We Bring The Smac!

Smac 19 were a big part of the UK's early B-boy history.  Hailing from Sheffield, the crew were a force to be reckoned with and along with several other crews from the midlands and the north, they showed that the UK had a lot to offer.

After many years of memories, the Smac 19 name has now been revived to give a new generation of B-boys and B-girls something to live up to.  Check out the new Smac crew...

I dedicate this to Moyinka who grew up in the original Smac 19 era.

More Than a Little Uprock!

I'll be heading off to the World B-Boy Championships this weekend, and watching this clip really puts me in the mood to see some top notch b-boying.  A live event is the only way to feel the pure energy of a world class battle, but footage like this is still bloody awesome to watch.  Now for old times sake, where's that old roll of lino I had knocking about....

Nobody is on holiday!

 

I thought this was the holiday season when everybody went away and the internet hit a periodic lull.  Nope.  The US heatwaves and the UK washout seems to be keeping people indoors, so there's been plenty of interesting stuff to keep me entertained this month, and here are a few things that I think you might appreciate, read plenty more after the jump:

 

Eventually - Show & A.G. LP Is Coming

For nearly a year it's been talked about, leaked, hyped, pre released etc etc, but it seems that it's now actually going to happen for real.  This is the first track from the full LP and if it's anything to go by then the LP will be some real grown man rap (at last).

 

Total Eklips

French beatboxer Eklips gives us a Hip Hop history in 4 minutes of top notch beatboxing .  He covers everything from Planet Rock, to Tupac, Public Enemy to Dr Dre and everything significant in between.  It's good fun trying to name the tunes and keep up with how quickly he flips them.

Breakin' 'n' Enterin'

(This is the image for the OST, but it's the actual documentary being reviewed here)

In my recent Silver Anniversary post I reflected on some of Ice-T’s history in the game. I was specifically looking at his contribution from 25 years ago in 1986 but I also mentioned that he may well have been the first rapper/actor as he’d already had cameo roles in the films Breakin’ (1984), Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) and Rappin’ (1985).
But then I got an e-mail from my homie Jsta, a fellow blogger over at the Phuk-tha-muthaphukkin-police blog. He hit me up on the documentary Breakin’ ‘n’ Enterin’ (Yep, there are far too many apostrophes in the name, but it is the correct spelling) from 1983 which is Ice-T’s first on-screen appearance. Damn, this is nearly 30 years old!!!

Although Ice-T has a significant amount of screen time in this documentary, and this was my primary reason for checking it out, what’s actually most important here is the excellent cataloguing of the west coast break dance scene in the early 80’s. Ice-T is just one small contribution to this, so I’ll come back to him later.

There are hours of footage that document much of the early Rock Steady Crew battles and many more that catalogue the east coast scene in general, but this is a huge injustice to the west coast who had an equally vibrant, and some might say more varied, scene. That’s where Breakin’ ‘n’ Enterin’ attempts to redress that imbalance.

Blogwatch - December 2011

Although 2012 is now here, I've taken the usual look back over the last month of 2011 and pulled together some of the highlights from around the internets various sites and blogs etc.  Although the Xmas and New Year parties have now finished, I've decided to lay on a retrospective buffet of hip hop for you to feast upon, there's plenty more after the jump:

Public Enemy in Concert

The boys over at the T.R.O.Y. blog have found this great recording of P.E. live in concert.  Although it's a recent concert, they showcase many of their hits from over the decades.  Why not digest nearly 2 hours of truly classic hip hop?

Roxy Interview

Any serious b-boy or b-girl in the UK will know that this weekend (Oct 15th & 16th) is the UK B-Boy Championships 2011 at Brixton Academy in London.  Last year, the UK crew Soul Mavericks represented hard for the UK and reached the semi finals, and anyone who was there or saw the DVD will know that their b-girl Roxy was not to be taken for granted. 

The Soul Mavericks are representing us again this year and will be hoping to improve on last year's commendable performance.  But in the meantime, you might want to check out this short interview with Roxy, the UK's premier b-girl.

http://toomuchflavour.co.uk/site2/uk-bboy-championships-2011-interview-with-b-girl-roxy-soul-mavericks-plague/

Enter The Battle

For all of our UK readers, you need to be aware of this event next weekend (22nd Oct).  Enter the Battle is the UK's premier mixed discipline urban sports event featuring breaking, street dance, graffiti and an outdoor hip hop sound system with performances from Elements, Critical Beatdown & Suspekt.  Alongside these events are Extreme Martial Arts, BMX, Slackline, Freestyle Football and much, much more.

Following on from last years huge event at the O2 in London which was broadcast on Sky TV, this year see's the event move to a new venue in the Midlands.

For more information, check out http://www.enterthebattle.co.uk/ or check out their Facebook page for clips of the special guests and footage of last years show.

Cico - World Record Attempt

B-Boy Cico (who is known for his power moves) attempted to break the world record for the most 1990's (he needed 19 to do it).  Unfortunately his attempts failed, but his efforts were pretty impressive and this clip shows his best effort when he acheived 17 rotations.  So close, but yet so far....

Still, it wasn't all bad news for Cico as he also attempted another world record (although I can't remember what this move is called, so someone will have to tell me).  This time he was successful and in true Guiness World Records style there was someone there ready to give him his certificate (it kind of reminds me of when Roy Castle was gracing our TV screens on Record Breakers).

UK B-Boy Championships 2010 - The Final (HD)

It's taken me longer to post this than I expected, but here it is, the final battle from the 2010 UK B-Boy Championships.  Vagabonds (France) battle Top 9 (Russia) for the title.  It's a hot battle and both crews certainly went all out to get it, but there can only be one winner....Vagabonds! 

Vagabonds certainly deserved it, they just had the edge when it came to aggression, creativity and originality, and their routines were better.  Plus, its the first crew final in several years where the audience didn't boo the judges decision.

This clip is shot in 720p HD and is an exclusive to FoaWP, so please give credit if you post it on your blog etc.

Download Links (1.7Gb each):
Part 1
Part 2

Lilou vs Flying Buddah

Ok here it is, the battle between Lilou and Flying Buddah for the 2010 Solo B-Boy title.  Unfortunately my memory card filled up just before the end, but I'm sure this will still give you a good idea of how it all went down.  The judges decision seemed to be slightly controversial with the audience, but I'll let you decide for yourself.

Download Links (500mb):
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

UK B-Boy Champs 2010

Last night was the crew battles at Brixton Academy, and what a night it was.  Nelson contraversially beat Salah in the popping finals, Flying Buddah beat Lilou in the Solo Finals and Japan were knocked out of the crew quarter finals by Top 9, much to the crowds dissatisfaction. 

But the highlight of the night was Vagabonds quite rightfully beating Top 9 in the final, their moves were better and the routines were slicker.  Top 9 started to look like they'd run out of steam towards the end, but lets not forget it's their 3rd final in as many years.

I've also got to mention the UK's Soul Mavericks.  They reached the semis and it was good to see a crew with a strong B-Girl.

I'll upload the HD video in the next few days, including the solo and crew final battles.