Hip Hop

Boom, clap, (pause), boom, boom, clap. The crowd goes ballistic while watching two young men battling at a Hip Hop dance competition. The man on the left goes first. As he stares down at his opponent he quickly walks in a circle to make enough room for him to dance. He instantly picks up his pace to retrieve enough energy to go straight into a power move. He starts off lifting his whole body with his hands and swinging his legs in circles. After about seven rounds he jumps up then quickly shuffles his feet. He then comes to an abrupt stop ending with a pose, waiting for his opponent. The guy on the right retaliates by copying the same shuffle but adding his own techniques; instead of doing it smoothly the way the break dancer did, he quickly contracts and relaxes his muscle to create a jerking effect and pops his chest along with the beat. The breaker then backs away and a small yet muscular African American man steps in. As the music smoothly transitions to a more aggressive beat, he expresses his emotion by popping his chest also but faster, hitting the beats harder, and at the same time swinging his arms savagely. They silently wait for the judges to announce who the winner is, but unfortunately the judges announce that they just could not decide. When these type of street dances — break dancing, popping and krumping — are battling against one another, it is difficult to determine which is better since each style is so different. Each Hip Hop dancer — break dancer, popper and krumper — has different techniques, styles and music, but these types of Hip Hop dances also have plenty of similarities that connect them together as well.

Break dancing, commonly known as breaking or b-boying, is a type of street dance that derived from a Hip Hop movement that occurred in the South Bronx of New York around 1969. It is believed that a man by the name of James Brown was the one who triggered this Hip Hop movement (Cheng 24). After Brown’s hit T.V show, “Get on the Good Foot”, youth all across the country were inspired to keep up Brown’s work and to encourage others to get involved in dancing. Break dancing targeted more men — young and athletic— than women, hence the name b-boying (Holman). Originally, break dancing was used as a way for gangs to resolve their conflicts without resorting to fighting; they would battle (one on one dancing) and whoever lost would obey the agreement that was made prior to the competition. For example, one reason the gangs might battle would be to prove which gang is better than the other. Another reason the gangs might battle would be to allow the winner of the battle to make a contract to which the losing gang must adhere. An example of a contract would be that person or gang is not allowed in the winner’s neighborhood (Cheng 32). Soon after, the meaning of break dancing was changed. Break dancing was no longer was used to claim territory or to resolve conflict but to prove who is the better dancer. Now break dancing is done as an entertainment or a hobby (Hoang 22).

Popping also originated in the same era — around the 1970’s — as break dancing. The spread of popping began by a group called the Electric Boogaloos from California after their appearance on a television show called Soul Train. What influenced this group of dancers were the robots that appeared on a television show called “Lost in Space” (Smith). Not only was this group of kids influenced by these robots, but also by mimes. Audiences claim that the Electric Boogaloos are more mime-like than they are robot-like. Many people viewed robot dancing and miming the same because no one could distinguish the difference between the two. As years passed, popping progressed and plenty of styles began to emerge. Like break dancing, popping became widely known and popular as well (Daniel).

On the other hand, krumping was triggered by a man named Thomas Johnson, also known as “Tommy the Clown” in Los Angeles, in California during the early 1990’s. Tommy was discovered by David Lachapelle after he was asked to entertain a group of kids at a birthday party (Hoang 15). David Lachapelle worked for California Governor, Gray Davis, who was also impressed with what he had seen and offered Tommy a job as the Spokesmen for his census campaign. This job offer not only took Tommy off the streets but also influenced children to use krumping to settle disputes rather than street violence. According to Tommy, “Krumping is a very positive thing because it really does keep kids off the streets. It keeps them from doing everything negative — staying out of trouble, keeping them busy.” Krumping was a popular solution to the rising street violence problem (Guy).

Despite having differing origins, the techniques involved in break dancing, popping and krumping’s have several similarities as well