A b-boy salute to Jimmy Castor...R.I.P.

Jimmy Castor (1947 - 2012) was one of the most sought after artists by b-boys. For me, it was realizing that his soundtrack was the beat in Flashdance. You know, the classic scene where Jennifer Beals and her friend bump into Mr. Freeze and Frosty Freeze from Rock Steady rocking in an alleyway.

 

Since then, Jimmy Castor's name has been sampled by pop, rap and dance acts across the oceans. Christina Aguilera ("Back In The Day" used "Troglodyte"), Kanye West (“We Don’t Care” used “I Just Wanna Stop”). Even the UK's dancefloor hits were reaching into Jimmy's archives for vibes. Neneh Cherry (“Buffalo Stance” used “Troglodyte”), M.A.A.R.S. (classic tune “Pump up the Volume” sampled “It’s Just begun”) and Soul II Soul (“Jazzie’s Groove” grabbed “Soul Travelin’).

Super B-Beat Show blog interviewed Jimmy Castor in 2010. Check out the audio here at this b-boy fanzine from San Diego, CA.

Go visit Jimmy's website. It's pure funk! The Total Entertainer. Jimmy Castor. The Everything Man!

#Puma reps old skool...never fades [#oldskool #hiphop ]

Searching for info on Def Jam I stumble upon this series of videos sponsored by Puma.

Remember back in 2007-8 when Puma released a whole series of old skool hip hop shoes and garms? I got myself a Puma MTV hooded sweatshirt and the second release (grey on white) of the Vaughn Bode "Cheech Wizard" Clydes (but stayed away from the horrific sweatshirt!?)

These five video interviews by Fab 5 Freddy celebrate and promote that 80s-era in New York when hip hop was becoming the tour de force it is today. Watch them all! Ricky Powell, Dr. Revolt, Fabel and Walt Fraiser. Credit where credit's due.

"In the first of a five part collaboration between VIMBY and PUMA, Fab 5 Freddy, the original host of Yo! MTV Raps discusses the beginnings of hip hop and introduces some of the names that changed the game forever. School is in session." Vimby

VIMBY - PUMA  x Yo! MTV Raps Pt. 1

VIMBY - PUMA x Yo! MTV Raps Pt. 2

VIMBY - PUMA x Yo! MTV Raps Pt. 3

VIMBY - Puma x YO! MTV Raps Pt. 4

VIMBY - Puma x Yo! MTV Raps Pt. 5

LA's Beat Swap Meet is happening Sunday [#hiphop #DTLA]

If you're in Los Angeles you need to check this out. The Beat Swap Meet happens again..."over 35 record vendors and collectors from all over California and the surrounding states."

VIMBY - LA Beat Swap Meet

If you're not buying you can still get a treat from Beat Swap Meet resident D.J.s - Abel (Fakshuns), AC The PD (Hip Hop http://Philosophy.com Radio), Analog (Beat Hackerz), Charlie Rock (Rock Steady Crew, Dojo Soundz), Chikaramanga (TRES Records, Giant Panda), Clenz Roc (Immortal Fader Fyters), C-Los, C-Minus (Fantastik 4our), Counterstryke, Earlyworm, Gabe Real (More Fire, Fly-Ball), Jawa (Scratch Academy, King of LA 1st Place), DJ Jim, Kidragon, Kiwamu Omae, Listen Recovery Crew (Fresko, Rich Spirit & Renz), Raichous, Val, & 671 (Station 23 Radio)

The Universal Zulu Nation will be in the house, Rock Steady Crew will be in the house! LA O.G.s C-Los and C-Minus will be in the house!

I even heard that if you take your broken turntable(s) D.J. Abel will repair it on the spot?!

Time:
12noon-6pm

Location:
Grandstar Jazz Club
943 N Broadway (aka Sun Mung Way)
Los Angeles CA 90012

Beat Swap Meet is an All Ages event. 

Free entrance if you take edible canned goods. Please bring at least one canned good. Canned proceeds go to the LA County Rescue Mission's. (http://www.urm.org)   

Thank you http://Vimby.com!
(http://vimby.com/video...)
 

My hip hop summer, 2010 in New York City

I went to New York to celebrate hip hop the old skool way...In the parks and graffiti walls across the boroughs. I went All-City: Bronx, Manhattan and Queens.

Here's my first attempt at a Google Map. It lists all my major hip hop destinations. I've customized the map icons and added some multimedia to the map so check it out by clicking on the (My hip hop summer New York, 2010) link at the bottom of the map. The full stories can be linked to below.


View My Hip Hop Summer, New York 2010 in a larger map

Turn the page The next five blogs will each cover my adventures, starting with the Tools of War "True School" park jam with DJ Cash Money from Philly on July 29th and ending with the "Digger's Delight" session with legendary DJ Muro from Japan on August 3rd.

• Tools of War True School NYC, Crotona Park with DJ Cash Money
• Cold Crush Brothers' 32nd Anniversary at the Hip Hop Cultural Center in Harlem
• All-City Blackbook Show at 5 Pointz
• Tuff City Styles tattoos, Bronx
• Tools of War Digger's Delight with DJ Muro

Clash of the hip hop elements: B-Boy vs. Graffiti

I'm in New York and tomorrow is the Rock Steady 33rd Anniversary. But, also on Saturday is the 5 Pointz All City Black Book Show!

Clash of the hip hop elements! Which one would you choose?

The 5 Pointz event has Tuff City crew (CES, YES2, MED), TC-5 (Sye, Doves, Rozone, Totem) and Tats Cru (BG183, Bio) and numerous others. Lord Finesse is spinning tunes and Large Pro, OC and AG from D.I.T.C. on the mic! Oh, aaaand there's a 1-on-1 b-boy open circle.



I think I'm going to stay in Queens. And it's not because the Rock Steady gig is $25 and the 5 Pointz event is free ;)

UPDATE: Read about "My hip hop summer" here - words, pictures and video.

Doze Green shows in New York

Old skool legend Doze Green has his third gallery show in New York's Jonathan LeVine Gallery till February 13, 2010.

Doze Green has transformed himself from one of the original members of the Rock Steady Crew to a world renowned artist. But, his work is not graffiti in the classic hip hop sense. Doze paints more in a Basquiat-style using all the colors of the rainbow and also simplistic black and white. His largest painting in the show is called "Siddhartha" and is influenced by Eastern and South American cultures, as well as his own Afro-Caribbean roots.

Even though Doze doesn't use aerosol, preferring to work in ink, gouache, metallic pigments, charcoal and collage, he does incorporate highly stylized lettering which points to his hip hop roots.

Want more? For more of Doze's work go to Vegas. CityCenter commissioned him (and Maya Lin, Jenny Holzer, Claes Oldenburg, Coosje Van Brugen, Nancy Rubens, Frank Stella, Henry Moore and Richard Long) to paint a permanent installation that will greet guests in the tramway stations at the Monte Carlo and the Bellagio hotels! His painting is called "Crossroads of Humanity" and the two murals are huge covering 6 conjoined walls (3 walls each) and measuring 80 feet by 20 feet, per mural!

What recession? CityCenter is a $11 billion project with $40 million going to the art installations. That's about a third of a percent!

Bronx Park Jam...Kool D.J. A.J. Scratch

"Tools of War" host a series of park jams to recreate the hip hop vibe from the 80s. As I rolled into New York on the redeye DJ AJ Scratch (Kurtis Blow's D.J.) was billed to spin alongside Popmaster Fabel of the Rock Steady Crew in the South Bronx St. Ann's Park.



I passed through with my cameras and watched the breaking, the DJing and a tribute to Michael Jackson (shocking news of his death came through that evening.) Seeing AJ spin some classic jams was cool, even though he's rusty and didn't stray far from "The Ultimate Breaks and Beats" catalog.

Black Spades Real old skool heads turn up at these jams. This was one of the smaller ones, but Jazzy Jay was there. GrandMaster Caz was on the mic. And, also the Black Spades community group. The same infamous Black Spades gang of the south Bronx that Afrika Bambaataa was a member of. According to the "Beat This: A Hip Hop History" documentary series, watching Michael Caine in the film "Zulu" was the inspiration Bambaataa to creating the "Zulu Nation" as a organization to uplift the youth out of the despair they lived every day, using hip hop as its messenger.

Thanks to Christie Z. for organizing these park jams and keeping the vibe alive!

Worldwide Today, the Zulu Nation has spread worldwide with chapters in Belgium, France, Sydney, Tokyo and the UK, amongst others. I still remember the London chapter was run by a guy named Dapo. There was an air of exclusivity and no one I knew was a member which meant there seemed to be some some anamosity towards the Nation from regular b-boys.

Old skool tribute...

I love this tune...old skool tribute from Missy Elliot...I thought she fell off, but she still has it. Check out the cameos of Rakim...is that Flav or just an impersonator?

And I love Mari's dancing...found her out scrolling through Tuff Tim Twist's (Rock Steady Crew UK) rolodex on MySpace! ;)

UK representing hip-hop...again

Ken Swift is going to the UK to do a Breaklife workshop on B-Boying. Nice! All the way from Nuevo York to, umm, Cambridge, UK!

Ken Swift was in the legendary Rock Steady Crew in New York. Forget about their records which were only worth having for the album sleeve artwork. No, remember the RSC for being in films from Wildstyle to Flashdance, and inspiring generations of dancers and hip-hop followers around the world.

Without them, there would be no documentary, Planet B-Boy, screening across the US now, as there would be no struggle to get to the "Battle of the Year" B-Boy world championships in Germany.

RIP: Tony Silver, ace film-maker dies

One of the dopest graffiti documentary film makers, Tony Silver, died today. I saw the LA-based film-maker speak on a panel at MoCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in August 2005 for the screening of his films, "Style Wars" and "Style Wars: ReVisited".

The original Style Wars captured by Tony Silver and Henry Chalfont in 80s New York and is the essence of *real* hip hop. Silver's film takes you back to a golden age of hip hop before G4 jets, "Jacob The Jeweler" bling watches and quick strike Nikes. This was a New York City that was governed by Major Koch, where the Guardian Angels patrolled the subways and where graffiti artists (aka vandals) painted "whole cars" (top to bottom) and transformed the New York subway system into an rolling art gallery that would fetch millions now. Style Wars: ReVisited was Silver's addendum project that fast-forwarded us 20 years on to see the lives of the artists through personal interviews and outtakes never seen before.

Thanks Tony for bringing Seen, Dondi (RIP) and Case (legendary graffiti artist with his "Computer Rock" style), Ramellzee (artist and MC) and Crazy Legs (Rock Steady Crew, b-boy) and many, many more to my TV set!

Rock Steady Crew...Happy 30th birthday!

This week, starting today, all the b-boys are busting out the fresh gear and celebrating with the architects of hip hop at the Rock Steady Crew 30th anniversary in New Yawk City.

In a flashback moment, I remember talking with people about the 20th anniversary in Rock Steady Park...yep, 10 years have passed by, just like that! B-boy for life!

The line up is awesome with so many parties organized and cultural events to educate that I really wish I'd organized it to be there...even the commercial stuff is cool with adidas on Wooster St. handing the store over to the Rock Steady...invite only, peeps!

B-Boy Extravaganza, part I

Part I

When I heard that the Scion people were bringing the Rock Steady Crew to town as part of a nationwide competition I knew I had to be there. I signed up for the parties, but couldn't make all of them.

Rock Steady just blew the Rock Force crew out of the water...Thanks Scion! Amazing acrobatics!