R-16 part 1

Last weekend was r16, a big international bboy competition. I had been looking forward to the competition since I bought tickets over a month ago. It turns out I reserved tickets 20 and 21 of everyone there. I also went to the r16 preparty, which was hella dope.

Anyways, I guess first I'll talk about the pre-party since that's the first thing that happened on my weekend. I went with M and Dre to Lotte Hotel in Jamsil (which by the way is hella fucking far from Incheon... 2 hours-ish). We got there early and we had time to eat dinner. Actually, where we ate there was a restaurant called Uncle Wong's. This is particularly interesting because in Dumbfoundead's Grindtime battle with Tantrum, Dumb says, "You're not just an Uncle Tom, you're an Uncle Wong."

Then, after eating, we headed to the party. It was a little confusing to find because we weren't really sure where we were going. naturally. We got to the place eventually and it was still hella early, like 8 p.m. At that point we caught the tail-end of some pre-competition elimination popping and locking battles. They were okay, and at the time I thought pretty good, but nothing compared to what we saw the following day. But that's for later.

Then, after the competition was over, we took a break and just sat and rested. It was kind of strange being there because I am not really part of the break dancing community. I mean, sure, I listen to hip-hop a lot, and I've watched a whole shit-ton of graffiti, scratching, and breakdancing videos online, but as for actually participating in the hip-hop culture, I fall definitively into the observer category. It's not that I'm a bad dancer, it's just that I'm not a bgirl.

Anyways, so it was weird with everyone being so talented and then me just kind of hanging out and watching.

While I was standing around one of the dance circles (everyone was breaking in circles which was cool to watch), I saw DJ Zo, and he said hello to me and gave me a hug and we chatted. Then later in the evening I saw dumb and said hello and he also recognized me and gave me a hug. I know that I probably sound ridiculous and fan-girl-y hear, but they just seem so cool and chill. I know they aren't super famous and it's not like they have millions of people banging down their doorstep for autographs and shit, but still, I've seen less famous people act like total dicks to their fans. It's nice to see artists who haven't let a little bit of fame and internet popularity get to their heads. In the off chance that one of the two of them sees this post, thanks guys for making my night a little bit more than just a concert, but an interaction. You guys are cool as fuck and I hope y'all stay that way.

So a bit later, dumb and djzo hit the stage. They absolutely fucking wrecked it. They did most everything that I really wanted to see and I got some great pictures and footage and whatnot. They did bullets of truth, Mr. Nice Guy, plus Dumb freestyled a whole lot. Plus he even called up other MCs and invited them to do a short freestyle on the mic. It was really cool. Like 4 or 5 people came up and spat verses in English and Korean. It was really cool.

Then M and Dre left because they were tired and dumb finished and that's the only reason they really went. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready to bounce so I was pissed and ended up staying alone to watch DJSoulscape (basically a Korean legend as far as DJs go). Soulscape was just ridiculously talented, and it turned out to be better than I had expected in spite of being alone. This Korean girl came up and talked to me and said I was a really really good dancer, and she thought I was a dancer (not that I was like poppping or breaking or anything), and that was very flattering since there were a lot of other dancers there and she was impressed by me.

Anyways this is the video I threw together this afternoon of the video/pictures I took during the concert. Enjoy, and check out my other videos over on my youtube channel! Thaaaaanks!!

Update on Lyrics

So my bad. I meant to post lyrics soon.

Unfortunately/Fortunately my weekend was super awesome and hella busy with the r16 Korea world bboy championship (A full-length review of the weekend will be coming soon) and I didn't get around to actually posting the lyrics. Luckily for you, I'm working on a special Taeyang lyrics surprise...

I promise the Taeyang surprise will be released by Thursday afternoon, Korea time, at the latest. So check back here Wednesday for the surprise, or early if you want to read about r16s!

xoxo
A

The Hot List

Since Summer is finally here, and it's legitimately HOT outside (or has been until today), I figure it's time for another Hot List. I should do these more regularly, but I don't. This edition will run the gamut of topics, so hopefully you will enjoy:

1. The Rub: I literally discovered them today via the Johnny Cupcakes blog. This DJ crew is composed of DJ Ayres, DJ Eleven and Cosmo Baker. The threesome has been working together for about 8 years, and they are based in NYC. They spin full-time and make mixtapes basically for a living. I haven't been listening to them for long, but I'm already hooked. They mix hip-hop, funk, soul, rock, and other genres to make truly interesting mixes. They also are currently producing a series called the History of Hip-Hop. This series basically puts a group of the hottest songs from a single year into a single long-ass mix. The series starts with the year 1979, which was posted on their site back in December of 2007. Their most recent addition is 2003, which is a throwback to high school for me. I'm listening to the 1993 mix right now, which contains classics like Tribe's Award Tour, Wu-Tang's Protect Ya Neck, Method Man and Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothin to Fuck With, Snoop's Gin & Juice, TuPac's I Get Around, Cypress Hill's Insane in the Brain, and Souls of Mischief's 93 to Infinity (which Dumb and Wax sample in 2010 to Infinity), along with 39 other joints from that year. While I was only 6 years old in 1993, and certainly had never heard Wu-Tang, Snoop, or delaSoul when I was in first grade, my respect for these artists is immense. To hear them all on one track is pretty epic. All of their shit is available for download on their website. I really hope I can see one or more of them spin when I go to NYC this summer. Hopefully Diane/Amy/Sarah/someone will be down to check them out with me.

2. Rain: It's monsoon season here in Korea. Now, being from Florida, I'm no stranger to summer rains. In fact, in my personal experience, it (thus far) has rained far less here in Korea than it does each summer in Gainesville or Wellington. But, I appreciate much more here for various reasons. 1) my classes are no longer outdoors (LA classes at the ELI are outside and thus were moved every single day due to midday rainshowers). 2) it makes it significantly cooler in my un-air-conditioned classroom and office. 3) The students like rain a lot and are thus much happier/animated in my class. Plus, I just really like the rain. It's messy and wet and cool and it totally encourages casual behavior/dress. The only really unfortunate thing is that in my perpetual forgetfulness, I manage to consistently lose/leave at home my umbrella. So, in the last two weeks, I've bought three umbrellas. T_T

3. R16 Bboy Championships- OH MY GOD. It's this weekend. I've been on the website every day for the last 5 days just looking at the links and watching videos and checking out the pictures. I'm so stoked for this. I'm going to the pre-party with Words Run Dry and Dre. I'm also going with WRD to the bboy championships. I don't know if she knows it, but we are going eaaaaaaaaaarly to get good seats and be as close to the action as possible. I'm stoked as fuck. There will be an Urban Arts Festival at Olympic Park with graffiti exhibitions and bboy circles, along with a street market. Then, popping/locking battles on Saturday and Crew battles Sunday. ^______^ Tickets are still available at www.r16korea.com

4. FUEL- I just received a bunch of my FUEL gear from BoBo/parents. Everything is really great. It's unfortunate that I just now get the sweatshirt since it's really hot here. Also, more importantly, FUEL released their highlight video on youtube this past weekend and it's fucking awesome. Filled with layouts and skies and nasty d's (I've never seen so many handblocks in a highlight video in my life), it makes me so proud to be a FUEL alumna. Anyways, you watch the video here, and check out their other highlights which I've posted here but deserve more hits.

5. Taeyang's Solar Album: My Young-Bae is dropping his first full-length solo album tomorrow. I've got my copy reserved at ShinNara Records at the Shinsegae near Arts Center. I'm the 60th person in Incheon to reserve it. Clearly I'm a superfan. Anyways, YG has been releasing a 1 minute sample of songs every day since Sunday, and they are all super fresh. I loooooooove it so far. Tomorrow evening you can expect a full review of the album. I will listen to every song like 10 times and then really late at night, after I obsess for a few hours, I'll tell you all just how fucking amazing it is. I mean, jesus, have you seen my Bae lately? SEEEEEEX. See below for one of the audio previews released to youtube. Other previews can be found here, here (this one is really gooooood) , here (see previous parentheses), here, and here.



xoxo
A