This is a throwback! I guess it is kind of funny to admit I
was inspired by a Korean commercial but when it’s this awesome, I won’t even
deny it. When I first saw the clip I was already into breaking but what it did
for me was it made me appreciate the value of listening to the music and
redefine my concept of ‘culture’.
This video became something like an unintentional
inspiration and my keepsake of days when I first felt the passion of breaking.
It was a trove of valuable lessons both physically and mentally. Zero Nine
displayed some fine qualities and abilities as a bboy, but the video as a whole
comprised a bigger message which I felt first and understood later.
I’m not exactly sure what this commercial was for, and
despite having quite a big Korean influence, I still don’t know the language;
so I’m all for whatever guesses anyone has on this. The YouTube clip description
suggested it may have been to promote the Korean Culture on Arirang TV and
another suggested it’s a commercial for e.Comfortable Life. What I do know,
however, is that if commercials were this awesome, I wouldn’t complain each
time advertisements came on.
Here is Canon D by Lee
Changyui featuring Last For One. (Music a hundred times better in full HD!)
Physicx said we’re surrounded by all kinds of sounds and
each one creates music; we need to learn to interpret this natural rhythm. No
offense but gayageum – the Korean traditional instrument played in the video –
had always been an instrument I never understood. But I get the point Physicx
was trying to make. There is a lot of noise around us which don’t make sense but
it is how we interpret them that will eventually create music in place of
noise. Listen and interpret.
In the beginning of this piece the gayageum began to play, then some
bass joined in, then the DJ started scratching and finally we got some
beatboxing. If you think about it, these were a series of different sounds coming together one by one
riding a common rhythm. As bboys and bgirls, interpreting this rhythm is what
allows us to join in and come together with the music, and to enable ourselves
to dance. The music was unconventional, but as a whole it became mesmerizing.
Bboys and bgirls who can relate will understand what I mean
by ‘when I first felt the passion’. That initial feeling of having discovered
something utterly amazing is a feeling some of us, including myself, are trying to regain and to feel again. When I first watched this commercial it was during that initial
feeling, so this video is kind of like a token of memory. This video evokes
that feeling of ‘you and the music’. In a sense, watching this video, I felt like Zero Nine (but a girl and not even half as good),
alone in the isolation of darkness with only those windows of sounds coming
together to form music. I read the rhythm, dance and join the flow. To me, that
was the art of bboying.
The final lesson I learned from watching this video was that
despite Hip Hop being a culture of its own we also can’t ignore the differences
of our cultures of origins. Sure Hip Hop may have started out in America, but
as it had proliferated outside of America, we can’t always expect to have the
same flavour and style or interpretations as Americans. What we do need to do is
to respect Hip Hop’s origins first, then find our own style. Aby said it’s what
we bring into the culture that makes it grow and evolve, and this is also done
by our interactions and sharing of our knowledge from where we’re from. So let’s
not try too hard to be American. Even bboys from different states in America
have their own style. That’s a lesson learned.
Peaces x :)
