And To Ya' Feet Y'all...Rock On!

gotta say 'word life' to this.
but here's the thing.
i grew up in Richmond, California up around this time and this sneaker thing was truly going on over in Cali at the same time.
the only difference was the whole kit coordination thing revolved around hip hop dance known as poppin' or boogaloo.
sure, NY was an infuence; the Berkeley Hat Co. kept fresh Kangols and fly ski caps on register in the 70's and 80's, but Cali was puttin it down for hip hop too.
i mean kids were DOIN' it, right around our way, when Planet Rock came out- just as fresh on the dance floor as today's boogaloo mash-ups that make up today's straight gigs.
you had a captive audience of crews already in place as NY got shine for innovating their own style.
now don't get me wrong, i'm not trying in any way to suggest that NY wasn't forefoundin' and all, but what often goes unmentioned is the way inner cities all across the country had style and flavor ready made to adopt what was coming out of NY.
were kids battling in dance before break dance? of course.
was hi-fi important in predominantly African-American and Latino culture before hip hop, of course.
there are elements of style that laid the groundwork for hip hop all across the country.
but it was NY where that magic coalescence of the scratch, party rap, graf, funky breaks, the mega p.a. and the moves people did (of all colors and cultures, by the way) ALL CAME TOGETHER under the monniker of hip hop.

what i love about NY being one of a handful of ground zeros in the U.S. for culture is, you got a whole lotta' folks down to archive mad aspects of hip hop AND a whole lotta' movers and shakers STILL MAKING SH%T happen on the regular.
where you think all those household b-boy names WENT?!
ken swift, rock steady crew, africa baambataa, futura 2000, doug e. fresh,....
look any of 'em up.
i bet you ALL of the original heads- now into their 50's and 60's some of em' (yeah, dog- you gonna get there too, if you're lucky!) are putting in work to make sure that future generations are clear about the history of hip hop culture and some of the many ways it all began.
and equally important- how it grows and manifests to this day. i mean we got doctors, lawyers, business owners, CEO's, and check-writer's in general, who grew up in hip hop.
it's in evolving out from EVERY generation on Earth right now...yes, the kid's including jazz heads we are losing every year like Freddie Hubbard. WHICH IS WHY WAX POETICS (yes, sigh, outta NY) is so GOTTANG IMPORTANT. anyone reading this postng, if you haven't seen a copy of this truly gifted magazine, must go right out and put your hands on one- not online, but a physical copy somewhere where fine magazines are sold!


one of my personal passions is the jump rope discipline in hh culture, with an emphasis on Double Dutch. i had the privilege of befriending the man who first organized the pastime into a competitive sport, over in Harlem, Mr. David Walker.
he passed last year.
and his annual Holiday Classic double dutch competition at the Apollo was a memorial dedication.

i'll be doing what i can to kick skipping culture, skills, and tangents around this often missing element of hip hop culture.

on the regular.
no need to keep spillin' here, we gotta lil' bit of a Summer ahead of us.

-b.phlecksi parmella
"life leaking without peeking so everyone
can move left and...to the right flow
my rhyme book can effervesce
out, let it go"
(from bpp's Last Emcee)