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Spontaneous Lux: Freestyling in Hip Hop Dance and Music

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Spontaneous Lux: Freestyling in Hip Hop Dance and Music Music and Arts in Action | Volume 5 | Issue 1 Spontaneous Lux: Freestyling in Hip Hop Dance and Music MARY FOGARTY Department of Dance | School of Arts, Media, Performance and Design, York University | Canada* ABSTRACT This essay and the accompanying video documentary explore "freestyling" (improvising) in hip hop culture, focusing in particular on a Canadian b-boy (breaking) crew called the Albino Zebrahs, which distinguishes itself through improvisational tendencies and choices. An ethnographic analysis of their approach to b-boying reveals that the values and processes behind freestyling involve more work and intention than most outsiders imagine. Through a comparison of West Coast freestyling (a form of rap)and the breaking (dance) styles that developed near Toronto, Canada, this video documentary reveals that these particular local traditions of freestyling, as improvisation, in rap and dance grew, in part, out of participants' imagining of what was happening in other locales. Through the assumptions that new participants made that what they were seeing and hearing were improvised, improvisative practices emerged that borrowed not only from jazz traditions and infuences, but also BMXing and other physical lifestyle cultures. This process, arguably, was quite diferent from the practices that came before and demonstrates a spectrum of improvisational practices that requires further investigation within the burgeoning feld of improvisation studies. The flm was shot in March 2012 in Toronto, Canada and features members of the Albino Zebrah crew including Lance "Leftelep" Johnson, Jesse "Jazzy Jester" Catibog, and Damian Matthew, as well as Riddlore, a rapper who now resides in Austin, Texas. *ACE 319, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3 © Music and Arts in Action/Fogarty 2016 | ISSN: 1754-7105 | Page 70 http://musicandartsinaction.net/index.php/maia/article/view/improvfreestyling Music and Arts in Action | Volume 5 | Issue 1 INTRODUCTION n recent years, a number of documentaries and books have examined the West Coast freestyle rap scene in the 1990s, a scene that feat!red predominantly African American participants living in So!th Central (os Angeles. *e 2008 documentary Tis is the Life: How the West Was One -D!.ernay/, chronicles the emergence of a rap scene centered on the live freestyle performances at the 0ood (ife caf1, featuring artists s!ch as 2reestyle 2ello3ship and Med!sa. (ike3ise, in Te Real Hip Hop: Battling for Knowledge, Power, and Respect in the LA Underground -+''&/, a!thor Marcyliena Morgan e#amines the freestyle scene that developed in (os Angeles in opposition to $est Coast gangster rap that 3as hitting mainstream a!diences aro!nd the same time. *ro!gh incisive ethnographic research, she documents the freestyle scene from 3ithin the participants4 o3n aesthetic and kno3ledge frame3orks. *e $est Coast !ndergro!nd freestyle scene f!l5lled the comm!nity4s needs for conscio!s rap, and provided a po3erf!l model of spontaneo!s lyricism and m!sical prod!ction that circulated across the globe. Tese examples demonstrate the po3er of t3o forms of kno3ledge prod!ction—documentary 5lmmaking and ethnographic research—to examine complex cultural practices, the depth and s!btlety of 3hich often escape the disco!rses of more normative forms of academic scholarship. 7!t they do so while remaining tr!e to the f!ndamental tenets of scholarly research: !sing evidence to create and disseminate kno3ledge and understanding) n 2006, Kyra 0a!nt called for more academic studies that consider not only African American m!sical practices that incl!de improvisation, "!t also ho3 these practices have been taken !p by diverse cultural comm!nities, incl!ding 3hite a!diences. n response to 0a!nt’s critiq!e, and follo3ing the trenchant examples set by Tis is the Life and Te Real Hip Hop, have !sed a video documentary format to provide an ethnographic case study that examines ho3 African American m!sical practices, that developed in (os Angeles in the early 1990s, have inspired predominantly 3hite and 2ilipino dance participants from So!thern =ntario. >itled pontaneous Lu!: "reestyling in $ance and Music, the documentary explores ?freestyling? -improvising/ in hip hop culture. t 3as shot in March 2012 in >oronto, Canada, and features the Albino Zebrah cre3. Altho!gh this cre3 3as formed in (ondon, =ntario in the late 1990s, many of the cre3 members no3 live in >oronto, Canada. *e "Aboys featured are Damian BDemon” Matthe3, (ance B(efte(epC Dohnson and Desse BDaEEy Dester” Catibog. *e two latter cre3 members lived 3ith me, the prod!cer and director of the 5lm, d!ring the period in 3hich the 5lm 3as made. *e other featured "Aboy, Damian, lived F!st a fe3 blocks from o!r place at the time. *e 5lm also features Mindbender -a >orontoAbased rapper), American rapper Giddlore, other members of the Albino Zebrah cre3, and some of the people 3ith 3hom they dance reg!larly) *e camera 3ork and post-prod!ction 3ere done by Skot Deeming, a grad!ate student in York University;s Comm!nications and C!lture program, 3ho also gre3 !p in London, Ontario) © Music and Arts in Action/Fogarty 2016 | ISSN: 1754-7105 | Page 71 http://musicandartsinaction.net/index.php/maia/article/view/improvfreestyling Music and Arts in Action | Volume 5 | Issue 1 "YOU ARE WHAT YOU DECIDE TO BE...SUPPOSEDLY"1 My introd!ction to the Albino Zebrah cre3 came 3hen attended the University of $estern =ntario in (ondon, =ntario in the late 1990s and early 2000s+. Coming from a small city in Northern =ntario, and having gro3n !p in 7randon, Manitoba, felt alienated in (ondon at 5rst, and certainly felt that my s!bcultural interests 3ere at odds 3ith !niversity life in a city kno3n for attracting rich kids. Altho!gh it 3as a mystery to me ho3 people my age co!ld aford the latest fashions or even aford to drink alcohol 3hile making ends meet, did 5nd a f!n, free $ednesday night of dancing at a cl!b night called 4Mo 0ravy,' at a venue named Call the =Jce in the do3nto3n core. A female DD, Andrea ?AD? 2ashba!gh, originally from California, 3o!ld spin f!nk m!sic mainly from the era between 1974 and 1978. t 3as here, among other local venues, that 3itnessed live breaking, and decided that it 3as a dance practice 3o!ld like to investigate f!rther as a practitioner. 3as moved by both the abilities of the local b-boys I sa3 and by my desire to sho3 them up. A fe3 years later, started teaching classes 3ith the Albino ZebrahsM, and took trips to other cities to battle and dance 3ith them as friendsL. felt a sense of belonging and p!rpose, and fo!nd a physical activity that kept me motivated to stay in relatively good shape, and to express my individ!ality to m!sic loved. No3, looking back, reAe#amine my memories, seeing insights that might not have been able to see at the time. =n trips to >oronto, <!estions abo!t my position as a 3hite 3oman became more prono!nced at cl!b venues, 3here 3o!ld be in an overwhelmingly minoritiEed position: 3as !s!ally one of fo!r or 5ve 3omen, and similarly fe3 3hite participants. (ike many practitioners, fo!ght to be seen as a legitimate performer thro!gh codes of cond!ct, dress, attit!de and ability. n many 3ays, my experience 3as akin to that of the ethnographer trying to 5t in to a cultural practice at the beginning of their study. t 3o!ld be a co!ple of years before my academic research 3o!ld begin, "!t had already beg!n to ask <!estions as an ethnographer might, long before any formal commitment as a scholar. At the time, most of the cre3 members had already been dancing abo!t seven years having started in high school. 2or "A7oys, freestyling 3as val!ed over po3er moves, 3hich meant that footwork dominated and the realAtime interaction between dance and m!sic 3as the main focus. *e m!sic 3e listened to at practice sessions, and in the hip hop events organized locally, 3as predominantly $est Coast freestyle rap. *is 3as F!xtaposed 3ith the f!nk m!sic 3e heard every $ednesday night, 3hich gave !s a fo!ndation in f!nk and a space to dance publicly. 2ashion 3as a key component in signifying o!r identities as "Aboys and "Agirls, and for a time 3e got retro nostalgic, and rocked graJti-painted Fean Fackets and belt "!ckles 3ith o!r nicknames, with jeans as a thro3back to 1980s fashions. From those beginnings came the creative practice that is represented in pontaneous Lu!, a documentary abo!t a gro!p of dancers who are no3 in their thirties) 1 A lyric from Aceyalone's song, "As Beautiful as You Are" from the album, Hip Hop and the World We Live In (2002). 2 At the time I met Lance Johnson who is one of the featured artist, he was part of a crew with a diferent name, and most of those members would go on to form the Albino Zebrah crew later on. 3 I taught these classes with Lance Johnson and another crew member, Don Geraghty. Damian, one of the featured artists was originally a student of the class. 4Years later, I would date one of the crew members for a couple of years. © Music and Arts in Action/Fogarty 2016 | ISSN: 1754-7105 | Page 72 http://musicandartsinaction.net/index.php/maia/article/view/improvfreestyling Music and Arts in Action | Volume 5 | Issue 1 HIP HOP AND THE WORLD WE LIVE IN5 *e video explores t3o key <!estions abo!t the relationship between m!sic and dance, and the role-s/ of freestyling therein: 3hat does m!sic aford dance collectives, and 3hat processes or practices prepare a collective of dancers for a freestyled BperformanceCN *e Albino Zebrah cre3 3as e#posed to the predominantly African American $est Coast !ndergro!nd rap scene thro!gh a local record shop, So!l Choice, o3ned and operated by Andrea ?AD? 2ashba!gh, the same DD from the f!nk night that 3e fre<!ented.
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