B-BOY S10 MEDIA BLOG

Stax of Wax Radio

2012-02-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

Stax of Wax Radio - Came across this Mixcloud channel and decided to do a littlepromotion for them in exchange of becoming a follower of their great channel.They have lots of dope Hip-Hop and funky mixtapes, live radio shows.

“Stax of Wax Radioshow with dj Droppa & dj Mauz: Every friday from 18-20u (GMT+1) live on Radio Centraal (106,7FM or livestream http://streaming.radiocentraal.org/) Tune in for you're weekly dose of fonkyness! Representing true hiphop&funk flavorz since 2009(c)”

Really love their mixtapes, some are not so bad for b-boypractice, most are super dope to listen to on the back ground. I always lovedgood music. The good music for me is – The One I like Listening! :) Simple as that!Educate yourselves by listening more music. Get creative, get dreamy, get funkyget into this, into that into whatever music tells you...

http://www.mixcloud.com/Staxofwax/

DJ Pumpin Pete - The Foundation Hip Hop Educational Mix

2012-02-13T13:02:00.000-08:00

Found on http://www.hqhiphop.net/, and thought I would share this mixtape on my blog. DJ Pumpin Pete is a 2x DMC Champion from Chicago... I just thought his mixtape sounds good on the background, whatever you do. I could even practice to it. Sometimes we all need time to slow down and get creative! Great quality mixtape, like all downloads from this website! (Thanks to DJ Graham Dolan for showing me this website) Check it out!

DJ Pumpin Pete - The Foundation Hip Hop Educational Mix

Do you know the best way to increase your creativity? - Listen to music.
Do you know the best way to train your whole brain? - Listen to music.

Added on 18 February, 2012...

Yesterday, DJ Pumpin Pete contacted me himself via email and thanked for the "support". Me for support? Thanks him for the music that he is doing and me (and you too) are able to download for free. Anyway, here is a little bit more about this DJ.

DJPUMPIN PETE

Hometown: Addison, Chicago, Illinois

A true turntablist at heart with a naturallove for Hip Hop and funk, but bred on the driving beats of Chicago house music. Blended with a love ofscratching and beat juggling and a constant desire to entertain a crowd set meapart from most DJ’s.

Started spinning in 1983 and have sinceamassed a long list of DJ residencies in and around Chicago. Achievements include:

Quest for the best DJ competition champion1987

Style Wars battle of the DJ’s champion 1988

Chicago Sound Sensation great battle of theDJ’s champion 1990

DMC Mix Championships Champion 2consecutive years 1990-1991

Subculture records artist 1990-1992

UC Afterhours Music artist/DJ 1995-1998

Blue Groove All-Stars DJ (Elbo/FunkyBudda/Doubledoor) 1994-Present

1994 – 2011 Chicago area nightclubappearance lists too long to mention.

2010 DefTal DJ Crew / Video TurntablismSpecialist.

Honorable mention: Cutz on Cuts Turntableimprov, The Goodness nationally recognized Hip Hop event and current radio mixshow DJ on Chicago’sVocalo Friday night DJ collective.

My sound can be best described as raw funkysoulful underground breakers mixtape meets DJ seminar sure to keep hands in theair.

Influences: Cash Money, Jazzy Jeff, DJ Revolution,Shortkut, Babu, Jesse De La Pena, Joc Max, Beat Junkies, Rob Swift, GrandmasterCaz, Grand Wizard Theodore, Steve D.

Tru Thoughts Hip Hop

2012-02-09T03:25:00.000-08:00

Found this compilation on my hard drive. Kinda like listening to it. Not practicing, though there are some breaks of the compilation that makes you want to get down. I am not really great at describing music. I can only classify music as: I don't like it, I like it, it's ok, it's not bad, quite good etc. So, my verdict for this compilation is: It's quite good when you are in the right mood. Here is what the official website sayin' (copy pasted):

"All the heaviest hip hop stylings from the massively diverse catalogue of Tru Thoughts (and Zebra Traffic) on one essential jam-packed CD.

‘Unfold Presents: Tru Thoughts Hip Hop’ is the first compilation from the Tru Thoughts stable to have an obvious genre theme, but this being Tru Thoughts’ twist on hip hop as it stands today, the vibe is still hugely eclectic and aims to reflect the open-minded musical policy and crossover of influences embraced by hip hop in its original incarnation. The funk of The Bamboos; Quantic’s deep dancefloor mastery; dubstep influences from Me&You; Freddie Cruger’s B Boy drums; and the future grooves of Hint and Milez Benjiman combine with the vocals of Phonte from Little Brother; French rapper Trinidad; Ohmega Watts from the USA; and Life, Dirty Diggers and Rup representing the finest of the UK.

Releasing a killer hip hop compilation that showcases a wealth of talent across the broad hip hop spectrum has been at the top of the Tru Thoughts wish list for years. Thanks to the sheer level of time and commitment invested in the day-to-day business of developing and releasing music by individual artists, however, this retrospective has never quite found its niche in the whirlwind that is the Tru Thoughts release schedule. Cue Unfold Records – the newly re-launched imprint from the Tru Thoughts label network – which has been set up as a platform to put out compilations of interesting, creative, independent music, and proved to be the perfect vehicle to take this almighty collection of hip hop to the masses.

With a Pilooski remix of Quantic’s “En Focus” featuring Trinidad alongside classic joints like The Bamboos’ acclaimed hit “Get In The Scene” featuring Ohmega Watts, ‘Unfold Presents: Tru Thoughts Hip Hop’ is a must-have compilation that weaves an unpredictable and stunning sonic journey."

(source: http://www.tru-thoughts.co.uk/releases/Various/UNFOLD006)

I could not have described it better. Anyway, download and enjoy. Link Below:

Unfold Presents Tru Thoughts Hip Hop (2008) - Download

Battle Breaks vol.17

2012-02-05T05:40:00.000-08:00

Battle Breaks vol.17 (86Mb, 56Mins)

Tracklist:
Ascots - The Graveyard Creep
Baby Huey - Listen To Me
Barrabas - Swinger
Bronx Dogs - The Weya Funk
Bruton Library - Hydropower 2 (Hot Doughnuts)
Carl Holmes - Investigation 1973
Chambers Brothers - Funky
Daly Wilson Big Band - Police Woman Theme (Cover Song)
Davis, Naomi & The Knights Of 41st St. - Catapult
Don Anderson - Understanding
Duke Of Burlington - Flash
Malinga Five - Rock Africa
Soul Seven - Mr Chicken
US Navy Port Authority Soul Band - We're All The Same
Walrus - Who Can I Trust

LIfe Lesson nr.3

2012-01-23T04:42:00.000-08:00

Good and loyal friend. Can sacrifice himself for you.
Always by your side.

Shitty friend, who doesn't give a fuck about you.
Only wants food and shelter from you.
If not feeling comfortable, he can leave.

Here is another story from my life. The story that taught me a great lesson on how to choose friends and surround myself by people. Back in the days I used to be a super friendly and super helpful guy. Being helpful is still one of my good qualities (I think so), but now I choose wiser who to help and who to be friendly with.

When I moved to Ireland, back in 2005, among many other connections I have made, there was that Polish guy, named Bart (I could have changed the name, or not, you guess). I was introduced to him by my local friends. He seemed like popular guy, sounded like he knew everyone around. I have to say he was street smart, intelligent enough to keep a conversation, and most of all, he had a big life experience. He also was into Hip-Hop music, Wu-Tang Clan and all that shit.

After few weeks he became a regular visitor in our house. He was just coming without invitation, some countries have the tradition that you don't need to invite your friends, and they can come any time they want. Well, that works if both sides agree that they are friends. So, this guy was a regular guest at our place. We would smoke some pot, talk about life, cook and eat together. He would tell his stories. Only now I realize, that in most of his stories he was a victim. From him I found out he had a child in Poland. And also that he is hiding from police there, and that he is accused in something he had never done. I used to believe in people, to believe that they can have a bad period in their lives, and that after that period everything will be good for them.

He never had a proper job. Bart would be the type of guy who is complaining when he gets a job, cause he actually had to work. And when he had no job, he would be complaining that he had no money and no food. Which sounded strange to me as he seemed like an intelligent guy (seemed legit). Very often he would ask me or some of my friends to borrow him 5 or 10 euro. For food. In fairness to him, he always was returning it. The times he had no money for food (or he was just saying it), I would invite him to my work place, to hotel where I used to work as a night porter, and was giving him food. And some to take home too.

From his own stories he was misunderstood by other people and always been in the middle of something. Everything cold be fine if... One day me and my friend, who I used to live with, went to city centre for a walk. We took a bus to city centre, when I got a call from Bart. He was wondering if we were around and when are we coming back. Because he wanted to borrow a basketball. I said we will be back in 2 hours and that we could play together then. Bart said "OK"...

When we came back, I didnt notice anythig unusual, untill I went to the doors of my bedroom... It was broken... I remember how I got a shock, like WTF had happened here! My other friend, his door lock is broken too. My next thought was "What is missing in my room?"... Well, that was quite a lot: laptop, videocamera, few watches. My friend lost his PSP (back in 2005 it was a cool gadget). Speaking of his PSP, it was his birthday the next day, and we bought him a game for PSP. What a great present :D!

We called police and stuff... The policeman told us if we find out anything, not to do anything ourselves but to call him... This is what happened (in my mind): Bart as usual, came to our doors to get the basketball. Noone was at the door. Then he went to the back door. Which was open sometimes and he knew it. He went in. Realized noone is at home, he rang me. Then he knew he had 2 hours to do anything. And his criminal instincts told him to go and rob me and my friend - people who were nice to him. People who gave him food and money. Thank you very much for the lesson!

Next time I saw him, I told him the story, and he looked at me with surprised eyes and promised to help. While all people who knew him were telling that is quite capable of doing it. Like I have said before, I have a tendency to trust people and to ignore that intuition of mine which is very often (almost always) is correct. Imagine that: MY INTUITION IS RIGHT AND MY MIND IS WRONG. It's like you are meeting a person that you consider your friend, and you can feel he is hiding from you something, but you don't want to think bad about people, since you have no evidence. But you can see your "friend" is trying to avoid you... as long as his consciousness will allow him (this part is in bold for a purpose)

A week later we had recovered the video camera, which was sold to some other Polish fella. He refused to tell where he got it from... The same time Bart disappeared. He moved away from the neighborhood... The end....

Well, not quite the end. 3 years later I was talking to my friends about what happened to me. When I mentioned his name, they all were like: "Oh yeah, that bastard. We heard about him. He owes money to the whole city. Rumour has it he is robbing the houses and selling stolen stuff. He even had borrowed money from his supervisor at work and never returned." Sounded like I had a truly great friend back in 2005 :). Couple situations like this in your life and - how can you trust people after that???

Now, the conclusions I have made from this lesson:

-When meeting new people, listen carefully to what they are talking about;

-Do not let strangers in your life and be protected, don't let them get too close too soon;

-Don't ignore your gut feeling;

-Do not show off in front of other people what you got, cause they might get jealous and will want to take it from you!

-If you have shitty friends - don't waste your time and find the loyal ones.

Peace,

B-Boy S10.

Megaupload is Down

2012-01-20T04:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/megaupload-shut-down-by-feds-why-do-we-need-sopa/

Here is the link, so I don't need to be the one who is telling the news. Megaupload is down. And for my blog it is ... Well... The blog is fucked for a while. All files I had were on megaupload, so they all not accessible. Will see what happens. I still have a Rapidshare account, and will gradually upload all my Music Compilations there. At least, you can download something.I had closed down all the pages with videos and music as the links are dead! Damn, that was a lot of work for me!

I don't want to tell my readers how happy I am that FBI shut down Megaupload and I lost my year's work and also Lifetime Premium Membership. Probably, Megaupload was doing something against laws, or it could have been a good example for other file sharing sites. At least I don't feel guilty for what I was doing and I didn't lose as much as guys at Mega did. They might lose money and freedom... Poor Kim Kardashian and P.Diddy, who won't have a chance to share files with their friends anymore (as if they ever did) :).

Probably some other file sharing sites will have new customers now. As if they are any different from Mega. As if the FBI really cares about the copyright contents and stuff. As if youtube, rapidshare, torrent sites are any better in this case. Politics. Pure politics. We can only express our opinions and do our little bit in it.

15,000,000 Preimum users of Megaupload became homeless yesterday. Most of us haven't just lost our files, but also a hope that noting is forever. You can work as hard as you want on your project, and it could be shut down in 1 sec without any notice and your participation...

WOULD LIKE TO HEAR SOME NICE COMMENTS FROM YOU TO CHEER ME UP :)

Battle Breaks vol.16

2012-01-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

Battle Breaks vol.16 (58mins, 91mb)

Tracklist:
Benny Gordon & The Soul Brother - Tighten Up (Cover Song)
Cake - Short Skirt, Long Jacket (Live)
Cleon - Nervous Breakdown (full version)
Damn Sam The Miracle Man And The Soul Congregation - B.J.
Esso Steel Band Of Bermuda - Soul Train
First Family - Slow Down 1
Fritz Maldener Orchester - Wild Luck
Funk Como le Gusta - Nervosa
Greatest Show On Earth - Borderline
Illusion - Did You See Her Eyes
Masayoshi Takanaka - Thunder Storm
Mastermind - I Am Music
Pigbag - Sunny Day
Piney Brown - Bring It On Home
S.O.U.L. - Burning Spear

Life Lesson nr.2

2012-01-18T04:10:00.000-08:00

Another story from my life. A true story. It took place when I was 21, the summer of 2003. The time when my home country Latvia was not a part of European Union yet and it was hard to move around the Europe without proper documents.

In spring of 2003 I just came back from my 1 year's trip/adventure in the USA. I had some savings from the work I done in the US, and I knew I had to do something interesting this summer. I had friends in the employment agency, the one that sends people abroad to the US, Canada, England, Germany etc. to work or study. So, I was offered to go to London for summer to "study the language". In reality, not many people from Latvia could afford living in London, never mind studying. The whole plan of this operation was:

1. To get myself in the cheapest college for summer in order to obtain students visa;

2.When in London, look for a job;

3. Experience London.

The employment company would proving contacts with the cheapest college, enrolling in which would guarantee the students visa to London for 4 months. Also, they would find an accommodation for me to stay for one week with some random family in London. And later I was on my own. I had a choice of renewing the rent or look for my own place. The problems with that I was facing were:

1. Finding a job. Provided I did not have much time for it and I had no parents or friends back up on it;

2. Finding a place to stay;

3. Doing it all on my own. I only had a friend that was going to do exactly the same thing, but a week later after me;

4. Trying to find a full-time job with my students visa, that allowed me to work 20 hours per week. Cause I was supposed to study you know;

5. I had only 120 GBP cash with me. After money is gone, I would face another problem;

So, in the end of May of 2003 I landed in London. Then I made my 1st trip from Heathrow Airport to Finsbury Park (noticed that in Finsbury park you can exit the subway without swiping the card. That means, you could have a free ride from Airport to there. Another free exit station was I think Angel station in centre London.), later from Finsbury Park took a bus to Bruce Grove, which I think is in Tottenham. At 10pm I was at the door of my "Accommodation for a Week".

The next day I went to my college. I think it was called "Meridian". Met new people, made friends etc. So, my week went really fast and interesting. One of the days after school I was walking around Finsbury Park and saw the ad on the shop window:

"Help in obtaining work permits and help in searching for work for Russian speaking people. For more details ask manager in the store."

I went there just to see whos behind it. Met a Russian (turned out to be Ukrainian) guy named Vladimir, around 50yo. He looked strange and suspicious, and seemed a bit pushy. I said I'll come back to him if I'm stuck...

So, after a week, my rent was over. The English family told me I can renew it or I need to leave. And I didn't really have a new place to stay, neither I had much money to stay there with them. Neither I felt that I liked that family. Felt that they were only about the money. Not that they should care about me and stuff.

So, there I was. Alone with my suitcase outside, with 30 GBP left. No job, no accommodation. My friend just arrived from Latvia and he had his rent paid up for one week. But his landlord said - no friends allowed and stuff. So, all he could help me is to take my luggage, so I can move around easier. That was the hardest part of my journey. Looking back, I am thinking WTF was I thinking about? Here is my survival guide.

Travel: First thing I did, I bought a weekly travel card for buses. So I could move around, take long bus journeys and when I was job hunting I could see from the bus if that area was worth getting off the bus in order to hand in my CVs. Then, I noticed that bus drivers don't really check bus travel cards, that they only see a date on it till what it is valid till. You could get this travel card in any newsagents store. They just stamp a new date on empty card. So, I figured out that you can get another card like this, take the top thin layer with the date off one of them and stick it on to your card. So, basically, you can renew your card yourself. Just change the numbers. When a new month comes you must find a used card with the new month on it, as it is harder to change a months name (this trick I used in the USA with my J1 visa ;) ).

Food: the cheapest you can get were Super Netto stores. Everything is supercheap there. Then, there are restaurants, that needs to get rid of the food they didn't sell during the day. Some give away for free, some charge really small fee. I was going to 2 Chinese food places in Camden Town where the employees would give me a bag of any kind of cooked food for 2 pounds. It had to be thrown away otherwise... Free food is given to people in special locations of London. Morning breakfasts or lunches with hot food. You just need to know time and place. And you will not die fro hunger. If you can get over the fact that you have to queue with homeless people, alcoholics etc. Well, when you are hungry, you don't choose much. My location was also Camden town. I would go for breakfast and lunch there. My supper would be food that I bough (some was stolen) in Super Netto or Tesco.

Sleeping. That was a bigger problem. Since I had no money, I invented sleeping on the buses. At night i would choose a long bus route, that would last over 1 hour, and would just sleep upstairs. When the bus reaches the final destination, I would wake up (well, mostly people would wake me up, or a bus driver), then walk around for a bit and go back to the bus. Preferably the next one, since the bus driver saw me already. All that with the fake travel card. In 3 night sleeping like this I have been in many parts of London. I have seen many homeless people sleeping on the streets, I learned which food stores are open during the night, met some new people, seen night streetlife of London with all of its drug dealers and prostitutes, rich people, beggars, etc. Seen some real life street fights. Felt a bit awkward when during one of the nights sleeps I woke up in the bus in the middle of Brixton at night alone. Well, not alone, there were few "friendly" black people :). Speaking of street dealers, I remember the story when I was standing at a bus stop in Kentish Town, waiting for my night bus to sleep in, when couple drug dealers came over offering some stuff. Then few more came over and told them dealers that I am their customer... So they all started fighting over me. Then my bus came and I left them fighting outside... Sometimes when I didn't feel like sleeping I would walk around London trying to find some shelters for homeless people, maybe hospitals when I could sleep. And I didn't find anything unfortunately. I think I looked like a zombie after 3 nights outside. Plus, I still had this idea that I need to find a job.

Job Hunting: when I had time and energy, I would drive around in the buses, getting off when I saw something that was worth going in and leaving my CV. I went as far as from Muswell Hill to Wimbledon... Probably, leaving around 100 CVs in any place I could find and think of. Signing up in few employment agencies... There was nothing. Don't know which was more important for me: to find a job or to find a place to stay... I didn't go to college at all anymore...

Things started looking better when one day I decided to come back to Finsbury Park to talk to that guy Vladimir. It was my lucky day I think. He told me he had a room in his house that he was renting with his wife and daughter, and I could stay with them and pay him when/if I get a job. And he will do documents for me for free, and if I find a job I can pay him back. That's what I like about Russian/Ukrainian/Soviet people - the genuinely do help. They care about people. I've been almost 2 year in the USA - they don't care. It's just my opinion. In the USA Mexicans care about people more than americans do. Thats another story...

I started living with Vladimir and his family. After few days, my friend moved in with me. He had a bit of money, so he paid some to Vladimir. The first thing I did when I moved in, I had a great sleep. Then showered and went to look for a job... In 2 days I got 2 jobs. So I had a choice: being a waiter in some Cypriot restaurant or Shop Assistant in Arts store that was run by Indian people. I chose the arts store as it sounded like a more stable job to me. When the guy called me about the work in the Arts Shop in Camden town (his name was Raj), he said that he just wanted to hear me speaking English. And later I found out that he picked me out of nearly 300 CVs, just because I wrote that "I am reliable and always on time" in the end. WTF! Feels like I won a lottery that day! I didn't care much about the fact I didn't know anything about arts and paints, and canvases. I didn't mind the fact that I didn't know the names of what I was selling in English. But I was willing to learn and after couple weeks I was fine with it.

Deep inside I knew I am not 100% honest with my employer, as I was only allowed to work 20 hours and for that reason I had to go to Home Office and pretend I have applied for my Social Security number or whatever it is called in England. It would take up to 3-4 months to get one. So, thats all I needed. I was getting cash and knew I will never get my papers from Home Office, cause I never went there. In return I was paying back with my hard work. Was always on time and was reliable :). Well, we all have to lie sometimes. Even my boss Raj was lying to his friends that he quit smoking, and only I knew that he was still doing it... Actually, not only. The guy who used to replace him, his name was Girish, also Indian and he was running another store in Brixton. He knew also, and also knew that Raj was lying, but it was just funny for him to observe how Raj is behaving and telling him every month that he is not smoking. Girish was my friend. I really enjoyed working with him and I think he was enjoying too. And also he was enjoying the days he was working with me in Camden town, cause working in Brixton is like... Going to war every day, never knowing what can happen there. When I had to leave, I just said I am opening a new business in London with my friend. And left... I think they discovered the problem with my documents after couple months while doing accounts, but I hope they were not mad at me, as I was a very good worker and did all that just to survive.

Since I got my job and a place to stay, the life got more usual, and relaxed. So, I was visiting museums and galleries, and nightclubs and stuff. And there are not many lessons I learned from them, apart from where you can buy alcohol at night and weed on the street. And which museums are free and worth visiting...

The lessons that I learned from this trip were:

1. I would not like to do it again :)

2. You can be lucky in life only if you work hard for it. You can win a lottery only if you buy a ticket;

3. It made me believe in myself more;

4. Homeless and or Unemployed person is either stage in life or state of mind;

5. I've seen good London and bad London. So, when someone is saying the London is good or bad, I can say it is cause you haven't seen the other side...
6. You need to help other people. But only those who need help, not those who want help.

Peace,

B-Boy S10

Videos Worth Watching

2012-01-15T03:48:00.000-08:00

Hello, here is my new review of online videos, that I find interesting, cool and worth watching.

1. The Four Chords Song - That is why pop music sucks. Simple as fuck!

2. Automatic Page Turner

3. Great Street Performance

4. Street Art - Picture in 3 Minutes

5. Special Effects in Movies

6. Shadow Dancers Performance at Oscars Ceremony

Benefits of Doing Your Homework

2012-01-15T03:34:00.000-08:00

A true story, nothing added, nothing overestimated. I was growing up as a fat kid. Sport was not popular in my family at the time, and I was eating lots. Well, I wasn't that fat, but always "slightly overweight". The only kind of sports I did, was football (also known as soccer, but really hate this word). I was playing with adults since the age of 6, and had a quite intellectual style of play back then. You gonna ask me, why I was overweight then? Well, I was eating lots. :) At the age of 5 or 6 I started learning juggling with the ball. My dad was proud of me back then. Or he was just happy that I finally showed my interests in something. By the age of 8 I was one of the best jugglers around and finally I was accepted to practice with a local football team. I was still overweight and to be honest I was fine with it. Felt comfortable. A happy fatboy.

In school at physical education classes I wasn't showing any enthusiasm, I was one of the worst students sport wise: one of the slowest in running, and could not do a single pull-up at the age of 10. My parents told me that sports are not the priority in life, and it's ok to be smart and fat. At least you are smart. Which I was. The best student in class, apart from sports. When you are young, you don't need to impress ladies with how you look. While my classmates were doing 10 pull ups, I was doing none. Zero.

When I was 12 our football coach died (RIP), and the whole team fell apart. There was an alternative to football in town - a wrestling club. So, since most of my teammates joined it, I joined it too. If you only knew how bad it is to be an overweight wrestler. Especially the one without any physical strength. You can have the same weight with someone else, but of a completely different body composition. So, one day coach told me something like this: "I know you are smart and good in school. But you know why is that? It's because you doing your homework in maths, literature etc. But you don't do your sports at home. Why don't you try doing that?". Always been a reasonable guy, I started doing press ups and (kind of) pull ups at home. Also was trying to go jogging when I had time. After a month of doing that I made my 1st pull up! Man, I was happy. But more than happy, I started believing in myself more. Believing that I can achieve something. That the fact that sports are not my thing is not true. Everyone can set their goals and reach them, if they do their homework.

Few months later I was doing 3 or 4 pull ups. That was a huge increase from 1. like 300% increase :). I started noticing that my body composition started to change, from slightly overweight to normal, from normal to sporty. Needless to say, I started getting better marks at my sports class. A year of wrestling made some substantial changes in my life... But my heart was in football, so when we all found out there was another coach in town, we all left wrestling. (I can imagine a shock for our coach, but deep inside he knew we all were only footballers).

Playing football taught me a discipline. And I never forgot the homework lesson. I was doing extra trainings alone, working on my weaknesses. I have always been slow on the field. Had a really clever game but slow. I think the fact that I was smart, political and generally a good role model made me a captain of my football team... And of course, I never had any problems at my sports classes at school. Our teacher used to show me as an example for others. From fat guy to someone who is getting good marks in his class. In last year of my high school I was representing my school in city's Schools Competitoin 400m sprint. Seriously, me sprinting? Me running a "Suicide Distance"? WTF!

The story isn't over yet. I moved to Riga when I was 18 and started my college. First year I was doing totally nothing sports wise. Like less sports - more food. You know, when you stop doing professional sports, you having less movement, but your appetite stays the same... As a result - 6kg gain in a year. And me looking "slightly overweight again". When I realized it, it was too late. The only activity I did was playing once a week football with my university mates.

In the spring our university team was going to go to Paris for World Students Championship in football... I was training with team... But when the team was selected I wasn't there. :( The coach said that only one place left and he would like to take me, but under one condition. I had to lose weight. And I had 2 months for it. So I took up the challenge. A good enough reason to lose weight. The next morning I went to coaches office and recorded my weight on scales - 80kg. You might say it's not much, but when it's fat, not muscles... So I got myself a goal - lose 5 kg in 2 months and then I will go to Paris...

Reconsidering my whole diet I was moving towards my goal. I have even spoken to girls in order to get some tips on how to lose weight and what not to eat. 6 days a week I was exercising. Running outside in the forest or exercising in the gym. Sometimes both in the same day. Got my energy back, got my shape back, got a better shape. Be it rain or sun, sunday or hard monday in university, I was there running. Like Forrest Gump. My friends even called me that sometimes. I was the one famoust for running everywhere, any day.

Another thing came up at the same time as I was training tobecome fit enough to go to Paris. My oldcoach had connections in Riga, so he arranged my trainings in local football club.Damn, they were good! So was I. Apart from one thing: I was overweight. Well,not fit enough for football. My new coach told me this after the 1^stpractice: “Man, you are overweight, and excess weight is your own problem,every person is in charge of his own body weight and fitness level. If you wantto train with us, you need to lose around 7kg. I can help you with it anddesign a special program for you. If you follow this program, you probably won’tbe training with us for few months, but you fitness level with go up. I willleave it to your own conscience.”

So, hemade a fitness program for me that included lots and lots of running sprintingand jumping. It was hard. It was hard inthe end and in the middle just as it was hard in the beginning. I followed theprogram for 4 months. 6 days a week I was doing something after studies. I onlyhad Sunday off. My body composition and running skills changed so much that Icould not believe I was always considering myself slow and incapable of runningfast. It was just a lie to myself that I created when I was younger. I was slowsimply because I wasn’t doing my homework... Sometimes, when I was going backto my hometown, I used to play for my old team, and even my old coach and allteammates used to ask me “what they havedone to you in Riga? Your skills have improved so much!”

That was back in the days when I was 6 to 19 yo. Life taught me a lot of lessons about myself. The post is not about b-boying, but it just as well could be. As I was starting to be interested in b-boying at the age of 15-16. Now I am 30. But that's another story.

These days I hear people say something like:

- I'd like to start running, but..
- I'd like to lose weight, but..
- I'd like to come to practice with you, but...
- I'd like to quit smoking, but...
- I'd like to ... but...

When I hear that I smile. Stick your BUTS in you BUTTS and start working on something you want to do. Most important: DO YOUR HOMEWORK, BITCHES!

Peace,
B-Boy S10

FAQs Part 1

2012-01-08T15:36:00.000-08:00

Last year I was posting a lot of music and videos. The whole year. This year I'd like to try to write something about what I do, what I see around myself, people I meet etc. To make this post I went to bboy forums (breakboy.net, bboy.org, bboyworld.com) and clicked on beginners or general chat section to see what the people are discussing these days and what kind of questions they asking. So, picked some of the most common questions and decided to give my opinion on them. Here are the first 3 questions I have picked:

1. How do you practice? How many times a week and what do you do at your trainings? Regarding how often: it's all up to you. Depends on how much time you have on your hands during the week. If you have more time, you could practice more. But you must know: the more you practice - the better you become. And if you can't put much time into it you can't expect high returns. Your body will adjust to your training schedules the more you practice. I would recommend to practice as much as you can, but you have to prioritise the things in your life yourself.

What to do at trainings - ... PRACTICE :). Depending on what you prefer. If you are into powermoves - practice them, if you are into footwork - do more footwork. Spend time on stretching. Work on your stamina. Do throwdowns as if you were battling 1 on 1. Dance. You can choose few basic powermoves you want to work on and prioritise them, and then tailor your practice around it. Fill in the gaps when you not working on your powermoves with something else, like working on toprocks, footwork or transitions.

I believe every person will be doing in the end what he likes to do. If you are powerhead, as much as you understand, it is important to do footworks too, I can assure you will come back to powermoves. As much as I would like to do more powermoves, I am definitelly a stylehead, and whatever I start my training with - I will end up dancing :D. I try to make myself to practice powermoves. I prepare myself mentally, have a plan before practice... But... As soon as I put on the music, my plan changes and I end up dancing.

So, work out what works for you. The amount of time and energy you want to put into it, and take "the piss off factor" into account. Its when your training are stopping becoming fun. When you go to trainings as if you were going to work - just to make a routine work. Its like if you are working on your pressups: first you can do 30, then 40, 50.. 150.. 200... and then asking yourself wtf am I doing this for?

I, personally, practice 3-4 times a week, around 2 hours each time, also doing some pressups and pullups at work. That is how much time I can afford to dedicate to my own trainings a week. And I find it comfortable for me, it is in the good balance with the other aspects of my life. And I know I am as good as someone who is training 3-4 times a week 2 hours - you got the point.

2. Lack of energy at practice - where you get the energy from? I think everyone is experiencing lack of energy in other aspects in life. When you go to work, go to school, jogging etc. there will be days when you are more tired and days when you are full of energy. Its totally normal. No human body and mind is the perpetual mobile. That goes for bboying too. You could be just tired or over trained. You could be tired mentally after hard day at work etc. Speaking of tiredness you must be able to see the difference between physical and mental one. If you are tired mentally, which happens usually after sitting all day in office, you just need to clear up your mind and to to practice. Be honest, if you haven't done much physical work during the day, you are just mentally tired. And physical exercise is the best cure for it. Solved!

If you are tired physically, I think your body needs rest. So go home, smoke some joint and relax! Solved!

If the cause of your tiredness is the fact that you have reached the plateau in your trainings... Then you got a problem. All fitness sources (and I happened also to be a fitness instructor) say that you need to change something. You can change:

a. Practice routine. Set new goals, work on new moves, start something new, change something or add the load on something you are working on. You need to see progress in order to feel inspired to keep doing it;

b. If you need inspiration to stick to your routines or to create new moves, combos etc, I would recommend changing the environment of your trainings. From as little as changing you clothes, shoes, music at practice to more advanced changes like visiting a workshop, joining other crews at practice, going to a bboy event. I think, going to a bboy event is the greatest motivator on the Planet :).

c. Take additives/supplements. As much as I would recommend everyone having a healthy lifestyle, I understand we are all human. Try making better changes in your lifestyle and diet, take vitamins etc. Some time ago I used to drink a cup of coffee before training, and it worked great for me... For a bit. Then we with guys used to drink lots of energy drinks, and it worked for a while. Then one day we decided not to drink stimulants. Cause we didn't get the buzz anymore. Then there were creatine, multivitamin tablets - you name it. There was weed. A joint at practice gave some inspiration for sure... For a while, till we noticed we only did like few throwdowns after we smoked, then ran out of energy, ended up talking and eating jelly beans. I think constant changes are the greatest motivator. On the Planet.

3. I am a beginner. Should I use elbow and knee pads? WOW, what a question! But, as my statistics teacher used to say : "There are no stupid questions, there are stupid answers." The answer is simple: if you are going to use your elbows and knees when you dance, you might as well use pads. Well, if you are not training on some judo mats or something. If you are going to learn headspins, you might as well think of protecting your head. If you will play ice hockey, you might as well use skates...

See You soon!

p.s. Picture has nothing to do with the post. Neither it is supposed to make any sense.

Cool Stuff From Internet

2012-01-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hello in 2012, Everyone! I had a feeling that I need to start my new year by writing some proper post, but I ended up posting this. Sometime when I browse Internet, I come across cool stuff, some is old some is new (for me). So, from time to time I'd like to share it with you all. So, here it goes.

1.God is a DJ.

2. A really cool table concept.

3. Learn to dance disco, suckers! :D

4. There's always someone who is bored on the background.

5. Wow. That's all I can say.

6. I'm gonna try this one at home later.

7. Finger Football tricks. I spent 12 years of my childhood playing football, and still liking it.

8. Yeah boy! :D 5 yo gansta rapper.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T08:56:00.000-08:00

2011 is coming to an end and I would like to wish everyone a Happy New 2012! A year of the Dragon. My blog just turned 1 year, as I had started it as my New Year's resolution in 2010. Everything you see on it today is 1 year's work. So also, happy birthday to my blog and youtube channel! Wishing everyone who is reading this luck and success in 2012, good health, money, love, true friends, new connections, new moves, new mixtapes, new beginnings. Also, I would like to thank all people who took part in my blog this year or contributed in any way towards it. Here comes the list of people I can think of:

DJ Crazy Mind

DJ Graham Dolan

DJ Igorskee a.k.a KidFunk

DJ Fleg

DJ Lobito

DJ NeeKo Killa

DJ Chuy

DJ Digga' Crazy

BJ/B-Boy MiniBOJ

DJ Loopmasta

Khalid K Break

Gendroid

Best H Mansour

DJ Schini

DJ Skillkid

Bboy-Hope

Guys from Breakboy.net

Malavika - the one who inspired me to start a blog (Im gonna kick your ass next year :P)

My friends from I Nee Moeny Cru in Galway

My youtube channel subscribers

Everyone who shared my blog with others

etc.

Bye and see you all next year!

Battle Breaks Vol.15

2011-12-25T04:55:00.000-08:00

Happy Christmas Everyone! Wishing you all the best and stuff. I am more of a New Year's person, Christmas sounds more like a religious holiday to me, and I am not Catholic, so not supposed to have a holiday today :). So I will make a final post on New Year's Eve. Here is Battle Breaks vol.15 - the last one for this year. Check out other pages, I update them constantly.

Battle Breaks vol.15 (77Mb, 52mins)

Tracklist:
Adrian Younge - Rafelli Chase
Black Exotics - Theme Of Blackbyrds
Booker T. Averheart - Heart 'n Soul
Dentie, Gion & The Family - Get Down Tonight
Excell Wonsley - Groove Penguin
Fania All Stars - Sabrosa
Ikengas Of Africa - Nwannemu Oho
Link Quartet - Move Move Move
Moon People - Disadvantages Of You
Peppers - Stuffed Pepper
Sunders - Pata Pata
Swamp Salad - Groovey Man Mike
Three Dog Night - Play Children Play
Uniao Black - Africa Hot Band
Yards - Here Comes the Yard Man

Dj Z-Trip & Dj P - Uneasy Listening

2011-12-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

Today I was going through my endless archives of music and stumbled across Dj Z-Trip & Dj P - Uneasy Listening album/mixtape, released in 2001. If you don't have it yet - download it, if you haven't heard it yet - listen to it. Will suit all - Djs and B-Boys. Hmmm... what else to say bout it... I have to admit, I'm pretty shit at describing things :D. But I do have a taste for good things - that's for sure! Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

Battle Breaks vol.14

2011-12-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

Battle Breaks vol.14 (74Mb, 52Mins)

Tracklist:
Ben Westbeech - So Good Today
Ben Westbeech feat The Dap-Kings - So Good Today
Bobby Boyd Congress - There it is
Come Ons - Don't Tell Me
Danyel Gerrard - Sexologie
Die Melon Man - Tuesday
Fred Van Zegveld - Dynamite
Oko - Vse Sam Ti Dao
Para - Paradee
Para - You Never Change
Passport - Jadoo
Perfect Circle - The Perfect Circle
Rabbits & Carrots - Expresate (Express Yourself)
Reverand C Coleman - Rockgospeltime
Trio Valore - Fuoco

Battle Breaks vol.13

2011-12-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

Battle Breaks vol.13 (74Mb, 57mins)

Tracklist:
Aweron - Ya Ya
Boscoe - We Ain't Free
Charles Hilton Brown - Maddox
Dave Richmond - Amazing Music Machine
Dumpstaphunk - Livin Ina Worl Gone Mad
Irp-3 - Tema De Soninha
Jacques Delon - Hot Dogs
Lutha - Stop ; The Music Is Over
Mckinley Mitchell - Days Got Bright
Ray Barretto - Together
Ripple - Get Off
Rokk - Patience
Roy Roberts - Stop
Saint-Preux - Le Voyage
Soul Messengers - Tighten Up

10 cool websites

2011-11-29T16:00:00.001-08:00

Another selection of 10 websites I recommend to visit.

http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/lowest-price - a shop with shitty useless inventions;
http://crispme.com/roundup-40-amazing-full-hd-wallpapers/ - some selection of HD wallpapers;
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-science-success/201009/the-dark-side-self-control - the dark side of self-control.WTF, but very true;
http://jerrybrito.org/post/6114304704/top-ten-myths-about-introverts - interesting facts about introverts;
http://www.balanced-healthy-diet.com/image-files/nutritionflowchart.png - learn what you eat;
http://mentalfloss.com/amazingfactgenerator/?p=651 - amazing facts generator;
http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/friends.html - a short version on D.Carnegie's book. I was stupid enough to read the whole book;
http://www.somuchtotellyou.co.nz/2010/11/100-club.html - stop talking hood and learn some vocabulary;
http://funzday.com/creative-funny-coffee-mugs/ - collection of creative coffee-mugs;
http://mangeorge.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/steal.jpg - for biters!

Battle Breaks vol.12

2011-11-29T15:29:00.001-08:00

Hope you are enjoying the previous ones! Here is number 12!

1hr 04mins, 101Mb

DOWNLOAD

Tracklist:
Ahzz - New York Moving
Bo Diddley - Bite You
Charles Hilton Brown - Maddox
Chase - Run Back To Mama
Chico Magnetic Band - Cross Town Traffic
Donald Austin - Crazy Legs
Eiko Shuri - Ah So
Gary Toms - Turn It Out (Tear This Building Down)
Healer Selecta - Cuban Proyect
James Brown And Full Force - She Looks All Types A' Good
Loadstone - Keep On Burning
Matata - Talkin' Talkin'
Michael Graham Allen - Serenity Flutes Free
New York Afro American School Band - The Business
Redkij Vid - People

DJ Skillkid

2011-11-29T04:16:00.001-08:00

Всем Привет!

This time I will not add much of my own thoughts, cause I ain't got none. It's probably something to do with the Retrograde of Mercury, that is going on now, and affecting Geminis and Virgos the most. And I am Virgo. So I guess that is the reason why I can't access my Megaupload account :)...

Anyway, this time I would like to present to you ... DJ Skillkid! After I had downloaded two of his mixtapes on from Breakboy.net, I decided that I would like him to feature here on my blog. He agreed and here is what he wrote about himself (copy-pasted):

"What’s good, this is Skillkid, representing Osnabrooklyn Crew and the Brothers Rockwell all the way from Germany. At first I want to say thanks to Stan for showing his interest and asking me to write all this stuff down to his blog. I appreciate it fully.

I don’t know where to start exactly but let’s try it like this....with my 20 years of age I’m still a very young cat in this Hip Hop culture movement. I break for 11 years and dj for more or less 2 years now. The beginning of all was in ’99 when my older brother bought me the first time to their training spot. Most of the time it was a small gymnastic hall but in the summer we always rocked outside at the school with the boombox and our stolen batteries (I swear they were toooo expensive man, hahaha!). I have to say back then I was a little stupid kid and didn’t understand what Hip Hop was all about, but who did that from the first time?!

After years of travelling, experiences, seeking knowledge and inspiration, I and my homies from my local town formed the crew named Osnabrooklyn. It’s a small gimmick with the name of our town Osnabrück and Brooklyn because NY was the place of the birth of Hip Hop, so we just simply combined that together.
Since 2009 we’re also organizing a lot of events and jams like Style Is a Message, The Family Jam or Freshest Kids. Just Google for them and you’ll find more info’s.

Now more of my DJ background: I started to buy records before I had even turntables or mixer in my crib; I think it was in the beginning of 2009 or so. My first vinyl record was a 7” pressing of Uprock by the Rock Steady Crew. I found this record for 0,50 € at the local flea market from an old lady and was really proud of it hahaha. After that I spend all my money on some equipment and record digging. Then my very first gig was at a party called Beatstreet. I always rocked that party with vinyls only because I still wanted to keep this feeling in an era where everybody has Serato. Plus, you have 100x more fun spinning with vinyl and you’ll learn how you have to spin proper before you jump over to your digital system!

Since Bboying is a dance and as a dancer the music have to be number one important thing, you have to know the history behind it. And that’s not so easy, man! To deal with the music made me obsessed with passion. It’s so multi-faceted! More and more I searched for new records, new artists and new bands because I believing in carrying on tradition. This means being original with your own shit; Taking the crowd to a musical journey; Dropping stuff where they can go like “Oh shit what is that?! Never heard it - This is dope!” Now a lot of people here in Germany say to me I’m the best upcoming DJ, I really appreciate it, but to be honest, I’m not feeling like that because there’s always a person who can be better than you and there’s always something you can learn and progress one step further. I just try to make my homework, that’s all.

Now 2011 was a quite good year for me; I spun at jams like The Notorious IBE, Enter the Circle, Hip Hop Pfingstcamp, Plattenspieler, Marmalade Jam, Cologne Circles, Stay Fresh and many others. I’m down with the Brothers Rockwell (a DJ crew based in Berlin) and I dropped my first official Mixtape-CD called Bboy Breaks 101 and recently Sexy Breaks, Swagger & Finesse Vol.2.
Shoutouts to everyone who keep the real traditions alive, who take care of our Hip Hop culture and who’s holding it down the right way.

-Stop faking the Funk-

Peace,
Skillkid
Osnabrooklyn/Brothers Rockwell"

Now, the usual part, few pictures, contact details and of course links to mixtapes. There is no need to describe his mixtapes and DJ skills, after you read his BIO - it speaks for itself! You can listen to them online via Soundcloud and download from there too. Also, I have two of his mixtapes on my blog already (hopefully, the Megaupload will start working for me again) - download and take them to the practice with you!

email: skillkid@hotmail.de
FACEBOOK
SOUNDCLOUD

Sexy Breaks, Swagger & Finesse Vol.2

Bboy Breaks 101

Warming Up

Battle Breaks vol.11

2011-11-28T13:00:00.001-08:00

Batttle Breaks vol.11 (90Mb, 54 Mins)

Tracklist:
Alan Hawkshaw - Close Shave
Aragon Exchange - Boat Master
Calibro 35 - Notte in Bovisa
Disco Construction - Spanish Hustle
Elipse - Spica 1968
Heavy Les Wanted - Raggattack
Latins 80 - Inquinamento
Malo - Street Man
Mark Eitzel - Move On Up
Ray Pereira - Funk Every Thing
Tommy Bass - (Can't Help It Baby) This Is My Thing
Tony Allen - Get Together
Trishes - Agent Shadrin
Wilson Simonal - Mexerico Da Candinha
Yards - You Got It

The Wonder Of Stevie

2011-11-26T15:48:00.001-08:00

WONDER-Full™ - Tribute To The Wonder Of Stevie” a concept created by KeiStar Productions honoring the legendary genius Stevie Wonder... features DJs Spinna & Bobbito, who back in 1999, were asked to spin at a party paying tribute to Stevie Wonder’s “Songs In The Key Of Life” album. There, we (Djs Spinna, Bobbito and KeiStar) quickly realized they all had a mutual love for ‘Little Stevie's’ music and judging from the atmosphere on the dance floor that night, we knew we had a good thing going.

DJ Spinna and Bobbito have collaborated and compiled tribute CDs of Stevie Wonder’s music titled… ‘The Wonder Of Stevie’, ‘Wonder Wrote It’. DJ Spinna has remixed the song “My Love Is On Fire” from Stevie’s recent album “A Time To Love”.

KeiStar Productions has successfully produced this event since 1999 starting in its hometown of New York City. From then on KeiStar Productions has traveled nationally and internationally with WONDER-Full™ to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington DC, London, Berlin, Sweden, Canada, Japan, and Amsterdam.

Stevie Wonder has expressed his gratitude by calling into the party in 2003 and 2004. On the 7th installment of the WONDER-Full™ event, (May 13, 2005) the audience was treated to a special surprise with an appearance by Stevie Wonder’s superstar daughter Aisha...You know, the daughter who inspired the song “Isn’t She Lovely” dedicated to her by her dad. Also adding on to the memorable evening, the crowd received a live phone conversation from Stevie Wonder himself. As he spoke, one could hear a pin drop as everyone was mesmerized by this incredible moment. Stevie spoke of Music, of Peace, and mostly of Love, thanking us all for celebrating his life and ALL life in general (noting that evening he was treated to a special gift…the birth of his youngest son).

Stevie Wonder made a very special appearance at KeiStar Production’s WONDER-Full™ Tribute/Concert after party in November 2007 in New York City where he delivered a heart felt speech to the audience. At the 10th series of the WONDER-Full™ event, (June 14, 2008 – special extended celebration) Stevie Wonder treated KeiStar's WONDER-Full™ audience to a 'mini' live concert! See clip below!

Always expect the best of the legendary Stevie Wonder at the WONDER-Full™ events as DJ’s Spinna and Bobbito collaborate and dig deep in their crates to offer anything Stevie related to the audience, always giving them a memorable musical experience.

In recognition of the appreciation and support of the audience’s response to the WONDER-Full™ event, a series of now collectible CD’s were produced and aptly titled “WONDER Wrote It” Vols. 1 & 2...

(http://www.keistar.net/)

DOWNLOAD LINK

From myself (an opinion from the guy who haven't been to that party :) ). A truly great compilation of funky/soul/and in some places breaky pieces. Download and Enjoy!

The Herbaliser - Same As It Never Was

2011-11-26T13:29:00.001-08:00

Artist: The Herbaliser
Title Of Album: Same As It Never Was
Year Of Release: May 27, 2008
Label: K7
Genre: Soul, Jazz, Funk, Hip-Hop
Quality: MP3

Tracklist:

1. Same As It Never Was
2. On Your Knees
3. Just Won't Stop
4. The Next Spot
5. Can't Help This Feeling
6. Amores Bongo
7. Street Karma
8. You're Not All That
9. Blackwater Drive
10. Game Set and Match
11. Clap Your Hands
12. Stranded on Earth

DOWNLOAD

Originally a jazzy trip-hop act, The Herbaliser now makes a kind of horn-drenched hyperfunk. The songs- and they are real songs, not just tracks- reference everything from Tower of Power and Chicago to Aretha Franklin and Quincy Jones.

In this release, The Herbaliser is moving away from rap. There are only three rap tracks on the CD and they are bearable. The rest of the album is all excellent, with great instrumentals and vocal tracks.The formula is an energetic and upbeat mix of hip-hop and funk, with a lot of inspiration/sampling from seventies film music and fifties big band sound.

Opening is the title track which is largely a funky instrumental with darting horns, organ and an incredible bassline. There are 3 other instrumentals; "The next spot" (with an almost Afrobeat feel), the awesome "Amores Bongo" (a delightful guitar/horn/percussion mix that sounds like it should be some movie soundtrack), and the more mellow "Blackwater drive".

Five songs feature vocalist Jessica Darling, "On your knees", "Can't help this feeling", "You're not all that", "Clap your hands" (these four are retro funk ditties James Brown/Sly & The Family Stone-style) and the sprawling 6 minute plus opus "Stranded on Earth" (a psychedelic sounding number with deep bass, Hip hop beats kicking in about 2 minutes in, and Jessica's few vocals coming in the final 2 minutes). This song is simply amazing!

There are a trio of Hip hop numbers "Just won't stop" features Yungun aka Essa, a Rap touching on the changes technology has brought to social life (Youtube, Myspace, etc). "Street karma (a cautionary tale)" is a midtempo rap with a creepy vibe, horns and sound effects (a car revving, kids playing, etc) adding to the drama. It features Jean Grae on vocals, and is a tale about the violent life on the streets. "Game set and match" features More or Les in a spitfire Rap delivery and some nice guitar effects.

(copy - pasted from http://djuilson.blogspot.com/2009/06/herbaliser-same-as-it-never-was-2008.html)

(AND THIS PART IS NOT COPIED FROM ANYWHERE). A fucking great album, every single track is sick. Of course, not for b-boying, but great for listening. And I needed to fill the gap in posting :D. Also, check out music section - new stuff uploaded!

GENDROID

2011-11-23T03:04:00.001-08:00

Hello, Readers!

This time the person that I'm gonna introduce to you didn't come from breakboy.net. In fact, he contacted me via email and offered to check out his B-Boy mixtape. Which I am always glad to do! Few emails later, may I introduce to you GENDROID.

GENDROID is the project of Hennady Prikhodko from Ukraine.He started making music because of his love to old school funk and electrostyles which he was introduced to when he was a b-boy in the beginning of 2000s. Sincethen, he fell in love with this type music. Later, in year 2008 he made his firststeps in producing of his own tracks using his first midi interface and acouple of digital sequencers. Now he has a home studio and continuesexperimenting.

That's what I call the guy is following his dream! From the guy who fell in love the music to the guy who has a home studio... Speaking of his B-Boy mixtape, that you can download either from here or from his soundcloud account, I tell tell this: it is exactly what is says on the cover - The Old Fashioned. Well put together, well-known (some not well known) funky/breaky cuts well put together in a mixtape. Good quality! A message to other DJs - try to spend more time in preparing your mixtapes, and prioritize quality over quantity. Cause I start having this feeling that a lot of new DJs are trying to release as many mixtapes as they can and don't put much work into them. They just make the loops and "glue" them together with primitive transitions, and release a mixtape of "rare" breaks with the loops that are repeated far too many times each. I wish some of these DJs tried to practice to their own mixtapes themselves :P . So, well-done Gendroid! :) Gonna go and practice to your mixtape here in Galway, Ireland!

I actually, looked into his soundcloud page and other links that he sent me, and some of the stuff I found interesting and worth listening. For example, I am not a huge electro fan (anymore), but I enjoyed the track at http://www.sauroid.com/catalog/itemlist/tag/Gendroid.html, while writing this blog post... What else to say, here are few pictures (looks like he is having moustache November) and links to GENDROIDs work. Enjoy!

Sauroid

Facebook

Soundcloud

The Old Fashioned Mixtape

DJ Shadow -The Less You Know The Better - 2011

2011-11-22T09:48:00.001-08:00

I decided to fill the gap in my posting by presenting DJ Shadows album "The Less You Know The Better". 2011 release, the fourth proper album from the producer, DJ and turntablist. The Less You Know The Better is his first studio effort since 2006′s The Outsider. The album features guest appearances from Talib Kweli, De La Soul’s Posdnuos, Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano, Afrikan Boy and Tom Vek.It is far from being suitable for B-Boying, but... download and enjoy!

DJ Shadow -The Less You Know The Better - 2011

15 Cool Links to Visit

2011-11-16T03:48:00.001-08:00

http://artofmanliness.com/man-knowledge - The art of manliness! Every Man's must visit site.Read and learn, suckaz!
http://randompicdumps.com/index.php/misc/21-innovative-inventions/ - more innovative inventions. Some are cool, some are pretty much shit.
http://freshgadgets.nl/portret-van-martin-luther-king-gemaakt-van-rubiks-cubes - That is just sick what this guy has created!
http://www.thatvideosite.com/video/psychology_experiment_75_of_people_dont__notice_huge_changes_in_front_of_them - Psychology Experiment: 75% of people don't notice huge changes in front of them. I think I would notice that.
http://www.novabizz.com/NovaAce/images/freud_iceberg.gif - Everyone is so fucked up, and Freud knew it!
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/04/top_10_things_i_miss_about_stay-at-home_pot_dealer.php - some etiquette lessons for you guys.
http://graphicalerts.com/30-good-best-examples-of-unique-creative-billboard-designs/ - creative billboard ads.
http://www.designsmag.com/2011/06/110-stunning-examples-of-conceptual-photography/ - 110 examples of conceptual photography.
http://www.epistemelinks.com/Main/LatinWords.aspx - Latin words and phrases.
http://www.pr0gramm.com/data/images/2011/06/1307237087875.jpg - Spongebob on drugs.
http://www.yaplakal.com/forum2/topic372089.html - four types of Hollywood movie posters.
http://www.raptitude.com/2010/03/40-belief-shaking-remarks-from-a-ruthless-nonconformist/ - Ma Man Friedrich Nietzche.
http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ic0tqu9zmj - educational video on how great leaders inspire by action.
http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/you-know-youre-a-pothead/ - how to spot a pothead.
http://fora.tv/2010/03/25/Philip_Zimbardo_The_Secret_Powers_of_Time_Animated - The secret powers of time presentation

Urban Industry Online Store

2011-11-15T02:11:00.000-08:00

Urban Industry Online Store

Urban Industry is an independently owned street wear and urban clothing store based on the South coast of the UK. They have been in business since 2002 and have established a major presence not only in the UK, but also around the world for having a very wide selection of clothing and shoes from over 85 brands.

Urban Industry stock major brands such as Nike, Adidas Originals & Vans and carry high tiered product only available in a small handful of shops. In turn they also carry a commercial offering to back this up for a wider audience.

With a newly design website late last year their offering is very clear, with very easy navigation and a no fuss checkout page.Urban Industry has:

- The largest street and urban wear selection in the UK, selling worldwide;

- Large, premium sneaker selection from the likes of Nike, Adidas and New Balance;

- Regularly updated shop by look sections and seasonal lookbooks;

- Weekly emails (database 85000) and regular blog content;
- £2 UK standard delivery on all orders;
- Free next day delivery (on orders over £80);

- Easy returns using Collect+ in the UK;

- Average Order Value of £60

15% Off Orders over £100 using code UIXMAS15 + Extended Free Standard UK Shipping at Urban Industry!

Visit Urban Industry homepage

8 Thoughts

2011-11-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

Hi All! I sat down and wrote 8 thoughts that came to my mind regarding b-boying and Hip-Hop culture. Wanted to make 10, but ran out of ideas. Here they are:

B-Boying in Libya

Regarding the performances. If someone is inviting you to perform at their event and offers you exposure in return - you are good enough to be paid for it;
Peace, unity, love, having fun... And human nature that fucks it all up;
When you downloading music from the Internet, you are not stealing from musicians, you are stealing from promoters who sniff coke and party for your money;
If you don't have a job, don't have a child, don't study and call yourself a full time b-boy, you don't have an excuse for being a shitty b-boy;
If there was a universal b-boy shoe, not many would buy it, cause every b-boy wants to look original;
If you don't have music to practice to, download it from this blog :);
I wish some people were as original on the dancefloor as they are when they are looking for an excuse not to practice;
If i call everyone my bro's and brothers, how will i call my real bro's and brothers?

10 Not So Random Rap B-Boy Tracks From Youtube... Enjoy!

2011-11-06T16:06:00.000-08:00

DJ NeeKo Killa

2011-11-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

Another post - another DJ, another guy I found on breakboy.net (great place for fishing for new upcoming DJs). After downloading his second mixtape I decided to make a post about him. Neeko provided me with all info about himself with links to his mixtapes and pictures. I was sitting staring at the screen trying to think what else to write about him and his mixtapes... Like I said before, it is really hard to write something about a person that I have never met. So here is his bio, pictures and links to mixtapes. Read, download, practice and make your own opinion - it's all matter of taste and preferences after all!

DJ NeeKo Killa, (Nicolas Negri) is born in Nice in France January 22nd 1982. Seven years of music theory and classes plunged him from an early age in music and art. In 1997, in Paris, he buys his first vinyl of a long series to come. Influenced by his passion for dance, he opens himself at an early stage to musics of all styles, accepting music with a capital "M" His tastes range from Reggae, Dancehall, Breakbeat, salsa, classical and Underground Hip Hop to name a few. Organizing events in the south of France, DJ NeeKo shared the stage with artists like Cut Killer, Mike One, Dee-Nasty, Weedim and Goodka that have positively influenced his career. Not limiting himself to one style, DJ NeeKo can light the fire to a Break battle or event give a clubbing atmosphere in a Hip Hop and dance-hall night. His sound is heavy, the selection is good - rarely commercial - and the public never left unsatisfied. Also a composer, DJ NeeKo has produced various mixtapes that have all gathered success on the internet with more than 100.000 downloads (Wine & Go Down, Killa Soundz, Original Killa Breaks, Mek Dem Know.) Having travelled around the world, DJ Neeko currently lives in Montreal where he's taking part in various artistic projects, battles and mixtapes.

http://www.djneekokilla.com/

Dj NeeKo Killa - Original Killa Breaks Vol.1
Dj NeeKo Killa - Original Killa Breaks Vol.2

DJ Lobito

2011-10-30T05:07:00.000-07:00

“Lobito understands what a hip hop dj is supposed to play, not just rap records, not just breaks but an entire spectrum of good music which he owns on vinyl. He has his own style and is not a clone of any other DJs, SALUTE!” - Skeme Richards (Rock Steady Crew)...

About a month ago my man DJ K-Break (Khalid) suggested me to make a post on DJ Lobito, as one of the most influential DJs in the Middle East. I thought, if I'm gonna make it, it will be a bigger shot than my previous posts. So, a month later I am proudly presenting to you DJ Lobito! He provided me with all info I needed to make this blog post. Since I haven't met Lobito in person, I can not add much from myself apart from that I like his mixtapes and I totally agree with his Hip-Hop philosophy. He is a mature man who had seen enough of the World to have an objective opinion about what's going on. In his emails DJ Lobito was respectful and diplomatic - the type of person I like dealing with. So, for this post, I will get off the stage and let Lobito tell about himself. First, a brief BIO (I just copy-pasted material that he gave me):

"No 1 B-boy DJ in the Middle East and regional representative for Afrika Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation, Dubai based DJ Lobito has been involved in the Funk, Hip Hop & Bboy scene for over 12 years and has played to several thousand people in the UK, Europe and Middle East alongside headliners such as De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Slick Rick, Pharoahe Monch, Dead Prez, KRS-One, Ojos de Brujo and Ozomatli amongst many others. Lobito's speciality is rare records spanning funk, latin, soul, hip hop, brazilian, afrobeat, block party beats and original b-boy breaks. He's played at countless b-boy battles and competitions in Europe and the Middle East... He is also the founder of the successful Deep Crates weekly night in Dubai."

Sounds interesting so far? Lobito asked me: "What would you want me to write about? What kind of information you need?". My reply was: "Anything you want people to know about you...". So here is DJ Lobito's story written by himself. Enjoy!

top left to top right: Nasty Ray, Tommee, East-3, Paulskee, Tonik74.
middle left to right: Tyrone, Cros1, Kate, El Nino
bottom left to right: Mario B, Teknyc, Lobito

"Peace! This is Break DJ Lobito, representing Universal Zulu Nation (UZN), Battle Holex Crew (BHC) and Easy Digger Crew (EDC). Official DJ at IBE 2011, organiser of Mighty 4 Middle East and Battle of the Year Middle East with my brother from another mother B-Boy Tommee and official DJ for Red Bull’s regional Bboy championship finals for the last two years. I am also the founder of Zulu Nation Middle East and run a weekly community based Hip Hop culture night in Dubai called Deep Crates.

I’ve been DJing for about 12 years in the Hip Hop and Bboy scene. I’m originally from Spain but part of me also comes from Zimbabwe and my heart is with the Middle East (I studied Arabic at university and postgraduate studies). I was heavily involved in the Hip Hop & Bboy scene in the UK for a few years. In my humble beginnings, I started out in the Bboy society at my uni DJing, coordinating events and training sessions with my good friend Bboy Risk (aka Jet D, aka The One-Armed Bboy), training, learning, dancing and helping bring other people to practice, including at the time B-Boys Mouse, Ghost, Bugz and others from the original Soul Mavericks crew down.

After digging and DJing for a while I became a resident DJ at Throwdown in London, playing all vinyl (all before the days of Serato!) alongside Renegade, Just-1 and others as well as playing at other major Hip Hop events around town with acts such as Pharaoh Monche, Dead Prez, Slick Rick amongst others. I also played at a few big bboy events such as BoB, the National Bboy Championships and a few others. I was lucky to have befriended and learnt a lot of my craft from James Leacy (aka DJ Leacy, 1973-2004) who was and is my main inspiration but was taken away from all of us way too soon, he’s sadly missed. Most of the knowledge of the artform of Bboy DJing I learnt from him, he was very kind and generous with his knowledge. Especially these days only the real heads appreciate the subtleties of the art, how to play at battles and as Skeme Richards once said “the samurai code” and honour amongst DJs, the true art of both digging and how to spin at battles and cyphers is still only upheld by very few.

I disappeared from the scene for several years as my work took over and although I was still digging and practicing (as well as spinning at a few jams here and there) I ended up in some crazy corners of the world for a while. Eventually I ended up in the United Arab Emirates where I’m now based and have been working hard to try and support the growth of Hip Hop culture and the Bboys here for the last few years and collectively now and through events organised by myself and Tommee have built the road for Bboys here to compete internationally and pursue their dreams.

When I first arrived there was little activity and definitely no Break DJs or proper b-boy music really! I remember when I first came going to a bboy battle (I think it was Lord of the Street) and the DJ was playing Akon, Usher and I don’t know what, I remember one of the bboys tried to give him some music and gave him Johnny Bristol - Lusty Lady, which he then started playing in a battle at 33rpm hahaha, that ish needs to be outlawed at a crime! At the time my Zulu brother Zilla from Tunisia/Bahrain was almost throwing things at the DJ hahaha!

These days things have been improving quite a bit and knowledge is slowly growing although there is still way too much beefing and people trying to undermine each other. There is also a lot of racism and discrimination which is bad, people trying to create divisions between Arabs and so-called “westerners” or “europeans” or even between Christians and Muslims (or other faiths/worldviews) but most people are generally kool. As time goes on and the people gradually start to travel to jams round the world I think the ignorance will diminish as they see that Hip Hop culture is universal and accepting of all cultures and religions."

Check out the photos of DJ Lobito, that he sent me and the ones I had selected from his Facebook page, followed by his contact details and links to his mixtapes. You should definitely check out his work and if you feel like contacting him - do it. Thank you, DJ Lobito, for your input into the Hip-Hop culture! Peace out!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/breakdjlobito
Mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/Lobito
Twitter: @BreakDJLobito

DJ Lobito - A Tribute to Frosty Freeze
DJ Lobito - Rise of the Breaks (Live mix)
DJ Lobito & Bboy Andi - Live from the Missile Silo
Lobito - Official FBB7 Mix

DJ Fleg

2011-10-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

You know what, going to practices never been as easy as it is now, cause I always have some fresh mixtapes with me. I don't need to think what I'm gonna play for practice... Few weeks ago, a guy named Stephen Fleg contacted me regarding my blog, asking to check out his mixtapes and possibly put them on my blog. Of course, man! While I was checking out his mixtapes, Stephen wrote a little bio of himself. It goes like this.

Stephen Fleg aka DJ Fleg is a DJ and Bboy from Maryland, U.S.A. He has been playing out regularly for the past 3 years, and has been digging for records for the past 10 years. Having started as a bboy, Fleg plays soul, latin, and afro breaks that hit hard. His influences include the late great DJ Leacy, Forrest Gettem Gump, Skeme Richards, DJ Basic and DPONE. He is currently working on a new bboy mix, remixes and original material that will be released in the coming months.

Sounds good? Wait till you hear his mixtapes. And he is from Maryland... Oh Maaaaaan! It reminds me of myself 9 years ago, when I was 21, I spent the whole summer in Ocean City, Maryland... The times when I didn't have any troubles in my life at all. The summer that all I did was working a bit and party in the evenings, smoking ganja with guys from Nepal, drinking vodka from watermelons with Slovakians, going raving with Romanians, not mentioning girls, reggae and the Ocean itself!... the post is not about me, so back to the Fleg. I had uploaded 2 of his mixtapes that I liked to megaupload, check them out! And the rest of DJ Fleg's work you can check out by visiting his soundcloud page.

The selected mixtapes are highly recommended for the b-boy practices, I don't even want to go into details with describing them - the proper bboy mixtapes, that's all! Now as usual, few pictures, that I took from his Facebook page (check out the moustache), followed by the links to DJ Fleg's mixtapes.

DJ Fleg's Soundcloud Page

DJ Fleg - Bboy Explorations Vol 1

DJ Fleg - Mixtape Vol 2

25 Cool Websites of My Taste

2011-10-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

After joining Stumbleupon last week, I spent a lot of time online, browsing the websites I never knew they existed. Here are the ones I had favorited so far:

http://www.worth1000.com/contests/2703/stupid-techology-6/n1 - I love technology and gadgets, some of them make our lives easier, some are just stupid and useless;
http://www.fadedfools.com/category/purple/ - beautiful photography of what we all like;
http://www.cassiopaea.com/cassiopaea/emotional_manipulation.htm - ways to spot emotional manipulation - very useful article;
http://www.coolpicturegallery.net/2010/11/creative-and-unusual-gadgets.html - cool and unusual gadgets gallery;
http://nedhardy.com/2011/09/02/20-awesome-products-and-design-ideas/ - more interesting designs and concepts;
http://www.good.is/post/the-humble-pizza-box-masterfully-redesigned/ - the cool pizza box;
http://www.icanhasinternets.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/drugs.jpg - don't we all know that already;
http://highdeas.com/ - if you have an idea - share with others;
http://www.awwwards.com/cool-gadgets-for-creative-offices.html - more cool gadgets;
http://www.awwwards.com/design-products/qlocktwo-the-fourth-dimension-squared - cool clock design;
http://www.youtube.com/user/ineemoneycrew?feature=mhee - my youtube channel :);
http://www.leafly.com/explore - very useful periodic table of... ganja;
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html - exercise and muscle directory;
http://www.cannabis.net/weblife.html - new facts about spiders;
http://malavikasuresh.wordpress.com/ - my girlfriends blog ;);
http://btemplates.com/ - templates for blogger. I want to try some of them in the future;
http://argot.com/ - street drug slang. Don't get fooled around;
http://xaxor.com/photography/34488-amuzing-rats-photography-by-jessica-florence-part-2.html - for the ladies - awwww :D;
http://www.mdolla.com/2011/02/brilliant-stairs-photos.html - beautiful stairs designs;
http://www.youthedesigner.com/2010/11/01/30-bizarre-and-creative-packaging-design-examples/ - creative packaging designs;
http://www.topdesignmag.com/50-images-from-national-geographics-2010-photo-contest/ - beautiful photography;
http://www.zadan.nl/pics/mount/ - wow!;
http://ubersuper.com/pencil-tip-micro-sculptures/ - pencil tip sculptures;
http://www.designincstudios.com/imaginativepackagedesigns.html - more package designs;
http://www.online-convert.com/ - free online converter. I haven't tried this one yet.

Bruce Lee Quotes

2011-10-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

1. “It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

2. “All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.”

3. “If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

4. “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

5. “Showing off is the fool's idea of glory.”

6. “A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer."

7. “As you think, so shall you become.”

8. “If you make an ass out of yourself, there will always be someone to ride you.”

9. “Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”

10. “A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”

11. “As long as I can remember I feel I have had this great creative and spiritual force within me that is greater than faith, greater than ambition, greater than confidence, greater than determination, greater than vision. It is all these combined. My brain becomes magnetized with this dominating force which I hold in my hand.”

12. “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done.”

13. “The possession of anything begins in the mind.”

14. “A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”

15. “The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.”

Back From Holidays

2011-10-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

Just got back from holidays from my hometown Rezekne, Latvia. I had to make an urgent trip due to my wisdom tooth pain. Fuck, what an annoying pain was that! So, I had to take an unplanned holidays at work, ate some home food, drank some local beer, met my parents and sister, fainted in the dentists room, when she gave me some local anesthetic, went to practice with our younger b-boy crew, and ... Now I'm back and will be working on my blog. I got in touch with few more DJs, and waiting for them to provide the info, so keep checking for new stuff here. Meanwhile I would like to present you the sickest video I have seen lately! A friend of mine - B-Boy Juunis from Rezekne, one of the guys from my original crew showed me this video when we were drinking beer and talking. The guys on the video are from Daugavpils, Latvia - just 100km away from Rezekne. That makes me even more prouder to share this with my readers. Enjoy!

Existing right here and right now, You're actually not!

Also, I have seen a winter hat in one of the shops in Rezekne. I just had to take a picture of it! Such a great design! :D If you see anyone wearing it, let me know! Peace!

Gansta Demotivators

2011-10-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

DJ Igorskee a.k.a KidFunk

2011-10-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

Few weeks ago I was going through my subscribers and came across with this guy, who happened to have a blog with his own mixtapes on it. I noticed that he haven't updated it for a while, but I really liked the two mixtapes (Fat Funk Podcast) that I downloaded. Nicely put together, pure funk for easy listening in good quality, the music that I could put on the background while doing my everyday things... So I contacted this guy, asking: "Man, do you have Fat Funk Podcast volumes 1,2,3,4?"... This is how I met DJ Igorskee aka Kid Funk and decided to make a post about him.

DJ Igorskee, real name Igor, was born in 1981, lived most of his life in Lvov (Lviv), Ukraine, moved to Kiev, Ukraine in 2009. As he says, he always loved and always will love funk music, no matter what he is playing as a DJ. He is a vinyl records collector - from funk and disco to jazz and oldschool Hip-Hop. The first time he was spinning at the event, that he had organised himself, and after that he got into DJing at different events.

In 2008 he found out about DJ-ing school, where DJs Vangogh (Bald brosers), Paulwheaten and Nevidomy (Serega project) were teaching how to spin, scratch and mix. And whatever else they teach in DJ schools :) DJ Igorskee had graduated with "distinction", haven't learned how to spin funk , but still is grateful to his teachers. Since then, he had mover to Kiev and is playing at Hip-Hop and B-Boy events = doing what he loves doing. (don't we all want to do what we love doing). He is still developing his skills and discovering other styles of music like dnb, house, electronica. That is actually the reason why I decided to make a post about DJ Igorskee, because he is experimenting with his music and he has not only created the mixes for b-boying. And where are the Fat Funk Podcasts vol 1,2,3,4? Well, he said that he was searching for his mixing style while making them, and he doesn't feel confident about the first four volumes. So, lets enjoy volumes 5 and 6! Links to mixtapes are under the pictures. (info from http://igorskee.promodj.ru/)

LINK TO MIXTAPES

BE A PART OF THE BLOG

2011-09-21T04:43:00.000-07:00

Hello,

the blog is being updated more than before, and a lot of new stuff is coming soon. Here is what I have done this week:

Started uploading my music compilations. All of them are compiled by me and CD covers made by me too. You can download it here;
Opened a Youtube Channel. For several reasons. One of them is for more advertising for the blog, the other one is to give people access to some music without downloading it. If you want to listen to some good b-boy music - visit my Youtube channel;
Spoke to some new DJs and B-Boys about featuring on the blog. Some new articles are coming out soon.

I need your help (IT'S NOT THE MONEY)! You can help me to make this blog better or show your appreciation by doing various things:

Share it on Facebook or any other social networking sites. if you like the stuff that you are downloading from here, and you benefit from it, why not share with your friends and you will help me this way to spread word around;
Blog and Website owners - let's exchange links and banners;
That is beneficial for those who are teaching b-boying - to direct your students to this blog, so they download the music and videos;
If you are a DJ or a B-Boy - write me an email and I will gladly make a post about you and what you do with links to your mixtapes or trailers. Nobody will be forgotten, I will mention everyone who had helped me in any way;
You can share music and videos with me. Write me and we can discuss what you got. I can download from your location and reupload to Megaupload myself. This type of help is really appreciated;
Send me money, gold, jewellery, your credit cards, and other valuable stuff. So I can hire someone to run this blog instead of myself;
If you fail at everything above - just a nice comment of appreciation is enough :)

DJ Loopmasta

2011-09-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers,

like I said before I am always looking for some new stuff to write about. I am glad I am getting some feedback from the readers and I also get invitations to be friends on Facebook from people who visit my blog or who are featured here. This time I would like to present you DJ Loopmasta, recommended by my friend Best H Mansour (thank you man). I came across DJ Loopmasta on breakboy.net forums (like most of other people, that are featured here), where he had uploaded so much stuff! So much that I am still not sure if I had downloaded everything by him or I am missing something in my collection. Last couple of weeks I have been training to his Breaking Mixtapes vol.1-12, I did it with with intention to make my own opinion about him as a DJ and his mixtapes to describe here.

It made me proud to find out that DJ Loopmasta is from Russia. Despite the fact I live in Ireland, I was born in USSR, and consider myself Russian too (Russian - is how I feel). I must say Loopmasta made quite a name for himself and his mixtapes are famous around the world, thanks to Internet. People are waiting for his new mixtapes to come out and stuff. My own opinion about his mixtapes is: they are great for some long practice sessions, when you don't want to change music, if you love breaks, beats and loops. They would be good for those who want to work on their flow and beat killing. I would describe them as less "Musical" and more "Breaky". In fact, I just realized that I can not generalize all his mixtapes, as he has some mixtapes dedicated to toprock, the jazzy ones, the funky ones... So I guess I will just say that I only can describe his mixtapes as "some dope shit for any taste"... And as you will notice all his mixtapes are made in high kbps rate (usually 320), so they all are high quality! I contacted Loopmasta on Facebook and he agreed to feature on my blog. So, I asked him for some info about himself. And here is his story, that I had to translate from Russian.

DJ Loopmasta is all the way from Moscow representing Dynasty of Cold Weapon and Crewtanskee. He is interested in music for last 4 years and dancing for 2 years. In year 2007 he decided to join the Hip-Hop culture officially, because everything he was doing before was playing B-Boy The Game on PS2 :). After six months of practicing b-boying he (for some reason) stopped practicing, but got really interested in music. So he started downloading everything he could find online: soul, funk, jazz, rap etc. In few months time he had a decent collection of music on his PC (sounds familiar to me). And here came 2008... And he didn't do much in 2008, so no point of writing about it :).

In 2009 he came across with IBE 2009 videos and got interested in work of DJ Renegade. Loopmasta realized that he really loves hardcore breaks and beats. So he started digging for more breaks and collecting them. At the same time he had to learn to make loops, just because he didn't feel comfortable asking others at breakboy.net to create them for him. One day he came across The School Yard Breaks compilations and there was one track that changed his life - Charles Kynard - It's Too Late. That was the beginning of the Loopmasta that we all know. He set himself a goal to get all breaks and beats that DJ Renegade is spinning. And, as he says, he is succeeding in this so far.

One day DJ Loopmasta decided to create his own track. So he had started to work on his beatmaking skills. Learning was not easy, so he had his ups and downs. In 2009 he had joined the Dynasty of Cold Weapon and got back into b-boying. At that time he got his DJ name. His friends were calling him Loopmasta G. There were 3 parts in his name: the part that describes what he was into - "Loop", the part that showed who's the boss - "Masta", and the part that didn't mean anything - "G". The last part was removed, so we all know him as DJ Loopmasta. Once he got his name he started creating mixtapes. More and more of them. In 2010 he had downloaded Ableton Live and created his first quality track: Loopmasta - Summer...(fast forward)... Now he has a second album coming out soon!

His mixtapes are very popular on internet and many people see great potential and predict bright future for DJ Loopmasta, as he is only 17 years old right now. But he is not spoiled by his fame (seems like a modest guy to me) and focusing on his work. Here are some shoutouts by DJ Loopmasta that he wrote in his description:

"I would like to thank all guys from breakboy.net, for all your help. I will not mention everyone, in case I can forget to mention someone. Thanks to all the DJ that had played my tracks at b-boy battles and jams, well, I only know one - DJ DP One. Thanks for all the guys who post my mixes and albums on forums and youtube. Thanks for all those, who are using them at the practices. Thanks to B-Boy S10, for giving me the opportunity to feature on his blog..."

What can I say - You are welcome, dude! (пожалуйста, чувак). Now it's the time for some pictures and the links to his Mixtapes! Enjoy, and say thanks to DJ Loopmasta when you get a chance!

Shoes

2011-09-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

...many of them. Sneakers, runners, kicks, high tops low tops etc. I looked at my one year old Nike Windrunners that are about to die, and thought "which ones I'm gonna get next?" And that made me to write this blog post. Every B-Boy forum has a topic that sounds like "Which shoes to use for practice". People share their opinions, argue, suggest the certain types of shoes and stuff. Here is my view on this topic. (Some stuff borrowed from Wikipedia)

All sports shoes were designed for a purpose, whether you play basketball or tennis, walk or jog, do aerobics or skate - there is a shoe designed for that. Depending on the type of activity, the shoes are made using different materials and techniques. Lets take skating shoe as an example. Many features of a skate shoe are designed to increase its durability. Skate shoes are subjected to the abrasiveness of a skateboard's grip tape on a regular basis when worn by skaters. This is why skaters tend to go through shoes quickly. Super suede, action leather, and plastic underlying the toe cap help to increase the durability of a skate shoe. Lace loops and protectors are designed to prevent laces from shredding by shielding the most common areas that contact with grip tape.

Another example is Athletic shoe. Attributes of an athletic shoe include a flexible sole, appropriate tread for the function ability to absorb impact. As the industry and design have expanded, the term "athletic shoes" is based more on the design of the bottom of the shoe than the aesthetics of the top of the shoe.

What about B-Boy shoes? I don't think there is such a thing as a universal b-boy shoe. When I see people posting on forums that, for example Puma Suede or Adidas Gazelle, Adidas Superstars, Converse All Star, Puma Clyde are classic b-boy shoes, I can't agree with that. I can agree that these are preferable options of some b-boys, but they are not b-boy shoes. In fact, I tried many shoes in my life and tried to dance in "classic b-boy shoes" and realized that were not for me. Yes, they look stylish, but I personally don't find them comfortable to dance. Maybe I have wrong feet or I am too big? Some "classic" (but not my type) b-boy shoes are illustrated below.

When it comes to my own taste of b-boy shoes I prefer the ones that are designed to absorb the impact. These could be the running shoes. But unfortunately, classic running shoes are pretty much ugly-looking. And the shoes above looking fresh but not too comfortable for me. So my choice is something in between, the likes of Nike Air Max, Nike Windrunner etc. They have stylish look and the functionality of the athlete shoes. The type of shoes that I prefer, are illustrated below. On the very first picture - Nike Terminators, one of my 1st sneakers. They are comfortable to dance and have the looks of the "classic" b-boy shoes, looking a bit similar to less comfortable Nike Dunk Low, but the softer leather and more air in the sole makes them really comfortable to dance!

Everyone will find his/her own b-boy shoe. There is no universal one. Some people prefer light shoes with flexible sole, some prefer chunky ones. Some people like high shoes some prefer low, some prefer fat laces, some don't care about it at all (for example, myself). Some people make their own decisions when choosing shoes, some are following someone else's advice. The verdict - choose your own shoe! Try out as many as you can, so you can judge yourself and have your own opinion!

90 Days Theory

2011-08-26T04:57:00.000-07:00

Prologue: the shortcuts are usually hard and dangerous. If they were easy and safe, everyone would take them, and they would stop being shortcuts…

Few years ago I came across the article about 90 days theory. A friend of mine sent me a word doc. file. Which I don’t have anymore, and unfortunately, I don’t remember who sent it to me. I just remember what was in it. Not claiming it is mine, but I can’t refer to original author.

The idea of the theory was: if you want to achieve anything, you need to do it for 90 days. This is enough time to figure out if you will achieve what you want, if it is for you, if you really need it, if you doing things that you should be doing etc. Do it for 90 days. Never stop. Don’t stop if you won’t get where you want to be after 40 days, 50, 60, 70, 80. Complete the cycle. If you got what you wanted before 90 days, readjust the goal and keep working on it.

Here is how it works:

- Set the goals (what you want to achieve). Be realistic about them. If you final goal is too far away, break that goal into smaller stages;

- Figure out how much time you can send per week. For example, 4 days, 1hr 30mins each;

- Set a strategy what you need to be doing to achieve the goal. The exact actions that are need to be taken in order to achieve what you want;

- Keep at it. Never stop. Keep up with the program. Don’t quit and don’t make excuses for not doing it, look for opportunities. Because strong people are looking for opportunities, weak people are looking for excuses. Don’t stop at 50^th day, thinking that it’s been almost 2 months now and you still don’t have it. Aren’t you on the way to your goal, to your dream and stuff?

After 90 days:

- See how far you got. If you set your goal realistically, you probably got it. Or you got to 1^st stage of where you wanted to be. Or you set a great foundation for reaching your goals;

- You will see if you still want to do it, or not, if the thing that you doing is for you or not;

- Readjust the goals or set new ones;

- Enter the next cycle;

If you quit (doesn’t matter if you reached the goal or not):

- You are loser;

- You want to have something you don’t want to work for;

- It’s not for you;

- You don’t know what you want;

- The goals were not realistic (in this case it is not the excuse to quit, but to readjust the goals for next 90 days);

- Other (all related to you being loser J );

A good example of a person working towards her goals you can see in the pictures below. 90 days of driving a tractor and chopping the wood while smoking :) :

This is a B-Boy blog, so now we can apply 90-days rule to B-Boying. For example, you want to learn do to munchmills and swipes. You have a time budget of 4 days per week 2 hours each time. Minus the warmup and stretching time, lets say you have 4 trainings per week, of which you will spend 45mins on learning swipes, and 45mins on learning munchmills each practice. Keep doing it for 90 days. You can do anything else you want, but make sure you have done your 45mins of each move each practice for 90 days… I guarantee, even if you will not get the moves by 90 days, you will get very close, and set a great foundation for the next moves. 90 days is only a quarter of a year. Think of how many things you could learn in a year, 2 years and so on. Just keep at it. Complete the cycle. Don’t take shortcuts, because there are none! Now go back to the practice!

Peace!

Coke Zero Project

2011-08-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

A week ago I was offered to create a post sponsored by Coke Zero regarding the new Coke Zero Project that I found interesting and want to share with the blog visitors. Coke Zero has joined forces with Jon Chu, who is the director of Step Up 2, Step Up 3D, and creator of the LXD, to create a new dance from zero. . Jon and Coke Zero believe that one person's actions can make anything possible and are reaching out to everyone passionate about dance to help them create the next hype global dance. This is a big opportunity to not only make an impact on dance culture, but also potentially be a part of the next global Coke Zero project. Participants will go to http://www.cokezero.com/makeitpossible, download one of the fresh tracks on the site, record their dance move and upload it. Participants then can share their video with their friends. Everyone is limited only by their own imagination! Make It Possible! You can check out the video out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJGNiu0E1I8

I must say that I found http://www.cokezero.com/makeitpossible entertaining :)
Spent some time watching the dance videos uploaded by other people. Some of them were really dope, some inspirational, some were very funny. It’s like watching the X-Factor or America’s Got Talent on TV: you admire talent and good stuff, but deep inside you hope there will be more freaks to laugh at J. Truly entertaining website and a great idea in my opinion. People can show what they got directly from their homes! And don’t need to forget about the real purpose of the project – some people will become famous and might get a career in what they really love doing – dance…

BJ/B-Boy MiniBOJ

2011-08-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

Yo what's up again, here is B-Boy S10 and this time I present you another resident of the www.breakboy.net forums - BJ MiniBoj. (the "BJ" part will be explained later). I found his 8 mixtapes on the forum, pretty impressive, and contacted the guy. I have to say MiniBoj is a very well organized and super-efficient dude. :) He replied me the same day with a description of himself , invited me on Facebook, sent me 1 link to all his mixtapes and attached pictures to put in the post. I had couple his mixtapes on my pc before, now I have 8, which are available for download at the bottom of this post. I would say (and MiniBOJ only confirmed my opinion) that these mixtapes would suit for some heavy practice or a battle. They are for those who like breaks, break, and more breaks.

Here is some info about him: MiniBOJ, 22yo all the way from Slovakia (yeah, from the country where all women are supposed to be hot :) ), represent Hasta La Muerte Crew, OutBreak Crew and HHF Clan. Started dancing in 1995, but b-boying since 2001. He admits that he does not feel like a DJ, but more of BJ (Battle Jockey). His friend BJ PIGGO uses this "BJ" transformation too, because both of them are playing mostly for battles. Back in the days they had a crew called THE BJs :)

The 1st time MiniBOJ touched turntables in 2006, but since 2004 he is making mixtapes on computer. The same year he had started digging for music as he got bored of the "usual" stuff what was around at that time. (I totaly understand him about that one.). He started with digging for the battle tracks that he have heard in the battles, but then as he was growing up in Hip-Hop culture, his mind had changed. He was listening to DJ Leacy, Woo-D, Lean Rock, Billy Brown, Timber (hehe, me too...) and learned and got inspired by their mixtapes and skills.

MiniBoj admits he always puts in his mixtapes the tracks that he likes and maybe not as original with his diggs as Digga Crazy (see post below), but there is something about his mixtapes that bboys like. It feels good to see bboys go crazy when you spin. He is creating mixtapes for himself, his friends and all bboys around the world. (and myself too).

MiniBOJ KiLLA - Bad Brother Final
MiniBOJ KiLLA - IIWII
MiniBOJ KiLLA - Live @ B-Boy Jam For B-Boys
MiniBOJ KiLLA - All Day Practice Mixtape
MiniBOJ KiLLA - Dance Factor Mixtape s Hlasmi
MiniBOJ KiLLA - One More Time 2011
MiniBOJ KiLLA - Police Woman
MiniBOJ KiLLA - Sex Drums & RockAndRoll final

DJ Digga' Crazy

2011-08-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

This week I am presenting you another DJ/B-Boy that I found on http://www.breakboy.net/ forum. His name is Digga Crazy. And he is some Crazy Digga from Romania :). This guy had 8 of his mixtapes shared on forums and from what I realized when he wrote me a bit about himself, he had done a huge amount of work! First, few things from myself: his mixtapes consist of some really rare pieces (loops, breaks etc. I am not a DJ, but a listener with a taste), and are great for beat killing or some heavy practice sessions. I will be definitely looking forward to see more of his projects.

He had started collecting music about 5 years ago, after he became a member of breakboy.net forum, where people from all over the world share music. After 2 years of posting several Gigabytes of music, Digga Crazy had stopped posting and started digging for new music. Search and you will find. He started finding some dopest shit he never heard before (probably me too). This DJ confesses that he spends about 4 hours a day looking for new music (wow!). Now he made himself a name, Crazy Digga - the DJ who is in constant search for something new. He is uploading new mixtapes and single tracks and got quite popular for what he had done. Last year he went to Germany to spin at an International B-Boy Event, and going again in September this year.

Digga Crazy started DJing 2 years ago after some cool friend with the proper equipment taught him some stuff. It is not easy to collect money in Romania to buy some proper stuff, so at the moment he had bought a laptop and looking forward to get turntables. He is a b-boy since 2004 and without music his body is not moving (that's what he wrote about himself). He represents PenGu' Crew that consists of 5 members...

Here are some pictures that I took from his Facebook profile, followed by links to his great mixtapes. Enjoy!

Digga' Crazy- Latin Mixtape 2010

Digga' Crazy- Oldies But Goldies

Digga' Crazy- Powermove Mixtape

Digga' Crazy- Simple Drum Line Breaks Vol. 2

Digga' Crazy- Soul Expression Mixtape 2010

Digga' Crazy- Sound Theory Mixtape

Digga' Crazy- Summer Hazard Mixtape

Digga' Crazy- Top Rock Vs. Footwork

DJ Chuy

2011-08-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Writing this post while actually listening to one of his mixtapes - "For The Listeners", doing what the mixtape suggests. Came across him on breakboy.net forum, where he had his mixtapes up. The power of Internet! I don't think I would ever come across the DJ/B-Boy like him, since he is from Cali and I am in... hmm...Ireland. There are so many break DJs these days, some are famous some are not, some are talented, some are not so (everyone's subjective opinion). This time I would like to present you DJ Chuy. Here is a little bit he wrote about himself:

"I go by DJ Chuy, I repp El Kartel Supreme Break Djs. I am from Modesto California. I've been djing for 11 yrs. I've been bboyin for 17 yrs. Here is my blog where you can find my and my crews mixes, http://dopeonplastik.blogspot.com/".

Sounds like a modest guy, since he is from Modesto! What I feel while listening (practicing) to his mixtapes that this dude is:

1. A B-Boy, with an understanding of what a break mixtape should be like and something he would dance himself;

2. He loves music. That's for sure! Apart form beats I am looking for melody/vocal/variety of instruments. And DJ Chuy got it all in his mixtapes;

3.He can't or won't do covers for his mixtapes! I couldn't find any, and I'm afraid to make one myself this time, just look at his pictures - dangerous man! :D well, I am not that friendly-looking either...

Here are some pictures that I took from his Facebook page followed by a link to five of his mixtapes! Enjoy!

DJ Chuy - Deadly Rhymes Pt.1
DJ Chuy - Dope on Plastik Vol.1
DJ Chuy - Dope on Plastik Vol.2
DJ Chuy - For the Listeners 2
DJ Chuy - The Beat Down 3
DJ Chuy - The Unexpected
Link to DJ Chuy's Mixcrate Account

DJ Graham Dolan

2011-07-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

Last week I had offered this guy to feature on my blog and he agreed by saying "sure, fire away." So here he is - DJ Graham Dolan all the way from Galway City, Ireland. I came across this guy when I was occasionally visiting my "local" Bar 903. I had noticed that some days music selection was just better than the other. I had to be a DJ! Then I saw the same guy behind 1s and 2s in the playing in the other places. And every time he was playing, his taste of music matched mine. That makes a good DJ for me - a guy who has the same music taste :). Don't we all like the DJ who plays the music that we like? So, here he was, local DJ Graham Dolan, playing dope as funky/soul/hiphop/bboy breaks. That is him on the picture below.

Everytime there is something decent going on in Galway be it Mixmaster Mike, De La Soul, DJ Skratch Bastid, Breakestra etc. visiting Galway city - Graham is there! Either he is on the decks, or standing in the corner with a beer. When he is at work you can see he likes what he is doing and the music he is playing. How do I know? Well, I haven't told him this, but i like watching how he sings/raps/dances along his tunes. He is just SOOO into it :) A sign of a DJ with a soul! So, Graham, You Got Soul! He is not a break DJ, but occasionally me and guys from I Nee Money Cru are visiting places where he is playing and Graham drops some classic b-boy beats for us.

I could classify him as a DJ who is bringing the Hip-Hop culture into the mainstream public. He has an appearance of a simple guy (don't judge it by my selection of pictures) with a lot going on. Graham is the guy who made his name on Galway scene, if there is anything going on that is worth going - he is there. Oh, and he is the guy who is reading all this now and feeling flattered :) To write this post I didn't ask Graham to write his bio or anything, so this is just a view form my eyes without any research done. Here are some photos of master at work. No need to invent funny captures, pictures speak for themselves!

DJ Crazy Mind

2011-07-23T04:39:00.000-07:00

Hello,

it's always nice to see new visitors coming to the blog and I am always thinking of what to add. It's so great to have a blog on something what I really like. So, this week more stuff added to Video section and new mixtapes will be right here. Speaking of which, I would like to present to you my new favourite DJ. I think he is really talented for his age. DJ Crazy Mind. He agreed to feature on this blog, and him (and me) presenting you his 5 dope mixtapes. I hope he doesn't mind that i made one cover for all his mixes myself :). Here is what he wrote about himself:

"My name is George aka DJ Crazy Mind I'm coming from Greece,I'm 16 years old and I jammed few battles at my country. My crew is Dead Prezz Crew and we like to send our regards to you. Listen to my mixtapes and feed your soul with power and style
Peace.
I guess that's ok :p"

Sounds like talented and humble guy! That type of personality gets my respect. So here are mixtapes:

DJ Crazy Mind - Mixtape Vol 1
DJ Crazy Mind - Mixtape Vol 2
DJ Crazy Mind - Mixtape Vol 3
DJ Crazy Mind - Mixtape Vol 4
DJ Crazy Mind - Mixtape Vol 5

Peace

B-Boy S10 - always there for Hip-Hop

You are a True B-Boy if....

2011-04-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

1. When you buy a drink at the bar or a shop, the colour of your drink matches the colour of your outfit;

2. When you make love to a woman with the music on, you are trying to kill the beat;

3. When policeman (aka Babylon) stops you and shouts "Freeze", you actually do the freeze;

4. You correcting every person who says the word "Breakdance";

5. You use youtube only for watching battles and bboy documentaries;

6. You think that every argument can be solved through the b-boy battle. Who dances better, he is right. In fact, every small guy can challenge any big muscular guy without a fear of getting hurt for real;

7. You go to RnB and Hip-hop party, start bboying in the middle of the floor, and while bouncers are leading you to the exit, you trying to explain them that bboying is an original dance of the Hip-hop culture;

8. You explain your "not having a real job" situation by being full-time bboy. Which, in many cases, means waking up at noon, hanging around, smoking some weed, watch some battles on youtube, playing computer games, and maybe (if you have time) going for actual practice.

9. If you are world b-boy champion, but still as poor as f...;

10. Ignoring all "You Got Talent" contests. Cause you know you got talent;

11. You keep in touch with many bboys in other countries, and hate any bboy of the same level or better than you around your area;

12. You and only you know what the Hip-hop is. And the rest are "fake, wack, not tru";

13. You find it difficult to dance "socially" in the clubs, or at the weddings, but you still know that you can dance;

14. You hate commercial music, just because it is commercial and mainstream;

15. Have more shoes than your girlfriend;

16... (in comments)

17. When you are talking about Peace, Love and Unity, and after disrespect other bboys in order to get a contract or a job;

18. After meeting new person, you don't remember his/her name, only remember his/her shoes;

more to come... suggest yours

AlienNESS explains Footwork Battles

2011-04-13T03:41:00.000-07:00

The tittle says it all. Apparently, there are some people who do headspins in footwork battles :) I am not sure if any more comments needed for this video.

Free Megaupload Month Memberships! - closed

2011-02-23T04:53:00.000-08:00

I had 3 Megaupload 1 Month Free Memberships for 3 people who will email me.

The winners of the 3 Memberships were:

1. Crazy_Bboy (from breakboy.net forums)
2. B-Boy Best H - Algerian Style Crew
3. B-Boy Yfly from Belgium

Congratulations, guys!

Benefits of B-Boying

2011-01-24T06:50:00.000-08:00

Mature bboys might find this a bit boring and common sense, but beginners also visit my blog, so I have to write something for them. Me and my guys are running classes and I am often asked the question about where to download music, videos and stuff... Well, I have an answer now. Right here! :)

Also, I see many beginners, all ages. Adults, kids, their parents. And I am giving them the fliers to this blog. So, I want them to read something interesting or useful. Also, the dudes and girls from bboy forums come here for music, and a lot of them are relative beginners. So, I want to give you more motivation and give you some reasons why I think you should start or continue to breakdance.

- Cause it's cool! Simply because it is not the usual thing. Being able to do more than the average person can. It looks unreal for beginners, and that is where the beauty is. If it was simple for everyone, it wouldn't be cool. Breakdance (by this I mean bboying and funkstyles) looks very physical and sometimes unnatural, and it gives it the WOW effect. Stand out of the crowd!

- Fitness... Lifting weights can be boring, yoga is too slow (and weird sometimes), aerobics sucks after a while, pilates too, cycling - only for purpose, team sports can be fun (if you like exercising without music). Breakdance is one ultimate way to exercise. You work on absolutely all components of fitness. Strength, CV endurance, Muscular Endurance, Flexibility (I have a fitness instructors diploma, and I was a good student :) ). Plus it's fun. You can practice with other people, or alone. You can work on any components you want. Also, there is balance, skills, speed, sense of rhythm and many more bonuses. Very often bboys/bgirls are easily doing things that for other people takes a lot of time to master.

- Fun. Dance and practice with the music, with friends. Travel to different places, make friends, connections. You virtually have a place to stay in any part of the World where you can find other bboys. And what a joy when you finally get to do new moves! Happy feeling!

- Money. If I am ever stuck for cash, I know that I got my skills and my friends. If weather permits, you can go busking. Street dance, display of your skills for people on the street in exchange for applause and money. Good trade. You can run your classes, you can do performances. Extra money from what you love is always good!

- Self-confidence. That you get from your new body :) and from being able to express yourself. Imagine if you can dance in front other people you can do virtually anything. So you can't have a excuse of being shy anymore. And that helps a lot in other aspects of life. Teens and kids improve their self-image, the become more confident among others of their own age.

- Discipline. It takes a lot of time and work to be able do some moves. If you want to get them, you must get yourself organized. Isn't it the same with other things? Self-discipline is a great aspect of bboying. I am not saying you have to be perfect, you can have a pretty f..ked up lifestyle, but you gotta have some discipline to learn the things you want to learn.

- Socializing and friends. You will make friends and new connections through breakdance. Simple as that.

- Smoking, drugs and alcohol... Hmm... not sure about that one. Maybe breakdance promoting healthy lifestyle, but maybe not. For you to decide. I believe though it's kinda hard to mix trainings with alcohol and drugs. But we all are human and need to find time for everything, right? ;)

- Virtually free. I am still amazed how much money people throw on gyms and classes they don't go to, equipment they don't use and other stuff. Breakdance is virtually free. Yes, having few classes is recommended, but not crucial. All you need is some space, yourself and music. Clothes don't require big investments. You can do it with your friends, learn from youtube alone, at your own pace in your own time.

- Self-expression. I think it is very important aspect. You start with being a student and become an artist. Creating your own style, interpreting music in your own way, not being shy anymore.

- Something else. You can escape from your duties and daily routines and be totally free for couple hours at practice or bboy jam. Have a time for yourself!

Peace!

more music and videos coming. Please recommend this blog to others. I want to see 10,000 hits soon :)

Happy New Year, Everyone!

2010-12-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

Dear 7 followers and other people who reading this,

wish you all the best in 2011!

Don't drink too much today :)

Beginners Luck...

2010-12-30T08:44:00.000-08:00

...So you decided to start bboying? (just realized it is hard to write an introduction to this).

- Don't waste too much money buying stuff that "you need", buy it as you progress. Maybe as a treat for yourself when you reach certain goals. I personally know some people who bought shit loads of clothes, elbowpads, kneepads, headspin hats, sneakers, cds, dvds and all other "might be useful" things. Bboying is more about the actual dancing and practicing rather than just looking good. Dressing fresh while being wacky bboy will not get you far. Plus, you could spend money on something else.

- Don't believe the hype. Experienced bboys spent years of practice and liters of sweat before they got that far. So when they dance, things look easy and "effortless". Be prepared for some hard work. Either decide how many days per week you gonna practice or do it when you feel like it - your choice. The more you practice the better you become. Fact.

- Find out if there are any local bboys, crews, organizations. Practicing with someone is much better and more fun than practicing alone. There are so many home made bboys, who learned from Youtube. Yeah, that's fine too, but ... Nothing can replace the real practice with other people.

- Find people who are better than you. In this case you

a. Can learn from them, which is beneficial.

b. You can learn to laugh at yourself and not to take yourself too serious.

A lot of people feel shy, embarrassed, humiliated in any form. And that's why they prefer to quit rather than admit "Ok, I am a beginner.I suck at the moment, but I am going to get better, and that's why I am here. To learn." (easy to say, sometimes hard to do). Whatever you start in your life: playing football (the word soccer sounds really stupid), do carpentry, driving etc etc. - if you don't have experience in it - you gonna suck. So why the f...k you expect to be good in bboying when you just had started???

- Learn the foundation. Or some parts of it. Learn history, if you can find, the origin of the moves. Remember that any teacher can only show you bboying the way he understood and his way of doing things. If he is more open minded he might give you some extra tips on variations and how other people do it. On most things there is no one final opinion, no one final way how it should be done.

- Be realistic. You ain't going to to headspins and windmills on your first practice. You are just weak. Your body have never done these moves before, you are just not strong enough. Some say it's all about technique... Hmmmm... You can't teach a child to run if he can't even stand... Why don't you start with simple things like toprock , footwork? In this case you will see yourself progressing, get more buzz out of it, and won't even notice when you will decide to try windmills and will be actually ready for it.

- Teacher can not teach you anything, he can show you how to do it. Remember that. Even if you are going to the best bboy in the world, he is just as good as some middle level bboy when it comes to teaching. It's all about you. Remember how to do it and practice yourself. Go home and do it. Do it outside of classes. Make your teacher proud :).

- Pace yourself. Don't go too hard on yourself, practicing every day, getting tired all the time, because in case you genuinely don't like it - you gonna quit. Make your trainings more fun! Isn't it why you doing it? I am not sure if I still would be a bboy if it wasn't fun for me.

- There is plenty information available online. Youtube, forums, music downloads, tutorial videos. It wasn't like this like 20 or 15 or 10 years ago. Now all you need to do is take it. It's out there for you. Bboys share with others, so just get there and take it!

Gonna add more stuff to it, when I have more inspiration :)

Clothes... What not to wear.

2010-12-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

I think hiphop clothes are just as important part of hiphop culture as graffiti, MC, DJ and Bboying. Clothes define you. You express yourself through your outfit. Clothes are outside image of what is inside of you.

Trends, fashion - it's all applicable to hiphop clothes. When a person wants to stand out form the crowd, and start wearing something different from the others - he creates his style. When others trying to copy his style, and many people wearing similar clothes - it's fashion. So to me the word style means much more than fashion. It is not easy to find your own style, when you want to look different without looking ridiculous. Being in fashion sounds like an easy way to look good, to blend in... To look like the others? But then what about the fact that many people want to be unique? So many people say "I am different", "I am not like the others", and then they r wearing the "trendy" stuff, just so others wouldn't think they are weird? I think the successful people converted the style into fashion. They convinced others to wear this or that....

As for Bboying... There are so many things you can wear, different brands, styles, makes, colours, shapes. Some people prefer Adidas, some Nike, some Tribal gear or their own clothes. You know what - it's up tp you. I have tried wearing "classical" bboy shoes (puma Suede, Adidas Gazelle, Adidas Superstars, Puma Clyde etc..) - fu...ng uncomfortable! I am 80kg guy I need some suspension! :D So uncomfortable for me. Can't wear it. But I know many bboys who prefer and feel good in these shoes. What works for them doesn't have to work for me. And vice versa. Hoodies, T-shirts, Tracksuits, Jeans, bandanas, hats, caps, wristbands, sneakers - choose your weapons with your personality. Skinny or baggy, heavy or light, black or red...

I prefer sneakers with suspension. Not quite runners shoes. More runner shoes with style. Nike Air Max looks hot and comfortable for me. (wish they weren't so expensive). Nike Windrunner, Terminators, Adidas ZX - all my type of shoes. Serious shoes for serious guy. You can choose your own. To fit your needs and style. What a lot of common sense!

Actually, I thought I could write more about clothes, but feels like not. Overestimated my power of writing :D The point of all this is - if you want to be unique, just be yourself. Everything else is already taken. Choose you style with your head and soul!

Music, Dancing, Expressing Yourself.

2010-12-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

Why do people start bboying? Don't they have anything better to do? And if they are not going to become professionals, whats the point of doing it? Whats the point of going to practice, having little and not so little injuries, bruises? Whats the point of being able to headspin and to do an elbow freeze, or airchair, or pretzels. And whats the point of even knowing this stuff? What values does it all bring and how can you use it in your future life?

Someone said it is easier to get a black belt in karate than explain yourself why do you need it. I guess all people need to challenge themselves, express themselves, being seen or just knowing you can be better than the average. And, most important, just BECAUSE U LIKE IT. It is one strong argument. And what would you do if you were not bboying? And why would you do something different?

Challenges make life more colorful, through challenges and self discipline you get to know yourself, start believing in yourself (or stop - hehe). When a person climbs the mountain it is not the mountain he conquers, it is himself. Every time I practice bboying, I am trying to do something new, or to do the moves I want to get. Over these years I can tell you for sure - anyone can do anything. Most people are f...ing lazy and only have excuses. For anything. For their failures, for not doing things...For anything.

Being right is the most common basic instinct that people have. Stronger than sex instinct, stronger than need for food. Once you have an excuse for not doing or doing something, you consider yourself right. And if you are right, your mind is in balance. You not going to gym because you have excuse or few. You not reading, not studying, not enjoying your life, not going to parties, not working, not helping others, not bboying after all - that's because you have an excuse. I mean when you say you want to do it and you don't. For me it would be quite sad to realize how weak and miserable I am that I am talking about something and not doing anything about it... Because I have an excuse. I am right. And if I am right, I don't care anymore. :)

Dancing... To me it is movement to music. (yeah, maybe a bit cheesy part). You interpret the music. This is your visual interpretation of how you hear it. Different music - different dance styles - different life styles - different mindsets etc. I will be honest, it there would be no bboying I would not dance. I would not do salsa, or hmmm... rumba, ballet etc. I just f..ing would not. Boys don't dance? Maybe because there is not much for them. Bboying is the only thing I can do, that I agree to do and that's where my soul is. (I dont mention the heart, because it just pumps the blood, but dont feel). You wouldnt see me trying to dance tango. Or line dancing. Bboying is the best form of dance. For me. I might be wrong, but after trying bboying i think the other dance styles are just too easy and not worth doing. Just for me. If I started learning some other style of dance now, it would be my excuse. I would still know there is better and bigger challenge for me. And I love challenges. A sportsman's set of mind. You wouldn't see me dancing cha cha or foxtrot.

Dancing is art. Art of putting your moves together in the way that music makes you. Like any other dance style, bboying has a big selection of foundation moves, for which it is known. If there was no foundation it would be just something else. You need to know the foundation, or some elements of it. Music will not tell you how to move if you got no moves.

Once you know the foundation, you add your own flava. Your individuality, your persona, way of putting things together, you character, your charisma (word "charisma" is from Greek, meaning "talent", so if you were a charismatic person, they just would tell that you were talented). A lot of common sense is in here, hope some of you will find it useful or inspirational. And if not - what a waste of your time ;)

Music... I prefer dancing to funk and originals. Drums, percussion, vocal and melody - all has to be there for me. The more complicated the tune is - the harder it is for me to remember all small details of it. A bigger challenge. And I like challenges. Dancing to the music I don't know is like walking in the darkness, you have to guess your next step. Dancing to the music that you know becomes boring after a while (unless I want to impress someone with my musicality :P ). Dancers do show off. In fact that is why they practice hard, spending their time and energy and money, to get better, go be seen some day... back to music. I do like to dance to rap music. Some of it. But after a while it becomes a bit boring, because a lot of that music is pretty simple and predictable. Some bboys don't like "commercial" music, they just prefer not to associate themselves with this. I like both. Don't want to be "unique" guy who only dances to underground, rare tracks, just to show that other people have no taste.

Bboys has to dance to music. Common sense. Beginner very often concentrate on moves, they dont even care about music. Also, the people who would normally listen to rock or techno or ... jazz... They try to breakdance to funk and rap, and just not liking the music. Or they just dont know it. And all they wanted was to learn few moves. But without music these are just moves. If I wanted to do moves I would do gymnastics... Or kung fu, acrobatics, parkour, etc. If you are in bboying for the wrong reason, time will show. Change your views or get the f.. out!

This is what I am going to do right now :)

Peace!

How I Got Started

2010-12-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

This is the easiest part to write... Because I don't need to imagine or invent things, just to remember. If I can. And, maybe exaggerate a little bit. Who likes the boring truth? Another thing - a truth with elements of fiction ;).

So, here is goes. It was new years eve of 1997 when I decided to go on my 1st official training... Alone. With an ice hockey helmet do practice headspins, old few tapes I recorded from music videos by run dmc, music instructor, jamiroquai and other music I thought was appropriate for breakdance.(these days the internet is full of the music, forums, websites, ftp servers, torrents - u name it!) It was a place my mom used to work, they have a big hall with nice wooden floor, which I had to clean and mop in exchange of getting a practice spot. Fair trade!

So when everyone has a St.Steven's Day I have my own little anniversary... Sounds like its going to be one today in fact - what a coincidence!

What did I practice these days? hmmm... Looking back now I can only smile at myself. I had absolutely no knowledge on what to do, we had no instructors in town. No one could do it. I heard there was some guy who used to do Electric Boogie back in the USSR days. But I didnt go to him. So the only source of information I had were music videos. Trying to learn stuff from couple second solos and split second tricks. Have to admit, I was a big fan of Flying Steps Crew from Germany. Since they were the only ones I could see on tv, I thought they were the best. Well, they were the most influential for me and I could say for few more thousands European beginners like me. It was mostly about powermoves these days, not much about style. Plus, I didnt get to choose. I had no internet in 1997. I coulnd see what the guys in the USA are doing...

So, I got started. At least I had this idea that I am going to breakdance trainings. Which I shared with my classmates. And, what a surprise, I found out that two of them also trying to do windmills and baby freezes at home (back then i didnt know the names of the moves, so i called them "helicopters" and "crab" - influenced by Russian Crew - Jam Style and Da Boogie, who were showing their 7 min pieces on breakdance on tv once a week. That became my source of information :) ). I exactly knew when the program was on and had my video recorder ready. Then, at practice, We (3 of us) were trying to repeat what we have seen.

After a while we discovered there were few more people in town who were doing it. They had their own guy who organised venue for classes, their "manager". If I can remember, I think they were better than us in Electric Boogie, but we were better at breaking. We were stronger. (writing this puts a smile on my face, because I know, at the same time in the US, crews were battling, jamming, rocking the floor. Feels like we reinvented the culture, reinvented by emulation.)

Oh, and then we found out that bboys are dancing on the streets. On.. hmmm.. cardboard?? plywood or linoleum... Danm, our 1st jam outside... :D. 5 bboys, some cardboard, stereo with tapes and batteries, some "stylish" clothes from 2nd hand shop. We all grew up in blocks of flats, so it was outside in the yard and everyone could see us. I wasn't shy for a second. Nobody was. We thought we doing something really cool. So did all the neighbors, who were looking outside the windows... So we got a power source and saved on batteries... We had girls walking around, kinda watching, but mostly trying to get our attention. We got local scumbags coming over and actually respecting the things we do. Because they saw all that on tv. And no one from out town had see bboys before! (talking about scumbags - this is the term what "normal" people chose to use in describing certain type of people. just because these "normal" people think they are better people than... scumbags.if u dress the certain way, talk, act - ur scumbag. No one really associate himself with a scumbag, but the other people think they have right to associate you with one...something to think about).

The guys in our 1st crew (Ultrasonics), tried other forms of expressing themselves in hiphop way - graffiti, beatboxing, rap. It was a pretty cool company to grow up in, to associate myself with, to be a part of. After a while we decided to start classes for beginners. I guess i have done it few times in my life. Starting new classes, running them, after some time other people taking over (due to circumstances) and these people start claiming they organized everything :)

Then I had to move to Riga with my studies. I think that is usually retirement age for bboys. Once you move out from parents, have to study, start working, cook for yourself, start drinking, taking drugs, going to parties, start dating girls and having sex... You stop focusing on bboying. Well, most people do. But what about those who didn't stop? What is you could sacrifice some desires and keep doing what you had started? Something what you had spent so much time and energy on? There will be more written later on the benefits, distraction and self-discipline. So, not here and not now. .. I joined local classes and met new people in Riga. Took part in few battles, few jams, met Jam Style crew in Riga (it was like meeting Rocksteady for some people).

Then I moved to the USA. Will not bore you with details, just will mention that I joined local gym, because they had really nice aerobic studio I could use anytime for trainings. While all of my friends came to US and just worked to make money, I have been practicing in the mornings. And it is a good habit. To exercise. To have a physical activity. And having an activity that you enjoy going is even better. I tried to go to gym, lifting weights, running on a treadmill. What a f..king boring activity is that! Probably most people quit going to gyms because it becomes boring, becomes a routine.

Oh, and right before i went to the US, two crews in our town got together into one. And most of guys from my original crew "retired". So I got into new crew with new people, which was good anyway. Most of us are still either breaking or djing.

Feels like the post got boring, so I will end here, right before I was going to write about how I moved to Ireland.

Abstract

2010-12-26T06:20:00.000-08:00

If you are looking to find in this blog something nicely put together, then you probably won't. I am not a great writer and don't intend to be; this is my 1st blog, so read something more interesting if you can find.

Since I am only expressing my opinion here, I can't say I am open to discussions. If you you see the things differently, well "It's just like opinion, man!" (Big Lebowski). I can change my opinion after some time, so there is no final decision on anything here. Here is an estimate list of things I am going to write about:

- B-boying... how I got started.

- Music.

- Clothes.

- Dancing and finding your style.

- I Nee Money Crew... Why I Nee Money.

- Trainings. How to keep up.

- Self discipline.

- Beginners guide. Where to start.

- People observations. My experience in working with people.

- Benefits of breakdance.

- Getting out of the box..

- Pros/semi-pros and those who do it as a hobby.

ETC...

I will not write about:

- The history. I wasn't there when it was created, I haven't met enough people who's point of view I could take as a final. You better watch some documentaries, which I am planning to post in video section, and make your own opinion. You can find a lot of stuff online on history and origin of hiphop culture, the more I read the more I get lost. Terminology, origin of moves, originators, the tips on how to dance, how to dress is a subject of discussion. I wasn't there when the rules were set. If there are rules in this at all.

- Comparing bboys, mentioning names. Who am I to do it? :)

- Cheesy stuff, like "dancing is my passion, I've been dreaming to do it all my life"

- Writing about something I don't think or don't believe in. Not going to quote others much, but have to admit there are people who influenced me and my opinion.

- Claiming my opinion is the final one and everyone should be following my guides.

Basically, this is going to be a blog where i express my opinion and you just shut up and read. It is not a dialog, so you are free to waste couple minutes of your life and listen. Listen by reading. Listen while downloading music and videos. Good trade, huh? You get the music and read the shit I am writing :D

And it is not that I need reassurance and positive comments on things, since you are reading this I already assume I got your attention.

I will only write the things "straight away", will not edit anything to make it look nicer, or to arrange things in a better way. So you can see my freestyle flow of thoughts and ideas.

See you all!