Class Tunes 2/18 & 2/21/11

Neo-Soulish Styles + Some: Part 1 & 2
Draw The Stars - Andreya Triana
New Soul (Remix) - Wale [Ft. Yael Naïm]
RUDE BOY REMIX RIHANNA & AGENT SASCO
Rude Boy (Agent Sasco Remix) – Rihanna
Robots - Bilal ft. Hezekiah & Ishe (Chuck Treece Remix)
Waitin’ - Choklate Feat. Chali 2na
Yes - Kierra "KiKi" Sheard
Ain't No Future in Your Frontin' MC Breed
My Posses on Broadway - Sir Mixalot
Cha, Cha, Cha - MC Lyte
Master Plan - Eric B. & Rakim
Eric B Is President - Eric B. & Rakim
Paper Thin - MC Lyte
Light As A Rock - MC Lyte

Class Tunes 2/14

Oooops! I forgot to include Ohio's contribution to our Funkamental experience:

More Bounce To The Ounce - Zapp & Roger
Funky Bounce - Zapp & Roger
Skin Tight - Ohio Players
Fire - Ohio Players

*Thanks Brooke for puttin' me in check :)

Today:

All For One - Brand Nubian
The Most Beautifulest Thing - Keith Murry
Fabolous vs. AlexGoose (Duncan Gerow Remix)
I'm On One (Remix) - Talib Kweli ft. CyHi Da Prynce
Mos Def vs. Just Blaze - Beef (Duncan Gerow Remix)
Drake vs. The Blessings - Over (Duncan Gerow Remix)
Jay-Z vs. Ratatat - Dirt Off Your Shoulder (Duncan Gerow Remix)
Gettin' Funky - Kid 'N Play
Cronica 2013 – Low Profile Beat
Ms. Sancha – Low Profile Beat
Shake Ya Tailfeather - Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee
Busta Rhymes vs. Flying Lotus - Woo-Ha! (Duncan Gerow Remix)


Last Week:

Low Profile Gangsters – Low Profile Beat
B.P.R. 3 – Low Profile Beat
Held Him First - Deyampert
Drake, Birdman & Lil Wayne vs Joker - Money to Blow
Mechanics (Remix) - Reek Da Villian ft. Busta Rhymes, Swizz Beatz, Cam'ron, Vado, Method Man, Nelly and DJ Khaled
Jay-Z/Big_L (Evil Analog remix)
Hip Hop 3:47 Dead Prez
Best Kept Secret
Peanut Butter Jelly Time - Buckwheat Boyz
Tote It (Original Mix) - DJ Blaqstarr
Real Hip Hop - Das Efx
They Want EFX - Das EFX
The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground
Fuck! I Can't Get U Out Of My Head! - Lisle Luvit

Peep The Continuum: Exhibit #101

If any of ya'll see something familiar from the past and not too distant past . . . holla@me in the comment section. Bless!

Shop Wreckin'

“You gotta have style and learn to be original” ~Boogie Down Productions (My Philosophy)

From the Africanist standpoint, movement may emanate from any part of the body, and two or more centers may operate simultaneously… Africanist movement is polyrhythmic (Dixon Gottschild 333)

Okay . . . so, you saw Wreckin’ Shop. This documentary set people on blaze all across the world . . . and the fire is still burning. In addition, you got the opp to watch exclusive footage of LA’s “urban” dance scene(s) with a featured segment on The Soul Brothers thanks to the phenomenal hiphopographical film documentation of my brother Frankie D. Each clip is full of folk “gettin’ busy”, “cuttin’ loose” . . . improvising . . . Freestylin’, etc.

For a quick minute, let’s look at Freestylin’/Improvisation as a choreographic process.

In Reading Dancing, Susan L. Foster lays out a blueprint for choreographic meaning.

(1) the frame----the way the dance sets itself apart as a unique event;

(2) the mode of representation---the way the dance refers to the world;

(3) the style---the way the dance achieves an individual identity in the world and its genre;

(4) the vocabulary---the basic units or “moves” from which the dance is made;

(5) the syntax---the rules governing the selection and combination of moves.

In relation to this blueprint, Foster describes choreography as "a sketching out of strategies and techniques . . . choreography designed for a specific cultural and historical moment." (Foster 1986)

From my perspective(s), Improvisation/Freestyling is an act of surrender/trust/lettin' go/manifesting/calling/responding/sharing/receiving. It’s a revelation, wherein I can both expose and cover myself simultaneously. It’s an embodied scream and hush, it’s a play with what’s visible and invisible . . . it’s an engagement in which I declare and affirm that “I AM” in the NOW. In the kNOW . . . I AM actively embodying the present in respect to time and timelessness . . . I AM actively embodying the present, the gift of life, love, joy, pain and a long list of other words that describe the way I perceive and interpret information (external and internal) about particular sensations that my body/bodies (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, soul) are experiencing. I AM be-coming a presence that activates/cultivates a multi-layered/multi-sensory understanding of who/what/where/why I AM and who I AM with.

Contemporary Afro-American dances are frequently a recycled version of dances performed in pervious generations, some dating back to preemancipation and a few traceable to Africa (Hazzard-Gordon 429).

So, what’cha thinkin’? Bring it to the cipher.