get thorugh that little tie-raid, as a be-boy, I feel inclined to represent my gut feelings for me and those who might not have the abilities to state it as I have. I know I don't represent the majority, but that's why I feel it's even more important that I speak up a little bit this way that I can. I'm a always do this culture for the love and art of it, even though I see myself getting dope enough to start taking toys and clones out in battles and such, that is not my primary motivation.
I'm always battling myself in the sense of previous limitations I've encountered at prior stages or levels of development with my craft. But if a sucker steps up when I KNOW they on some weak shit, best believe I aint gonna keep this talent I got secret. Plus I believe in a playful battle mentality I still hold valuable from my experiences with Capoeira. So when people I know can take me out challenge me, I'm not going to back down. I'm going to push my self and learn what I can do to improve against that more experienced or skilled "opponent".
I have to address the feeling I get when I see my influence directly resultant in what some call "biting". I catch people incorporating shit I've done in fits of truly being a catalyst of originality and I gotta say, I want to call them out on it a lot. But my humility usually pervades as I realize that I probably do the same thing all the time no matter how original I intend to be. It's natural but at the same time, I see haughty MF's get all worked up when they see their influence realized in an "other". Now don't get it twisted, if someone straight up chomps a move or pattern and claims it as their own, they need to be regulated like corporations who break copyright law. Fuck the bullshit. But I see cocky mf's getting way too carried away with this when they could just as easily and far more effectively take that imitation as flattery and respond by pushing the bitten move or pattern beyond the level of application said "biter" just presented.
Not only would this benefit themselves more but it has a greater impact on Hiphop as a whole because it shows how we can build off eachother's energy without trying to overshadow or destroy the motivation of those who might unwittingly or even consciously emulate the innovators. In fact, I will go as far as to say it is incumbant upon the innovators to humble themselves and take responcibility to carefully handle a biting situation with care and still handle the business of setting things straight. Hiphop is now getting mature enough that this should be a common occurence and an area where we can superceed wack institutions version of competiton and rivalry as it applies to a culture's healthy worldview and embrace of all its practitioners with love and respect.
word. peace.
beboy Humble, Connect Force
Jæzi the dishwasha, 3be
dijilog provelopment, AQ
posted by Jezi at 1:28 PM
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