HIP-HOP IN OAKLAND
Art and Dance in Oakland: Extensions of Hip-Hop Culture
The four elements of hip-hop culture include MCing, DJing, B-Boying (breakdancing), and graffiti. Art and dance are equally recognized in the hip-hop community to MCing and DJing in their capacities to establish an artist's individual identity in their urban environment while simultaneously building subculture communities who collaborate for peaceful and creative protest against social, political, racial, and economic inequality. Just as dance and art are art forms pursued by members of the hip-hop community to construct individual and unique sense of identity, so are they a means for creating a collective identity for the city of Oakland and promoting unification amongst the diverse and complex population.
Graffiti/Urban Art
"In its simplest form, a name on a vacant building signifies that 'yes, I am here. I do interact with society and I do matter.'" - II Crusher (Christen, 2003)
Identity and Recognition
"Street addresses function to place the writer within a specific social context - his area, his neighborhood - recognizing little distinction between person and place."Lutz (2001)
Abandoned buildings reflect the socio-economic stratification in cities like Oakland and graffiti writers claim their territory. Contrary to popular belief, tag names are not meant to protect the writer from being identified. They are a proclomation of individual expression and a protest against marginalization. Writing a tag with a personalized tag name chose by the artist or by their community is a "reclamation of the environment through the label of the personal." (ibid)
Anti-Corporate
"Street art primarily opposes commercial advertising's dominion over urban visible surfaces and monopoly on visible communication in the city." -Baldini (2016)
Graffiti over commercial billboards is respected highly in graffiti culture for its level of danger, high visibility, and its defiance against corporate America's influence in structuring exclusionary dominant culture. The subculture of Oakland's graffiti artists using commercial advertisements as their canvas is a commentary on economic inequality and rejects cultural imperialism.
Unifying Community
"Street artworks are distinguished by their significant relation to the city; they are part of the urban texture and necessarily incorporate elements of the urban landscape in their respective structures." Baldini (2016)
Street art has an ability to reach the diverse population of Oakland in its physical incorporation into our infrastructure. Commissioned murals are a legal form of street art and beautifies the city while maintaining Oakland's cultural individuality. Art has the ability to connect people through beauty and inspire Oakland's community to improve our city and support all residents.
Hip-Hop Dance
"Power in hip hop is most apparent in the aggressively layered, dynamic array of shapes assumed by the dancing body.... Power is what is seen in
the form, and power is what these dancers mean to channel by their performances." - DeFranz (2004)
B-Boying and breakdancing are now only 2 styles in the expansive genre of hip-hop dance. The movements in hip-hop are an alternative form of language and self-expression dancers harness to communicate their experiences to their community and the world. What started as "social dance" for hip-hop youth on cardboard boxes on their neighborhood corners and in their metropolitan parks evolved into a global phenomenon and professionally recognized style of dance. Chategorized by forceful isolated movements, high energy theatrical performance, and the dance battle culture, hip-hop dance uses a dancer's body to wordlessly reflect similar frustrations to institutional inequality.
Dawon Davis is my former dance group leader at Oakland based center Youth Uprising. He shares his story of how hip-hop dancing allowed him to express himself in positive ways and turn his difficult past into artistic inspiration for poetry and dance at Youth Uprising.
Dancers collaborate on the corner to express support for their friend who had recently lost his brother in a car accident at this intersection of 90th and MacCarthur in East Oakland. Their style of hip-hop dance is "turfing", one of many subcategories of hip-hop dance. The dancers refuse to be unnoticed and interact with their city's streets. The passion they demonstrate in support for their peer in a time of grief through their shared love of dance exemplifies the power of creative outlets and hip-hop culture.