Comments on: Interview: Kashmir Leese on the origins of hip hop

By: Chris Unitt

Chris Unitt — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:16:35 +0000

Thanks for all the comments, we need to close them for a while, but if you want to carry on discussing the piece then you can do over at the West Midlands Dance website.

http://westmidlandsdance.com/2009/10/21/interview-kashmir-leese-on-the-origins-of-hip-hop/

By: dee

dee — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:39:06 +0000

I think the comments are borne out of a passion for what he does, nothing wrong with that, people shouldnt take things personally, thats his opinion, which in my opinion is right in many respects. Interesting debate tho.

By: Ben Dover

Ben Dover — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:08:28 +0000

ladies and gentlemen, bboys and bgirls, guys and gals. In essence what the “Dancegeek” refers to is true although some are in denial or live lives of ignorance. We dance today as the produce of the past and hence we should appreciate the sacrifices and discoveries of our teachers and pioneers in order to understand that to a professional or a beginner, thinngs did not occur out of thin air.

Why Divesity and Flawless are recieving free advertising within this drama is beyond me when other undiscovered artists exist within the coastlines of the UK.

Let us not forget the term United Kingdom, although it is referring to a once great empire of the british, let it stand now for all dancers united in a kingdom of HipHop, where we all learn and teach each other in order to increase our knowledge so as to become pioneers ourselves someday. Those that dance for fun, or even exercise, lets not knock them but actually embrace them for we do not know what the future holds for them.

Finally, Enough slandering of Kash, Diversity and BBoy’s. Although I feel all parties deserve an apology, let us agree that if you can’t say anything positive, to put it quite bluntly, KEEP YOUR GOB SHUT!

As a fellow BBoy, let me reassure you I am the happiest ever in my life not only due to the freedom of expression via breaking and HipHop but also because of the amazing people I have met on my journey. Arrogance does exist in some but the true representatives of the each style shall always remain humble and modest until a battle commences which is how BBoying is. Outside the circle i love my people, inside I will do my best to open a can of whoop ass. But why make it personal?

Finally, comments left by “intheknow” “dance” “experience” and “slick” please keep your negativity to yourself and since politics belongs in the House of Commons and not in our world,, lets unite in one studio and train to obtain better health, attitudes, unity and share our goal.

Gracias, Grazie, Merci, Origato and Thanks.

By: Experience

Experience — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:00:30 +0000

The last few comments are correct when you talk about learn the basic and building on a foundation. But you don’t have to put others down (which is what Kash is doing) in order to raise the standards. – ITS NOT WHAT YOU DO ITS HOW YOU DO IT

By: Adil Khan

Adil Khan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:48:31 +0000

First of all what makes a Bboy arrogant or obnoxious? The fact that we know our history and how over the years the media has changed the image of Hip Hop? Yes you might see a flip or a scene from a music video that inspired you to start dancing, thats how it starts off for a lot of people, but once you have been dancing for a while you should know the history/origins of the dance you are dancing and where it is headed. Dancing without this information is as Aundre said it: ”Not knowing their roots or family heritage.”I have found the comments to be entertaining to some extent, but they are also very ignorant, especially those from dancers. Saying that Diversity have made Streetdance cooler than it was before is just a foolish statement to make. As well as saying Bboys don’t give average ’streetdancers’ the time of day is another wrong assumption. If what you do is good, original and fresh then you will be recognised and given the time of day. If you aren’t, then re-think your approach to the dance yes?People (and that goes for a lot of Hip Hop dancers) don’t know that the culture, let alone the dance, wouldn’t be where it is today if it weren’t for the likes of Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa or James Brown and many others. As a real hip hop dancer this is something that you simply must know, otherwise you won’t grow as a Hip Hopper.Do remember that the article has been clipped to the reporter’s needs, so don’t believe what is written there is all that Kash believes and told in the story. There is so much more to be said and it might have been said but left out. Again another error is assuming the fact he is arrogant from this article alone, he is simply being honest and that may be a lot to handle for a lot of dancers from the West Midlands, especially those who think he is reffering to.To finish, Hip Hop is about ‘Peace, Unity, Love and having Fun’ and to write such hateful comments is what contributes to Hip Hop’s ever so growing negative image, yeah so stay positive! Peace

By: Jahmai 'Dizzy' Jones

Jahmai 'Dizzy' Jones — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:27:09 +0000

Yo!

Ok, ive read everything everyone has said and im not going to repeat the things Aundre, Natasha, Emma, Natalie and various others have said. But what i am going to say is why you (intheknow) gotta come up on here and start dissing us Bboys for!? by saying:

“BBoys, sadly, have a certain arrogance about what they do and really are quite obnoxious when viewing other dance groups/crews whom they can’t appreciate because they are NOT doing fundamentals”

I dont know what part of the Bboying world your connected with but that is %100 incorrect, why ? because we are just as humble as any other locker, popper, hip hop/street dancer. Ive seen other hip hop dancers diss on other hip hop dancers by doing the exact same thing u seem to think about Bboys. Its not Bboys as a whole its just people YOU meet!

And secondly “You should be happy that groups like Diversity have taken the art form to a national level, people see that and want to get involved and which is why you are able to be booked to teach dance, you should be thankful to them” true ppl see it and want to get involved but saying they have taken the ART FORM to another level is an over statement (moving your arms and not your core is not an art form) also im pretty sure Kash and other street dancers have been gettin paid work long before BGT even started, so diversity played no role in them getting more lol.

Jahmai ‘Dizzy’ Jones
MDK (MURDA, DEATH, KILL)
Smash Bro’z

By: nkarinc

nkarinc — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:25:18 +0000

I think some people are missing the point in this.

Learn the basics, and then be creative under the umbrella of Hip Hop if you are GOING TO DANCE Hip Hop.

A little background about me. I’m not a dancer, yet. I never trained before in my younger years. My favourite things to do involved the computer and lego. But, I AM of the creative types of people so, I respect a lot of forms of expression. I started coming to Kash’s classes just to hang out and make friends. Honestly i thought it was all a joke but when I really got to know this type of dance and got to know the people who’s lives are based around it. It opened my eyes a lot more. To make this short, after a year of on and off coming to these classes I decided to take this seriously and train harder for it. For what? Freedom of expression but, obviously I have to learn the basics of the basics first.

How can you make a pizza when you don’t know what ingredients go into it or what methods you use to make it? Yah, you can get microwavable pizzas now but, would you call that the original Italian style pizza where it all originated from. Does that match up? You tell me.

By: Aundre Brown

Aundre Brown — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:47:09 +0000

These comments are amusing. I think some people are taking this personally, because they know in themselves that what they’re doing isn’t technically correct. If this isn’t the case, then obviously it doesn’t apply to you. First rule of the media, don’t believe everything you read. People are getting caught up about what some reporter has written, rather than the important issues that wern’t mentioned on this website. Hip-hop is hip-hop, as well as a culture, it’s also a movement
that has to go in some kind of direction. It is true in Birmingham there are ppp who aren’t as hungry as others, but then again there are others that are. It’s jut survival of the fittest. Fair enough, more ppl are dancing, I love watching all kinds of dance. But, hip-hop dance is an umbrella term for many other HIP HOP styles. So it must be respected. The reason why many breakers may feel offended by most street groups is because they may not necessarily like the direction that this movement is going in. Bboying is one of the pillars of hip hop, so for that to be replaced by booty shakin girls, cars and money, in mainstream “hip hop” music videos, it’s subverted the concept totally. Hip hop dance incorporates bboying, popping, locking, krumping, house, waacking, punking and voguing. If yout not using any of these styles, then please don’t call what your doing hip-hop. Lack of education to styles is no excuse, how will you grow as a dancer or even a person if you don’t go away and do your homework. The term Streetdance came from doing these styles In the street. In the projects of New York, ppl never had access to studios or handouts at all, now we are lucky to have places that do offer classes, but unfortunately a lot of teachers lack knowledge of the history and the purpose of the particular dance style. Movement is one thing, but when there’s no reason behind that movement, then it’s meaningless. Popping came from a dance move called the jerk, locking came from a failed attempt of doing the funky chicken, bboying never used to be a dance where ppl went on the floor until the N….. Twins felt the need to go down on the floor. It’s common sense, how are people going to know where to take this style of dance or have any clue where it’s going, without knowing where it came from. . It’s like people not knowing their roots or family heritage. Everything has it’s place. We have he Internet so look up these facts! Now I’m not going to come on here and call out people online, cos that’s just sad and pathetic. I have used my real name because I want people to understand where I’m coming from on this. If anyone would like to debate about this some more then you can catch me at the yardbird on the weekends. Kashmir isn’t arrogant, he’s just very honest. How will the general public know anything about real hip hop, if most uk dancers don’t show them? All they’re goin to go by is what they see on tv, because they want to experience a quick buzz by seeing a flip or well timed sound effects to group routines. There are people in the uk that are going about this in the right way, but there are a lot more that aren’t. Hip hop dance is a recent dance style – nowhere near as old as ballet, so we need a solid foundation for it to be able to grow and flourish for many years to come. So train hard, stay hungry, research and get involved with the scene, network and meet new ppl both in and out of your community. Hip Hop is about peace, love and unity.

By: NRF

NRF — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:07:56 +0000

Oh and i might as well put my name down in case any other people want to take things out of context and make issues personal.

It’s Natasha Fons.

Also consider, that interview wasn’t written quote for quote what Kash said…there’s a lot of artistic licence involved on the writer’s part…

By: emma turner

emma turner — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:53:50 +0000

i understand why people would take this interview personally.. in that they feel offence towards certain statements that have been made..
but i know kash.. and i KNOW what he’s about. I know what message he wants to portray. i know his passion for dance and his thirst for success and i know how committed he is to sharing his knowledge and talent.. to say he is arrogant and disrespectful to dancers not on his ‘level’?? that comment is completely irrelevant and unnecessary to make.
i know its important to allow people to grow with their dancing abilities and yes have fun, express yourself.. but kash is trying to make a very important point here and i feel that peoples personal views should not be said with anger but through debate on the issue involved..