My First Forreal Battle

Attending my very first battle at the end of my freshman year in college.  Came away with some unexpected lessons and connections.

Transcript available at poplockparables.buzzsprout.com

Contact:
Twitter: @poplockparables
IG: @poplockparables
Email: poplockparables@gmail.com

BGM:
Biscuit (Prod. by Lukrembo)
🍪 Soundcloud : https://soundcloud.com/lukrembo​
⭐️ Twitter : https://twitter.com/LuKremBo​
😀 Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/lukrembo​
✉️ Email : Lukrembo@gmail.com

Song Featured:
Honey Gold Jasmine - Right Now
Written & Performed by Honey Gold Jasmine & AjGod
Produced by AjGod
Instagram:  @honeygoldmusic

Transcript

Nicholas Sapp: 0:00

What's going on with y'all good people, man. Welcome back to Poplock Parables. Yes, sir. You know, where I talk about my stories and adventures, tales, the lessons, all that good stuff in street dance. This is Episode Two. Today we're gonna be talking about my very first street dance battle, you already know. I want to thank y'all, you know what I'm sayin, for tuning in. This episode, you can find it transcribed on poplockparables.buzzsprout.com. We're also now available on listening platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, so on and so forth. So yeah, we bout to get started real soon. You can just sit tight, you know what I'm saying, and let's get to it. Yes, sir. You already know, yeah y'all said "oh, man, you can't leave us on a cliffhanger, man. Come on, man. I want to hear about the rest of the battle." Well, now is that time. So just to recap, end of my first year of college, right? I was in a little dance crew, PhiNix dance crew, that's the local college dance crew. And you know, our leader James was like, Hey, you know, it's a battle going on. Y'all should go check it out. So I was like aight coo, hit my best friend up, Terrell. I said come on man, let's ride out. He says, Sure. So, you know, I'll say let's say it's a Saturday, we pick a Saturday. And we say okay, let's roll out, hop on the train headed up to the north side. So, the battle, I don't remember the specific location, but I'm gonna just say it was in like Logan Square. If you ever been to Chicago, Logan Square. It's kind of like, well it's really gentrified now. So now it's like a little hipstery area, right? But the spot we went to, like, you know, it's an industrial spot like old warehouse turned into a studio, you know, with red brick, exposed lighting, things like that. Right? So we walk up in there. And we you know, we just see a lot of stuff going on, right? So you got, you know, people selling art, people sitting around chillin, got some cyphers going on, selling apparel, all these things. And we've learned that it's being hosted by this group called Kuumba Lynx, right? K-U-U-M-B-A. And Lynx, L-Y-N-X, like the cat, right? And so Kuumba Lynx, it was arts org that provided urban arts education and youth development. So they had kids, and they were really teens. Not so much like little kids. They're really, you know, teenagers, you know, integrating them, getting them involved in, you know, rapping and singing and dancing and graffiti, all that, right. And so I'm like, Okay, cool. And then he had a couple people emceeing. So you had his guy named Elgin, that was, you know, helping with the more like, Kuumba Lynx side, and you had this guy named Roldare who's hosting the battle, right? And then the DJ, I want to say this dude named Virgil7, I wanna say he was DJ. So you know, so he we just sitting there chillin, looking around, it's not much going on, right? At least initially. So I'm hop in the cyphers a bit but you know, it's just chillin. So this is how the battle was set up. So you had two battles going on concurrently. You had a breaking battle. And you had All-Styles battle. Both of these were One v. One format. So sometimes you have 1v1, you have 2v2, most battles are 1v1. Sometimes you'll have two v two, or crew battles, which would be like 4v4, or 5v5, but majority of them are 1v1. And many of them are tournament format. So some battles have tournament style with loser's bracket, meaning even if you even if you lose, you might end up having to battle for like third place or fourth place, right? Like if you win that battle, you end up making a third place, if you lose that battle, you make it to fourth place. A lot of that is dependent on the prize structure, right. But the vast majority of them are tournament style, where you just go straight into top 16, top eight, you know, top 4, and then finals, right. And so preliminary rounds. In Europe, they call it the "prslection", you know, the pre-selection, right, prelims are cypher style, which is if you think about cyphers, like you up in the club and people form a circle, and it's like, Okay, oh, and they just everybody go in a circle one at a time, that's cypher style. So cypher style. It'll be, you know, 30 seconds. 45 seconds. Rarely Is it a minute. Sometimes it'll be a minute, but a minute is usually really, really long. So 30 seconds, 45 seconds, DJ will be playing music. You just go in and do your thing. And judges judge you, right? And then you either make it past prelims or you don't, right? Or you can have Battle-style prelims where you battle somebody for prelims in order to make it past prelims, right. Now, with battle style prelims sometimes it varies. So sometimes it's the case that whoever wins the battle prelims is who gets slotted into like the top 16, or top eight or whatever, right? Sometimes it's just used for seeding purposes, though, so you can battle and there's a potential for either both dancers to make it through prelims, or neither dancers to make it through prelims. It just all depends on how that particular organizer is, is organizing the battle or how the judges have decided to, you know, score things, all that. So that's that's the that's the first explanation. Second explanation is All-Styles.. Right. So breaking battle is, you know, obviously, you think about bboyin, right, how I explained last episode, well breakin battle is just a singular style battle. So it's just breaking, you have to break in order to compete, and only breaking is allowed. With all-style battles, right, All-styles mean, all-styles is one of those terms that has different meanings in the dance, street dance scene. Some people think it means you should be able to do a variety of styles well. Some people think it means any and all styles are welcome to participate. In this particular case, and many times, it ends up being the latter, where any and all styles are welcome to participate. So these two battles going on, you had a breaking battle going on, and you had all-style battle. And so the event, how the how the function was was working, it was they would have a battle or two, generally, they will have one all-style battle go on, one round, right or two rounds depending on the battle. And then they will have a breaking battle go on. And then they would do a showcase. Right. So the dancers would battle. And then one of the you know, the the people in the community, the arts folks would, somebody would do a rap or somebody would do some poetry, or somebody would sing something or whatever, right? So you'd have a battle, and then you would have a showcase. And then you would have a battle. And then would have another showcase. Right? And then that would repeat on and on and on and on until you know you finish you save the best for last so the final battles, right, the best for last and then the biggest showcases, either the big name people or the most hype moments, you know, whatever stuff like that. So that's how the, that's how the function was going. So we in there. You know my best friend, he goes to sit down, he chillin and you know, I hop in the cyphers a couple times because I, you know my confidence is high. I'm like "oh I'm bout to kill em. Yeah, y'all not ready." you know I'm saying so I'm hopping in and out the cyphers. You know showing off my stuff and then you know and then finally the battles kick off right. Now I'm gonna introduce a little break for a little bit right so that it doesn't get too monotonous. And then I'm gonna introduce you know how the battles played out. So I'm gonna hit y'all real quick check this out. So I want to take this time to shout out my homegirl Honey Gold Jasmine. Man that's a dope name right there, Honey Gold Jasmine. She got a song called Right Now with AjGod on the beat. Man it's dope man, Imma play a little snippet for y'all and we'll get back to the action you know what I'm saying? So yeah, man hope y'all enjoy Honey Gold Jasmine. The song is called Right Now produced by AjGod you already know.

Unknown: 9:28

[MUSIC BREAK] Aight, y'all, welcome back. hope y'all enjoy the lil break. Now we back to get into it, about to tell about the battles, man. So, first battle I have is this dude named Myron. Right? I want to say he does art now in Chicago. I don't really remember, but I'm pretty sure he does. But I battle Myron. I beat him fairly easily. I don't remember what I did. I don't remember what he did. Just know, I won the battle fairly handily. You know, saying my confidence was high. I was like, oh, man, I got to be a breeze. However, that set me up wrong for these next two battles. So the second battle, right second battle. I had to battle this dude named Critical, right? And Critical was like a white Latino dude. And I was thinking, Oh, man, I got this, right. Because I'm coming from Atlanta. And the only dancers I personally happened to know, at the time, mind you, And last, you know, mind you, like I said last time, I ain't go to no events in high school. So all I saw was people on TV, right? And then all the people that I saw on YouTube that happened to be based in Atlanta, right, were either Black, or they was Vietnamese. So that was it. All right.

Nicholas Sapp: 12:06

So yeah, that was my perception at the time. So I see Critical, I'm like, oh, man, it's easy. And so he comes out. And on the mic. They say Electric Funketeers. And he throws up a little, you know, hand symbol, it looks like if you make an F with your hand. And I'm like, Oh, okay. I don't know what that is. But All right, cool. I'm just repping my college. University of Chicago. So yeah, it's just man, it's just me, Nick Sapp, I don't have a name. So there you go. Well, I have a name but don't have a stage name. Right. So like, Alright, cool. So first round goes. And you know, I'm hitting my, like, you know, pseudo poppin, whatever. Where I'm just kinda, doing this, that and the third, like. Okay, you know, whatever I picked up from people, learned from people, watching people mind you, not in person, watching people on the internet. I was doing that. I'm like aight cool? So then, I finished my round. It's two rounds, I finished my first round. Critical's first round, he comes out, he comes out, coming hard, boom, crack, boom, crack. And I'm like, oh, whoa, what's he doing? And I realized, well, I didn't realize this at the time. But that was my first in-person introduction to people that, you know, are really trained and have a foundation in Popping. Right. So again, I've seen it on TV and you know, on the internet and stuff. And I realized we were doing similar things, but he looked way better than me.

Unknown: 13:34

Right? So he come out boom, crack. And when I say that, you know, boom, crack. That's to emphasize the music. So Poppin, to put it simply, is the style that comes out of California, primarily the Bay Area, but then also Los Angeles; it has a history in Los Angeles as well. Primarily dance, you dance to funk. And what you do is, the style is based on this rhythmic contraction of the muscles to the beat of the music. So if you dancing to funk, and the funk song goes dun dun crack, dun dun dun crack, right and the crack being the snare, right? And then the dun dun part might be like the bass or another part of the drum or you know, other things like that. Right. So you most people tend to emphasize the muscle contraction on that snare that boom crack that crack part. So and so Critical is coming out. He's popping hard. We call it a hit. So he comes out hitting hard, right so he comes out, boom, crack and I'm like, oh, whoa, hold on, hold on. I was not ready for this. So he comes out hitting real hard on me. And then you know, he finished his round and everybody's going Oh, snap. Oh, snap. And I'm thinking Well, hold on. They wouldn't they wouldn't doing that for me. Hold on. I gotta. I gotta break something out. You know, I got it. Okay, I gotta I gotta get the crowd too. So I start I'm coming out with the breaking. Okay, I'm Uh, I'm not you know, I'm not super trained in breaking but I'm gonna come out with some stuff you know I'm saying. sS I come up with stuff trying to one one-up him, come out with some breaking. Finish my second round boom I okay, you know, let's see. Let's see if he got something for that. Turns out he did. It turns out he did Critical comes out, started breaking. But he comes out with some power moves so he comes out with, you know, the stuff where you're in the air, right and it's spinning around. I'm like, Oh man, I can't I can't do that man. Okay, well, well that was fun, so much for that. So I lose, lose pretty handily to Critical, right? He showed me up in each and every way. I'm like, Alright, so then, you know, they do some showcases or whatever. They do you know, some breaking battles. And then it's time for another battle. So then I have my third battle that day. Against this dude named Sid. Right? NSiDS (insidious). That was his his stage name was NSiDS. So Sid comes out, Black dude, okay, cool. MC also says Electric Funketeers and Sid throws up his sign. And I'm like, Well, hold on, hold on, hold on. Y'all both part of the, I don't know, what Electric Funketeers is, but y'all both part of this? Okay, so turns out, they was part of the same crew. Right? And that's why they both had, you know, the same hand signs and they was both okay. And everybody knew that they was part of the same crew, except for me, because I'm brand new to the scene. So I'm like, okay, that. Alright, cool. So, first round, again, two rounds. First round against Sid, I'm like, I don't know if that, uh, I don't know what the fake, you know, kind of sort of popping is gonna work again. So I'm gonna try something different. So I come out with some footwork on Sid. And now when I say footwork, I need to explain that because I'm in Chicago. Because in Chicago, if you say footwork, footwork refers to a specific style of dance known as Chicago Footwork that's, you know, born out of their house music and house dance movement, right. Ghetto house, particularly, and juke movement as well, right. Or if I if I'm like in Detroit, for example, if I say footwork, they might think I'm talking about a particular dance there known as the Jitterbug, or Jittin' depending on who you're talking to.

Nicholas Sapp: 17:23

But this was not either though, this was just generic footwork. I just happened to know, just pieced together. I'm moving my feet around, right? So I'm doing some some foot footwork stuff. On Sid. And I'm like, okay, boom, first round. Sid come out. Boom, crack, boom, crack. I'm like, oh, okay, he doing the same thing Critical doing okay, but he I mean, he not, Sid wasn't hitting as hard but he was clean. He was boom, crack ting ting thing ting ting boom, bang.. I'm like oooh this dude good too.

Unknown: 17:57

Oh, what uh, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? You know at this point I'm really at a loss. And I'm about to lose, right? I don't know what to do. And of course the crowd is going Oh,

Nicholas Sapp: 18:10

and I'm like, oh, man, what do I do so I said okay, well, like last resort like last time I'mma breakout the last resort again so I hit some breaking on Sid? I'm like okay you know he okay he Popping too. The chances of him being able to break too, I'm guessing is minimal right. It would be some wild stuff for both of them to be rooted, to be some some strong oppers and some strong breakers. So I come out with the breaking. Do do do do. You know hit my top rock, hit my floor work, hit my freezes. Boom freeze at the end. Okay, boom good. Yes sir. Alright, check that out. That was second round. Sid's second round. Sid come out. He starts top-rocking. I'm like man Come on, don't tell me you bout to break too. Sid starts toprocking and he hits the floor work. He hit power moves. I'm like, dawg, both of y'all could, both y'all both y'all can pop and break at the same time, well not at the same time, but you know I'm saying both y'all can do that. And at a decent level, man. So oh, man, I was a it was um, it wasn't an embarrassing defeat. But oh, it was definitely I definitely solidly lost both of them battles right. Definitely lost them junts. I wasn't mad. I was like, Okay, I just I did not know what to expect at all. So that happened. Then after that, they do the judges showcase. Right now the judges showcase is a way for judges to show to I don't want to say showcase but I'mma say it anyway. The reason for the judge showcase is a way for the judge to showcase why they are the judge or why are they they are the judges, if there are multiple right. So you know if they have a high skill level, great connection to the music, or they extremely knowledgeable, longstanding commitment to the art. Any number of things, you know, many of these being traits that judges have all at the same time. Now, that's not always the case. Sometimes you do have some sorry judges. Right? And you realize, oh, okay, you the judge because you the friend of the person that organized it. Or, okay, you the judge, because you in the same crew, okay. And then they get up on stage and start, you know, grooving and it's like, you not that good, bro. But most of the time, it's the case that, you know, the judges are fairly qualified to be judges. So they had three judges, three judges. You had two bboys and this dude named Poppin Chuck, right. I don't remember the bboys names at this moment, which is why I haven't said them. But Poppin Chuck. So, you know, bboy number one do his rounds. Okay, cool. Bboy number two do his rounds. Okay, cool. Cool. That was dope. And then Poppin Chuck come up. And on the mic. They were saying, Oh, you know, this Poppin Chuck. He'd been in the game for you know, 35+ years. He a legend in the scene, etc. I'm like, Okay, cool. I didn't know people danced that long, right? So he comes out doing his rounds. And I'm like, oh, he doing? He doing that old school stuff. Little did I know he was also Popping too, it's that he you know, he was a master at it. So it might have looked way different. And he was probably doing stuff from back in the day that I didn't realize was Poppin. And saw him like, oh you doing an old school stuff. Okay, COO, coo coo. So you know, he do his round. And then, you know, they have the final battle. And I want to say it was Sid versus Critical. I don't remember who won. Because, you know, at that point, I was like, well, you know. I'm pretty sure Critical won, because at the time Critical was on a hot streak. He was just winning everything. So I'm pretty sure Critical won. And Sid got second place. And so let's go Okay, coo coo coo. So then you know, and then they had a final showcase. I don't remember what the final showcase was. Because my mind was on the battle. And this was Ooh, as far as battle was five years ago, six years ago. So it's been a while. And six years ago, definitely. So it's been a minute has definitely been a minute.

Unknown: 22:25

So that happens, and then afterwards, I'm like, Alright, well, you know, it's time to head out. And before I head out, you know, I run up to Poppin Chuck. And I'm like, oh, man, you know, I was kind of starstruck because they say he was a legend, so I was like let me go talk to the legend, man. So I was like, "Oh, you know, I appreciate you OG" you know, blah, blah, blah. I didn't really know I was saying, I was just saying whatever came to mind. "I know I appreciate you OG man, you know dedication to the art form. But, man, it's cool. I dig it, man." And he's like, "oh, man, you know, thank you. I appreciate it. Oh, yeah, you not too bad man. You know, if I work with you know, we could clean this that that up, but you know, you got some good stuff." And I was like, Okay, cool. So you know, you're just exchanging pleasantries, and whatnot. So then, after that, I go up to Sid and Critical. And I'm like, Hey, man. Y'all destroyed me, bro. I ain't even mad. Well, y'all, y'all messed me bad. So they laugh. And then I say, Oh, you know what, you know, take my L and try to turn my L into into a lesson. I wanted to rhyme that but I can't think of something right now. So I'm gonna take my L and turn it into a lesson, you know? And I say, Oh, hey, you know, where do y'all practice that cuz I want to learn what you all were doing. You know, I really liked it. So they tell me, okay, we practice at this place called Latin Street, we practice at this place called Latin Street on Sundays. You know, it's a function called Sunday Funkday, I'll send you the you know, the Facebook invites. Okay, cool. So, I get that information. Right. And I lock it into my calendar. Okay, Sunday Funkday. I'm gonna have to come out to that. Okay, cool. So then, you know, I hit my friends Terrell up. I'm like, are you ready to go? And I'm like, Yes. So we bout to head out. And you know, one of the MCs, dude named Elgin, he was like, "Oh, you know, thank you for coming out, man. I appreciate it." And I'm like, Okay, this was cool. I really liked it. He said, Oh, you know, can I can I you know, get you some before you go on. Okay, cool. So he gave me a ginger beer. That's how I knew I made the right choice. Because I had ginger beer before but the last time I had ginger beer was like fifth grade or something. So he gave me some ginger beer and it was nice. It was delicious. So he gave me some g nger beer and I was like oh okay coo coo coo. So then, you know, me and Terrell, we head out you know, we hopped back n the train. And then the bus or whatever, you know, back home o campus. You know, and I got so e got some L's in my pock t. But you know, I had som some new adventures to be ha. So I couldn't I couldn't real So yeah, so that's that's about it, man. You know next time I'll cover something else. Thank I just want to thank y'all again for listening to Poplock Parables. You can find m, Nicholas, on Twitter or Instag am at @PoplockParables. You can lso email me at pop ockparables@gmail.com. You kno if you enjoyed the podcast so f r you enjoyed the episode, y u know, make sure, you know, subscribe, leave a review w erever you happen to be lis ening from right. If you got an questions, you know random, r otherwise, got any suggestions things you just want to hear me talk about? You know anythin"Hey, man, you might want to try this. Try that. I don't re lly like this or, you know, I r ally love when you do tha." Anything along that nature, ight? Again, make sure you reach out to me on Instagram or Twitter at @PoplockParables or email me at P plockParables@gmail.com Thank yo for listening. Hope y'all h ve a good day. P