Aight folks, I'm back again. I'm a little late, sorry, had things to deal with (actually, I was procrastionating most of the evening, lol).
Man, I had a fucking blast this weekend. B-Boy City was off the hook, and a breathe of fresh air for all of us. Me, Nelson, Steven, and Nikki got to Austin Friday evening and to our hotel and met up with Jen (who had been mad bragging about Nelson forever, which he deserves but he really wishes she hadn't, lol) and the rest of her crew (now I guess we can consider them our extended crew in Dallas). We met most of them, and met up with some of their friends from Cali. One of them was Mike Disco, a damn good popper and freestyler who was there to judge; and JSmooth and Bionic Man from Machine Gone Fownk. Bionic was originally there to judge, but decided to compete with JSmooth instead. We chilled at the hotel, then went downtown and hit up a couple of the bars for a couple of hours. We stayed at one til closing time and pretty much fucked around, drank, and danced, and had a good time (with my boy Steve grabbing about 10 Jaiger-bombs before last-call). We got back to the hotel and stayed up til 4 or 5 I believe fuckin' around in the hallway (I'm surprised no one made any complaints against us, cause we were out there for about an hour, lol).
First day, we went out to eat and checked out the mall there before getting back with the rest of the crew and heading down to the rec center that the competition was being held. We end up rolling about 9 cars deep, picking up people along the way (including JRock and his girl, who we had no clue was gonna be there). We get there and the gym's already half-full of dancers left and right, and circles all over the place, it was fucking beautiful. It's a great feeling when you're a dancer, and just surrounded by other dancers who are into hip-hop like you are, and understand just how you're feelin' too, it's a hard feeling to explain. And it's a trip at first to see the different kinds of dancers there; you got the hip-hop guys of course (and I put funk into their category too), you got the punk guys, and you got the goth guys, and they're all there for the same exact thing. Shows some people that think those groups are so different that they're really not. Anyways, the event finally gets started, and they start off with the junior division, the future of hip-hop. It starts of okay, with the little kids doing their thing. They of course still got a lot of learning and polishing up to do, but they still got an early start and they'll be damn good in a a few years. Anyways, they go through the battles, until, they final get to the 3rd or 4th battle, involving this 7 year old girl, and Voodoo's son, who's only about 4. Now, I know these are just kids and they're just having fun, but, if you had been watching Voodoo's boy dancing before everything started, you would easily know that this is battle is a no-contest. Anyways, they get started, have them show good etiquette and shake hands and stuff, and this boy shakes her hand, looks her up and down, giving her that "you ain't shit" look and goes back to his side and busts a b-boy pose. The area's silent for about a second before everyone just marks the fuck out on this kid, lol. Anyways, needless to say, he rips this girl in the worse way, it was nothing nice, lol. Voodoo literally created himself a monster, and when he hits 10, that kid's gonna be fucking untouchable. Oh, and he also ripped an 11 or 12 year old kid too, just so y'all know. There was also this other kid, Charlie, who was about 11 or 12, who had only been breaking for about 6 months, and was already better than most grown breakers. He and Voodoo's kid ddin't go at it though, I think they saved that one for the finals the next day. Moving on, they get to the battles for the older crowd. All these guys are really damn good (well, some are pretty good, and some decent, but had no business out there until they were actually good enough to hang with the big boys). There was this female popper that was pretty damn good going against this brotha with a mohawk who was pretty good too, but I'd consider him better if he actually stayed on beat most of the time. He won that one, but she still got her respect. Eventually our boy Marlon and his crew from Houston finally showed up, and Marlon had a battle. Needless to say, Marlon won that one, literally without trying. They got to the group battles, and eventually got to Marlon's crew, who pretty much clowned the other crew. Going on, they get to the popping battles, which were two-on-two. They start with Jen's boys Bo and another guy (I forget his name), against a couple of other guys. Bo and the other guy won that one without really trying. Next was this dude named Gremlin (or something like that) and one of his boys against Mo (one of the guys we met also, from China, and trained in Korea) and his boy. Now, Mo starts it off, and pretty much blows them out from the start. Gremlin was good, no denying that, but not as good as he trys to act like he is. Anyways, they go one round, second round, Mo starts off and goes into this sick ass locking routine, again, everyone marked the fuck out on it. Gremlin trying his own locking, which didn't even come close to Mo's, and stopped and tryed to front like he didn't care about Mo's locking. Needless to say, Mo and his boy won that one. I missed the one with Poppin' Drew and Sifu, but I heard it was goo,d but could've been better. Now, it finally got to Bionic Man and JSmooth against the brotha with the mohawk and his boy. Apparantly, he set it up so that his boy would pretty much sit on the sideline while he battled solo against JSmooth and Bionic, which is very bold and I'll give him props, but it doesn't change the fact that it's very, very, stupid, especially when 1)he's not as good as he thinks he is, and 2)he's battling Bionic, a guy that my boy Nelson (possibly one of the best dancers throughout this state and every other state surrounding us, which he'd never admit) is afraid to battle, and that alone says a lot. Needless to say, the guy lost to JSmooth and Bionic, who weren't even trying for anything, especially Bionic, who was basically bullshittin' on the floor (and if you've actually seen his shows or videos, you'd know what I mean), which pretty much showed that mohawk guy was nowhere near worth the effort. Anyways, that was pretty much the last competition I watched (or remember right now), so I walked around watching other people in circles, talking to most of the other guys and stuff. After that part was over around 11, most of the crew including Bionic and JSmooth went back to the hotel, while we on the other hand (me, Steven, Nelson, Nikki, Jen, Leecie, Peter, and another guy (who name also slips my mind, I'm really bad with names) went downtown. Now, it's about 12:30, and we don't have time to do much (we're use to clubs closing at 6 out here) so we push in as much party time as possible (especially Steven, who puts down about 9 Jaiger-bombs in about a 45 minute period, lol). Night was going great, club closed after 2 and we left to go back to the parking lot. One problem though, Nelson's car wasn't there, we fucking flipped. We thought it was stolen at first, then we say the sign that said "no parking between 3am-5am", and it turned out that it was daylights savings time, so the fucking towtrucks were just waiting, the bastards. It took us 2 hours before we actually got the thing out of impound, and went back to the hotel, the end of a perfect day.
Next day, everyone was pretty much unconcious all morning. Funny thing was, every one of us was suppose to check out at 11:30, lol, so there were people still getting up and ready. They gave some time though since it was daylight savings and all though. We went to Chili's and at there for about an hour or two, and then get the convoy together (which is 9 cars deep again) and head on our way. Everyone else decides to go to some mall in San Antonio for some reason, and we just head straight downtown, where the finals were being held. We get there at for, and walk around until after 6, when the doors opened. Same thing as the day before, good dancers all over the place, damn good music, just a better setting this time. We relax and absorb the atmospere for a while, getting into the feel of the whole place. Nelson finally gets into the music after a while and just completely goes into his zone, just rippin' the floor up. Steven said he was shocked cause he'd never seen Nelson bust like that. Me on the other hand, I never saw him bust out like that, but I wasn't surprised in the least, I always knew he was holding back a lot more than he let on. That place would do that to you though, the people, the music, you'll start feeling it completely. Too bad Jen and her crew had just missed it before they walked in, lol. it was okay because he did it again later. We wish we could've stayed all night, but Nelson had to be at work in the morning, so we had to leave just before they actually started the competition. So, we said peace out to everyone and went on our way.
Overall, it was one hell of an experience, and helped put some much needed perspective in the way we dance. We all only we can be far better than what we are now, and should be, but the only things really holding us back are the fact that there area really no good dancers to challenge us out here (that even includes some of the guys in our crew, especially those that think they're really good), most of the guys that challenge us a decent for amateurs, but they're chumps. They're able to move their arms a certain way and think they're fucking hot shit, and get shot down real quick. And also, the clubs out here don't know shit about real hip-hop music. They wanna play what's popular and on the radio every 2 hours or so and think they're doing something great, popping in CD's and pushing buttons. My personal new plan now, is to do as little as possible at the clubs, regardless of all the drunk yokoles out here that wanna see us do something, fuck them. And, is anyone decides that they wanna start a circle and think they're all that,, and if we just happen to be in the mood, we'll go in that circle and have no fucking mercy, and burn them quickly, and then tell them to go home and practice, then come back. That includes other members of our crew who decide to get cocky about their shit when they're not really as good as they think they area. Until then, the spare time during my weekdays (which area plenty) are going straight to practicing. It's harder when you're pretty much doing it on your own with no one to teach you, but it can be done. Even JRock said it could be done, and he's as good as they come. Anyways, this weekend was just what we needed, made new friends, made new connections, put things into perspective and got our heads back on straight about our dancing, and a bunch of shit I can't remember right now, lol. I'm missing a lot of details on here, but it's late and this journal's long enough as it is, lol.
On another note, during our trip back, as I was going in and out of sleep, I finally figured out the kind of tattoo that I wanted while I was between dreaming and halucinating, lol. I finally know what I want now, all I need now is to find someone who can design the damn thing, lol. It's a pretty simple one, so it shouldn't be that hard for anyone. Alrighty, I hope y'all did strain your eyes reading all this shit, or quit before you were finished (or else you wouldn't be reading this if you did, lol). And pics of the event are on here too, so go check them out (I couldn't get the good b-boy shots I wanted, cause them damn digital cams have that 1 second pause and it fucked up everything). Anyways, I'm out, y'all have a lovely day/week, and keep it funky y'all.
One love.
Man, I had a fucking blast this weekend. B-Boy City was off the hook, and a breathe of fresh air for all of us. Me, Nelson, Steven, and Nikki got to Austin Friday evening and to our hotel and met up with Jen (who had been mad bragging about Nelson forever, which he deserves but he really wishes she hadn't, lol) and the rest of her crew (now I guess we can consider them our extended crew in Dallas). We met most of them, and met up with some of their friends from Cali. One of them was Mike Disco, a damn good popper and freestyler who was there to judge; and JSmooth and Bionic Man from Machine Gone Fownk. Bionic was originally there to judge, but decided to compete with JSmooth instead. We chilled at the hotel, then went downtown and hit up a couple of the bars for a couple of hours. We stayed at one til closing time and pretty much fucked around, drank, and danced, and had a good time (with my boy Steve grabbing about 10 Jaiger-bombs before last-call). We got back to the hotel and stayed up til 4 or 5 I believe fuckin' around in the hallway (I'm surprised no one made any complaints against us, cause we were out there for about an hour, lol).
First day, we went out to eat and checked out the mall there before getting back with the rest of the crew and heading down to the rec center that the competition was being held. We end up rolling about 9 cars deep, picking up people along the way (including JRock and his girl, who we had no clue was gonna be there). We get there and the gym's already half-full of dancers left and right, and circles all over the place, it was fucking beautiful. It's a great feeling when you're a dancer, and just surrounded by other dancers who are into hip-hop like you are, and understand just how you're feelin' too, it's a hard feeling to explain. And it's a trip at first to see the different kinds of dancers there; you got the hip-hop guys of course (and I put funk into their category too), you got the punk guys, and you got the goth guys, and they're all there for the same exact thing. Shows some people that think those groups are so different that they're really not. Anyways, the event finally gets started, and they start off with the junior division, the future of hip-hop. It starts of okay, with the little kids doing their thing. They of course still got a lot of learning and polishing up to do, but they still got an early start and they'll be damn good in a a few years. Anyways, they go through the battles, until, they final get to the 3rd or 4th battle, involving this 7 year old girl, and Voodoo's son, who's only about 4. Now, I know these are just kids and they're just having fun, but, if you had been watching Voodoo's boy dancing before everything started, you would easily know that this is battle is a no-contest. Anyways, they get started, have them show good etiquette and shake hands and stuff, and this boy shakes her hand, looks her up and down, giving her that "you ain't shit" look and goes back to his side and busts a b-boy pose. The area's silent for about a second before everyone just marks the fuck out on this kid, lol. Anyways, needless to say, he rips this girl in the worse way, it was nothing nice, lol. Voodoo literally created himself a monster, and when he hits 10, that kid's gonna be fucking untouchable. Oh, and he also ripped an 11 or 12 year old kid too, just so y'all know. There was also this other kid, Charlie, who was about 11 or 12, who had only been breaking for about 6 months, and was already better than most grown breakers. He and Voodoo's kid ddin't go at it though, I think they saved that one for the finals the next day. Moving on, they get to the battles for the older crowd. All these guys are really damn good (well, some are pretty good, and some decent, but had no business out there until they were actually good enough to hang with the big boys). There was this female popper that was pretty damn good going against this brotha with a mohawk who was pretty good too, but I'd consider him better if he actually stayed on beat most of the time. He won that one, but she still got her respect. Eventually our boy Marlon and his crew from Houston finally showed up, and Marlon had a battle. Needless to say, Marlon won that one, literally without trying. They got to the group battles, and eventually got to Marlon's crew, who pretty much clowned the other crew. Going on, they get to the popping battles, which were two-on-two. They start with Jen's boys Bo and another guy (I forget his name), against a couple of other guys. Bo and the other guy won that one without really trying. Next was this dude named Gremlin (or something like that) and one of his boys against Mo (one of the guys we met also, from China, and trained in Korea) and his boy. Now, Mo starts it off, and pretty much blows them out from the start. Gremlin was good, no denying that, but not as good as he trys to act like he is. Anyways, they go one round, second round, Mo starts off and goes into this sick ass locking routine, again, everyone marked the fuck out on it. Gremlin trying his own locking, which didn't even come close to Mo's, and stopped and tryed to front like he didn't care about Mo's locking. Needless to say, Mo and his boy won that one. I missed the one with Poppin' Drew and Sifu, but I heard it was goo,d but could've been better. Now, it finally got to Bionic Man and JSmooth against the brotha with the mohawk and his boy. Apparantly, he set it up so that his boy would pretty much sit on the sideline while he battled solo against JSmooth and Bionic, which is very bold and I'll give him props, but it doesn't change the fact that it's very, very, stupid, especially when 1)he's not as good as he thinks he is, and 2)he's battling Bionic, a guy that my boy Nelson (possibly one of the best dancers throughout this state and every other state surrounding us, which he'd never admit) is afraid to battle, and that alone says a lot. Needless to say, the guy lost to JSmooth and Bionic, who weren't even trying for anything, especially Bionic, who was basically bullshittin' on the floor (and if you've actually seen his shows or videos, you'd know what I mean), which pretty much showed that mohawk guy was nowhere near worth the effort. Anyways, that was pretty much the last competition I watched (or remember right now), so I walked around watching other people in circles, talking to most of the other guys and stuff. After that part was over around 11, most of the crew including Bionic and JSmooth went back to the hotel, while we on the other hand (me, Steven, Nelson, Nikki, Jen, Leecie, Peter, and another guy (who name also slips my mind, I'm really bad with names) went downtown. Now, it's about 12:30, and we don't have time to do much (we're use to clubs closing at 6 out here) so we push in as much party time as possible (especially Steven, who puts down about 9 Jaiger-bombs in about a 45 minute period, lol). Night was going great, club closed after 2 and we left to go back to the parking lot. One problem though, Nelson's car wasn't there, we fucking flipped. We thought it was stolen at first, then we say the sign that said "no parking between 3am-5am", and it turned out that it was daylights savings time, so the fucking towtrucks were just waiting, the bastards. It took us 2 hours before we actually got the thing out of impound, and went back to the hotel, the end of a perfect day.
Next day, everyone was pretty much unconcious all morning. Funny thing was, every one of us was suppose to check out at 11:30, lol, so there were people still getting up and ready. They gave some time though since it was daylight savings and all though. We went to Chili's and at there for about an hour or two, and then get the convoy together (which is 9 cars deep again) and head on our way. Everyone else decides to go to some mall in San Antonio for some reason, and we just head straight downtown, where the finals were being held. We get there at for, and walk around until after 6, when the doors opened. Same thing as the day before, good dancers all over the place, damn good music, just a better setting this time. We relax and absorb the atmospere for a while, getting into the feel of the whole place. Nelson finally gets into the music after a while and just completely goes into his zone, just rippin' the floor up. Steven said he was shocked cause he'd never seen Nelson bust like that. Me on the other hand, I never saw him bust out like that, but I wasn't surprised in the least, I always knew he was holding back a lot more than he let on. That place would do that to you though, the people, the music, you'll start feeling it completely. Too bad Jen and her crew had just missed it before they walked in, lol. it was okay because he did it again later. We wish we could've stayed all night, but Nelson had to be at work in the morning, so we had to leave just before they actually started the competition. So, we said peace out to everyone and went on our way.
Overall, it was one hell of an experience, and helped put some much needed perspective in the way we dance. We all only we can be far better than what we are now, and should be, but the only things really holding us back are the fact that there area really no good dancers to challenge us out here (that even includes some of the guys in our crew, especially those that think they're really good), most of the guys that challenge us a decent for amateurs, but they're chumps. They're able to move their arms a certain way and think they're fucking hot shit, and get shot down real quick. And also, the clubs out here don't know shit about real hip-hop music. They wanna play what's popular and on the radio every 2 hours or so and think they're doing something great, popping in CD's and pushing buttons. My personal new plan now, is to do as little as possible at the clubs, regardless of all the drunk yokoles out here that wanna see us do something, fuck them. And, is anyone decides that they wanna start a circle and think they're all that,, and if we just happen to be in the mood, we'll go in that circle and have no fucking mercy, and burn them quickly, and then tell them to go home and practice, then come back. That includes other members of our crew who decide to get cocky about their shit when they're not really as good as they think they area. Until then, the spare time during my weekdays (which area plenty) are going straight to practicing. It's harder when you're pretty much doing it on your own with no one to teach you, but it can be done. Even JRock said it could be done, and he's as good as they come. Anyways, this weekend was just what we needed, made new friends, made new connections, put things into perspective and got our heads back on straight about our dancing, and a bunch of shit I can't remember right now, lol. I'm missing a lot of details on here, but it's late and this journal's long enough as it is, lol.
On another note, during our trip back, as I was going in and out of sleep, I finally figured out the kind of tattoo that I wanted while I was between dreaming and halucinating, lol. I finally know what I want now, all I need now is to find someone who can design the damn thing, lol. It's a pretty simple one, so it shouldn't be that hard for anyone. Alrighty, I hope y'all did strain your eyes reading all this shit, or quit before you were finished (or else you wouldn't be reading this if you did, lol). And pics of the event are on here too, so go check them out (I couldn't get the good b-boy shots I wanted, cause them damn digital cams have that 1 second pause and it fucked up everything). Anyways, I'm out, y'all have a lovely day/week, and keep it funky y'all.
One love.
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
mandy
Kisses