My first Legendary Hip Hop post was of Rock Steady Crew in the movie "Flashdance." This week, we have another early 80s movies featuring RSC, as well as contemporaries and equally legendary crew, the New York City Breakers (who will probably have a post of their own in the near future).
In the movie "Beat Street," RSC and NYCB become the Bronx Rockers and Beat Street Breakers respectively. In a look at hip hop culture of that time period, the movie features bboying, in addition to MCing, DJing, and grafitti. On a side note, the music of this movie's soundtrack was provided by legendary hip hop artists such as DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five, and Afrika Bambaataa and the Sonic Soul Force, among others, all of whom appeared in the film. In this clip, we see RSC (in blue) and NYCB (in red) battling it out in the club, much as a crew at the time period would do so. Of course the moves are simpler, as bboying had not evolved to the point it has today, but it also shows how delivery and execution were that much more important in battles at the time.
The effects of this film would be long reaching, especially overseas. The combination of all four pillars of hip hop would help this culture spread as more than just a genre of music, with graffiti and bboying being very important in countries such as Germany.
Skip to about 3:40 for the start of the battle
In the movie "Beat Street," RSC and NYCB become the Bronx Rockers and Beat Street Breakers respectively. In a look at hip hop culture of that time period, the movie features bboying, in addition to MCing, DJing, and grafitti. On a side note, the music of this movie's soundtrack was provided by legendary hip hop artists such as DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five, and Afrika Bambaataa and the Sonic Soul Force, among others, all of whom appeared in the film. In this clip, we see RSC (in blue) and NYCB (in red) battling it out in the club, much as a crew at the time period would do so. Of course the moves are simpler, as bboying had not evolved to the point it has today, but it also shows how delivery and execution were that much more important in battles at the time.
The effects of this film would be long reaching, especially overseas. The combination of all four pillars of hip hop would help this culture spread as more than just a genre of music, with graffiti and bboying being very important in countries such as Germany.
Skip to about 3:40 for the start of the battle
