Wednesday, 20 May 2009

  • DANCE, DANCE, DANCE

    Older readers or those with a little music history knowledge will recognize the tag line as coming from a 1970s disco tune by Chic, which is somewhat ironic given the foundations of hip-hop music.  As has been written over and again in potted histories of the genre, hip-hop was born in the Bronx, partially as an answer to the disco scene's failure to include younger party-goers.  As hip-hop instead set itself up in schools and parks it turned it's back on the glitz and glamor of disco music.  Or did it?

     

    A quick look back at the outfits worn by performers and patrons at old school nights show that hip-hop still had stylistic ties to disco (alongside a large portion of funk) and while b-boys and girls eschewed the disco-dancing scene they still turned up to get down.

     

    However, more recently there seems to have been a disco-esque return to the dancefloor in hip-hop.  A quick look at sites such as YouTube will unearth countless videos of dances being performed by both entertainers and fans alike.  This semi-formalisation of dance routines has been seen in hip-hop before (the 'running man' being possibly the most obvious example) but it is hard to recall a time when it was quite so prevalent. 

     

    Of course it is good to go out and party.  And, for some, the inclusion of some well-known and organized dance routines just adds to the fun.  But is it really 'hip-hop?'  While hip-hop could be argued to be an expression of self within the larger confines of the movement isn't all this organisation a bit like line-dancing?  The difficulty, it seems, is where to draw the line and still stay true to hip-hop's essence.  Because while innovation and development is the constant life-blood of hip-hop, so is knowing your roots, recognizing what went before and not straying too far from the fold. 

     

    I am all for people having some fun when they go out and if dancing to a set routine for particular tracks works then why not.  Just don't let me see too many cowboy boots or, for that matter, 'Saturday Night Fever' style disco in my hip-hop...

     

    Slim (Managing Editor – Grind Mode Media LLC) - WWW.GRINDMODECONNECT.COM & WWW.GRINDMODEPRESS.COM

  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.