Stuff B-Boys Like: Pretending to Know How to Rock
POSTED ON May 21st, 2010 BY Calvin
(Can you) rock this way?
Sure, rocking and b-boying are direct relatives.
And sure, it’s not impossible to find a decent b-boy who’s also talented at rocking — the same way that b-boys were originally hip-hop renaissance men who often juggled several, if not all, of the elements of hip-hop.
On the other hand, there is also no shortage of b-boys who are dead set on the belief that they are the next King Uprock. You’ll see them snatching any opportunity to show off their jerks and burns, whether it be a battle, performance, funeral, and so forth.
At worst, a clueless b-boy trying to rock will look like a spastic tween trying to slay invisible dragons. At best, the aforementioned rocking will look like ham-fisted choreography where the dancers sway and squat on every other snare drum.
Why is this? It’s not like rockers commonly bust into really poorly executed b-boy moves during their battles.
There is nothing wrong with knowing multiple dance styles. And there’s nothing wrong with being a beginner. But do you think b-boys need to show more respect to rocking as an independent dance form with its own history, foundation, movements and culture? Or was this kind of convergence healthy and inevitable?
CATEGORY: Stuff B-Boys Like, Videos
People need to understand that randomly crouching while doing some toprock is not rocking… Good post, hahaha.
i wanna rock i wanna rock i wanna rock right now!
Love the post, love to see good rockin!
Thanks for the good post Calvin!
AMEN!!!!Been going on for years. Back in the 90′s everyone mixed up locking/popping and breaking but that stopped eventually when people realized the histories of these dances, i think the same will happen for Rock. But I think most future Rockers will have a bboy background.
… Rocking, as much as any other dance, is a fusion of other dances that preceded it. In this case the hustle, salsa etc…
I think it is important to recognize the differences in the dances, but strict lines as to when and where movement can migrate between forms would stagnate and stifle the creativity of the dance…. in any of it’s disciplines.
It’s funny cuz it’s true! haha
Good point (To the anonymous poster above)
I agree that incorporating elements of uprock in toprock can be interesting if done well but what’s being discussed here isn’t an incorporation of uprock, but an imitation of it.
If someone knows what they’re doing and wants to incorporate it into their b-boying and have it look good, that’s great. But simply imitating uprock by constantly stabbing the air, jerking off-beat, and ignoring the space around you is not a good thing for either dance.
thats a little short for a magazine article
I’m a b-girl and this happens a lot around me; guys like to show off, I guess. But I usually end up putting THEM to shame XD
Men, if you don’t know how to do it, don’t do it. It ain’t worth it :)
I make attempts at rocking to be honest.i have been interested in it for a long time. but it took me a long time to find resources and track down the right way to do it and it’s vocab of moves. am i a rocker.. by no means can i say i am. i am a fan of the dance and a student. that is all i can claim.
Yes, always a student, never a show off jejeje…