A new take on the history of Breakin.
This film was shot over two days in August of this year. A number of Japanese breakin legends came to the event to express the history of the event on film.
-I just saw your video work "Rhythms in Motion: Japanese Breaking Chronicle". It was very interesting! Were the two of you related in the first place?
Shigekix: He is a senior!
KURO THE ROCK: We are often together at events. Last year, when I was a judge, Shigekix won the session.
-Then you have known each other for quite a long time, haven't you?
KURO THE ROCK: Shigekix is about 8 years old? I've recognized him since he started competing in battles and thought he was a great kid. I wondered if his neck was OK. I wondered if his neck was OK (laughs).
Shigekix: I am glad to hear that. The history of breakin that I know is short, so I believe that it is because of Mr. KURO, who has spent many years expanding the scene, that I was able to make this movie.
Looking back on the shoot, "I felt frustrated that I had not seen the '80s and '90s with my own eyes. I felt like I was going back to my roots," said Shigekix.
-How did you feel when you got this offer?
Shigekix: I was happy to be able to work with the senior members of Legend. When I heard about the concept, I could imagine a very cool video being created.
KURO THE ROCK: This kind of video on the history of breakin has been done in the past. But they were mostly interviews. It was great, because if you are going to talk about history, it is easier to convey it in words, but in this film, I decided to use fewer interviews.
KURO THE ROCK says he was most excited when CHINO and Flash faced off during the filming. It made me realize that I still have a long way to go before I can beat these guys.
-He said he expressed history through dance and music.
KURO THE ROCK: That's right. The director of the project was me and Mr. Matsumoto of "GROUNDRIDDIM". He suggested that we dance in front of the video while showing images from the past in the background. The main axis of the entire video was created by Mr. Matsumoto.
Shigekix: That production was really cool. There were images from the past playing, graffiti tagging letters floating around, and other parts of hip-hop history. I think it's easy to convey and has a lot of depth. Even though we were filming in the same space, I felt like I was transported back in time depending on the generation of the performers.
The performers themselves dance in front of archival footage. This is a production that connects the past and present and gives a sense of history.
WOOD painted the tagging used in the work.
KURO THE ROCK: WOOD, who drew the graffiti tagging, and DJ UPPERCUT, who meticulously produced different sound sources for different eras, are originally B-BOYs, so this work is truly filled with B-BOY sensibilities.
As for the music, we have them create original songs that reflect the sonic feel and characteristics of songs that could be the anthems of the era. Even though the songs are not covers, they have been created in such a way that even those who knew the songs in real time can feel "I remember a song like this! Even for those who knew the songs in real time, the result is a song that makes you feel like "I remember that song!
-TAKU OBATA, the B-BOY sculptor, was also on the show.
KURO THE ROCK: I was a member of a team called "RhythmSneakers" and TAKU was a member of a rival team called "UNITY TAKU was a member of a rival team called "UNITY SELECTIONS," and we were of the same age. I think the B-BOY sculptures that TAKU creates have a power that can be conveyed to anyone who sees them. I was very happy that he brought his work to the shooting location.
-Have you ever heard stories about the history of breakin in Japan?
Shigekix: There are. The Japanese breakin scene has been passed down without a single interruption, so my seniors were telling me "there was a time like this" and "there was an event like this. But I have not seen it with my own eyes, so there are some senior B-Boys who appear in this video whom I have never had a chance to talk to properly.
KURO THE ROCK: CHINO and Flash are of an older generation than me. They are my seniors as well.
From left, CHINO, Shigekix, and Flash. Attention is focused on the session that transcends generations.
Shigekix: Breakin' crosses generational boundaries, but I never had a chance to dance with CHINO and Flash. So I was happy to be able to make it happen. During the filming, my expectations for what would happen when the film was completed were so high, and when I actually watched the edited video, I thought we had created a tremendous work.
-As you can see from the video, the movement was completely different between the 80s and now.
KURO THE ROCK: Different times have created different styles that are popular.' If it was in '80, it would be all about simple footwork, but today it's more complicated.' In 80, power moves, in short, big moves, had names like Windmill or Thomas. But today, there are power moves like "What is that? But today, there are power moves like "What's that?
Shigekix: On site, KURO suggested to me that I should move in this way because this era has evolved from the basic movements. I was conscious of who to dance with and how to stage the concept, but kept my own style. Since I was the youngest, I wanted to express the modern age through my dance.
-Is there a definite turning point in the evolution of Breakin?
KURO THE ROCK: From my point of view, I would say the 2000s. Of course, there were many people with originality in the 1990s, but as JACK says in the video, various styles were born in the 2000s, and power moves evolved. In my generation, there were either stylers or power movers.
-After 2000, when the styles diverged, there was an increase in the number of styles that used original and difficult power moves as weapons, and it became commonplace to perform a series of big moves such as air trax. After that, more emphasis was placed on musicality, and more people synchronized their moves with sounds, as in the so-called "sound framing," and the dance aspect became important as well.
Shigekix: I started breakin in 2009, so in practice I used to refer to movements from 2000 onward.
-I heard that you shot the film over a two-day period. What was the scene like?
KURO THE ROCK: The ones that left the biggest impression on me were CHINO and Flash, who belonged to "ROCKSTEADY CREW JAPAN" and "TOKYO B-BOYS" in Tokyo, and Flash who belonged to "FLOOR Flash was a member of "FLOOR MASTERS" in Yokohama. At the time, Tokyo and Yokohama were rivals, and the two in particular were so close that they would battle each other in private.
-How was it now, nearly 40 years later?
KURO THE ROCK: We are very good friends (laughs). We were watching a movie together called "Beat Street" ('84 ) and talking about how it came in here. We were talking like junior high school students. We were getting as excited as junior high school students, and it was very heartwarming.
Shigekix: I wondered what the legends would say to me. ...... I wondered if they would be angry with me or praise me (laughs). Some said they were proud of me, while others told me I could be a better B-BOY.
