One of the saddest moments of my b-boy life happened just a few weeks ago. While sessioning with some younger b-boys, I said something along the lines of, “Yeah, Abstrak does something similar to that.” Their response: “Who’s Abstrak?”
Now these aren’t mere e-boys. These guys have been training hard and burning up cyphers for a good year or two. As I fought back tears, I tried to think of just how they had never heard of Abstrak, a legend in my mind.
I know that not everyone idolizes the same b-boys that I do, but I had never come across anyone, let alone a group of four or five b-boys, that had never even heard of Abstrak. Could it be that they had seen him and just not taken a second look? No, that’s close to impossible. Abstrak is not the type of b-boy that you see once and forget.
And so I theorized that perhaps, in this world of YouTube clips and overall extreme media saturation, not having a solo video or 100 YouTube clips was the equivalent of not existing to some.
And so to some, Abstrak’s solo DVD Abstrumental is far overdue. J Dilla (RIP) was often called “your favorite producer’s favorite producer.” Similarly, Abstrak is likely your favorite b-boy’s favorite b-boy. He’s been dancing since he was seven and has participated in the infamous Lords of the Floor and Who Can Roast The Most battles as well as countless others across the globe. His technicality, flow, originality and power give something for all walks of 12-year-old online b-boy critics to hate on (I kid, I kid).
But does all this dickriding by yours truly mean that I can’t give a fair review to this DVD? Probably. But that’s not going to stop me from trying.
- Abstrumental is not lacking for footage. At 87 minutes, with extras, it’s enough to split into two or three viewings.
- Speaking of extras, some of the best parts of the DVD are in the bonus section. Abstrak gives us a nice Q&A, answering questions as broad as “How do I practice/create?” There’s also footage of him practicing and an “Archive Section,” which organizes clips based on what event they are from. You’ve probably seen these clips on other DVDs, but it’s really nice to have them all together.
- Abstrak is crazy dope.
- His daughter is cute. I’m a sucker for little kids dancing like no one is watching (you’ll see).
The main feature mixes highlight clips with short interview footage as well as a nice feature of his inspirations, featuring the entire Skill Methodz crew, Kwikstep, Ken Swift and more. There are also a few portions that are obviously shot specifically for the DVD of him dancing in some interesting settings.
My disappointment in most b-boy DVDs is because I can watch clips on YouTube all day from my favorite dancers. So when I see a DVD that is almost all those same clips compiled into an hour long feature, it’s frustrating. Abstrak does a good job of showing us footage we haven’t seen before alongside some interesting glimpses into his life, such as the practice footage and interviews.
The parts that bothered me were nitpicky at best. There’s a problem with Title Safe, meaning that some of the years and text on screen will be cut off when you watch it on your TV. There are some distracting video effects and filters as well, which seems to be a common problem with b-boy and b-girl videos.
Other than those small problems, and the Main Menu button not working on the Archives section, I can’t find any glaring problems. Call me biased, I don’t give a shit, this DVD is 100% better than 99% of the DVDs out there, and that’s a pretty nice accomplishment.
