Hip Hop Cinema's "The Freshest Kids: a history of the B-Boy"

Did you know that "B-Boy" is the term preferred over "Breakdancers" by those who are adept at popping and locking and getting down-right dirty on the floor as they twist and spin in ways that we sometimes can't believe is humanely possible?

Were you aware that B-boying actually pre-dated a lot of what we now refer to as "hip-hop"?

Hip-Hop Cinema, a solSource DC production, treated us this month with their monthly film installment that took a historical look at the history of the B-boy. After the in-depth documentary, attendees were treated to some dance moves by the Beat Ya Feet Kids who are based in DC, Grey Matter-- a b-boy and emcee and b-boy Giovanni Galleno(http://www.myspace.com/geosnap). A forum discussion was moderated by Kobie Nichols.

(All photos by Khadijah Ali-Coleman--please link back to this site if you use the photos)

A Hip-Hop Winning Weekend in DC

This weekend, for old-school hip hop lovers, Almaz Restaurant is getting the party started with old school hip hop on Friday Night dj'd by the female spinmaster DJ Earth 1ne. Serving authentic Ethiopian food and delicious drinks, gather your friends to come chill and reminisce as you enjoy the sounds.

On Saturday, during the day from 2pm-5pm, Hip Hop Cinema returns this month at the Historical Society Museum located on 7th & K in northwest DC. solSource is doing their thang this weekend as they present the hip hop cult hit The Freshest Kids which documents the lifestyle of hip hop dancers known as b-boys.

The 90-minute documentary is full of early history of the artform and features legendary dancers Crazy Legs and Ken Swift.

The Freshest Kids is the first documentary to explore the mostly unknown history of hip hop's first dance and its early pioneers.Known by many names—Breaking, Rocking, Burning, Going Off, B-Boying, Break Dancing—the style was born at DJ Kool Herc's South Bronx house parties in the early 70s, catapulted to worldwide fame in the 80s, and evolved through the 90s into its latest gravity-defying incarnation as a thriving underground movement.

After the film, you are invited to participate in an audience discussion with some of the best B-Boys, DJs and Emcees on the DC Hip Hop Scene. Kobie Nichols of Hot Topic TV/DCTV moderates.

Later that evening, don't forget to check out Saturday Night Live @ Almaz, featuring Farafina Kan starting and then Sunday, enjoy some stellar organic soul hip-hop by checking out the debut of the G-Spot.

Props to solSource for Their Trailblazing Hip Hop Cinema Event

This weekend was a busy one for me and I was battling back pain which made it even tougher to make most of my appointments. On Saturday, I missed Mace's and I weekend four hour-long meeting to plan for this year's Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest and I after taking a muscle relaxant and crashing for three hours, I managed to miss the inaugural Hip Hop Cinema Cafe which kicked off at 2pm on Saturday. I arrived around 5:30pm as people were leaving.


The show wasn't over, however.


On the steps of the Historical Society of DC, MCs Enoch the 7th Prophet, Labtekwon and others got to rippin a freestyle cipher that warmed up the space, smoke literally rising from the circle's middle. I was able to link up with one half of solSource, Kimani Anku, and get a rundown of what I missed inside but let him know wholeheartedly that what he and his partner Brandon Felton are creating is a true legacy for our DC metro area.


Here are some photos I got while the brothas were spittin:

Hip HOP CINEMA! Yea Boy-eee!

The people @ solSource who bring you the fabulous annual Can a Sista Rock a Mic festival are moving into the realm of film, bringin us the Hip Hop Cinema to Washington DC.

Saturday, January 31, 2008 2:00 PMFREE@ Historical Society of DC

801 K Street, NW

at Mount Vernon SquareWashington, DC 20001

with panelists:

Head-Roc (Godisheus)

LabTekwon

Tyrone Norris (Rosetta Stoned)

Kobie Nichols (Hot Topic TV Show)

moderated by Konyka Dunson program host with DCTV and WPFW

Special appearance by The Package, & Mental Salvation Radio's Enoch 7th Prophet

Musical backdrop by DJ Jav

Explosively tracing the story of a group of underground hip hop MCs and DJs from the early 1980s to the present day, Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme is a work-in-progress documentary film that explores the world of improvisational rap—the rarely recorded art form of rhyming spontaneously, or "off the top of the head."

Made over the course of more than seven years—mostly with borrowed cameras from a non-profit co-operative of B-Boys, DJs, and MCs known as The Center for Hip Hop Education—Freestyle takes the viewer on a journey through the previously unexamined dimensions of hip hop as a spiritual and community-based art form.

Following some of the best MCs ever to bless the mic, Freestyle features legendary battles including those of the film's hero, Supernatural, pitted against his arch nemesis, Craig G. As these artists improvise poetry out of the mix of language, politics and culture that make up their lives, we discover revolutionary worlds where the English language is subverted and re-appropriated as a tool of economic and social empowerment.

Freestyle is experimental in its nature as improvisational cinema. No showing of the film is ever the same experience. By combining the best of independent documentary filmmaking with the hip hop mix tape format, director Kevin Fitzgerald offers us a context in which to view living art as a social critique through story and rhyme.

You are invited to participate in an audience discussion with some of the best in the area's Hip Hop Scene, a preview of Rest in Beats*, a first look into The DC Hip-Hop History Project**, and a screening of the D.C. music video The Warning (feat. Sunrock, The Package, Enoch, Grammy nominated Kokayi & more). *Rest In Beats is an original and independent documentary that pays homage to record producers of the past through intimate conversations with renowned record producers of today.

The documentary comes at a time where fear and uncertainty often deafens inspiration and creativity in the recording business. Rest In Beats allows viewers to explore the musical influences and historical sources of inspiration behind today's hit makers, though not without observing the milestones that served as catalysts in ushering in the music industry as we know it today. It is a timely, educational and entertaining work of art for students of music and general music-lovers.

**The DC Hip-Hop History Project is a movie currently in production, which takes a look at history of hip-hop in Washington, D.C. from 1985 to present.