Separation between L.A. Rap culture and L.A. Dance culture

[R-Tistic]

One thing that most of you all on here don't know about is the separation between L.A. dance culture and L.A. hip hop and rap culture. L.A. has always been known for just straight gangsta rap period, and the only dance associated with it has been the c-walk (if you want to call it a dance). However, in 2001, all the clown dancing or "krumpin" blew up in LA and everybody in high school was on that hard, and even though it's not as big in LA anymore, it is real big in rap videos and commercials. All that shit you see in Missy "I'm really hot" and some of the JC Penneys commercials (that's a watered down variation of it) is from LA. Bad thing is, LA rappers don't even put it in their own videos because it doesn't fit the LA rap image, and this is another reason that LA has a hard time comin back. Down south has the crunk music as well as the ATL stomp and jumpin n pushin to go with it...midwest has the chicken head dance and they have a grip of songs to go with it and go in the videos...the east coast hasn't really had a dance since the harlem shake, but when it was hot, you saw it in all the east coast videos.

I'm sayin that to say this...hopin that the west coast comes back, I think that the LA dance culture somehow needs to be incorporated with the LA rap scene because every other region has it this way. What do you all think about this?

[CRAFTY]

I agree...
I can't really speak about the whole C-Walk situation since I'm not from LA, but my guess is...let's suppose that the West "comes back" and they start doing the Crip walk again in the videos...don't you think that they'll be immediately criticized for bringing gang culture in their videos, and maybe this can lead to the videos being banned (remember the Boo Yaa TRIBE incident earlier this year?) from TV.

[M Dogg™]

True... with the short lived Westcoast comeback, the C-Walk became the thing to do on the dance floor when a Dre or Snoop song came on. With all the clown dancing and stuff, there are some westcoast beats that people can dance too, the only thing is that the artist are straight gangsta, so yeah it is about image. Can you picture someone dancing in an MC Eiht video. We'll see though, I can't see LA leaving the gangsta image. It's implanted in all of So. Cal. Basically it's like the NFL, fuck what the rest of the nation is doing. We like things the way they are, and if you don't and you want our market, you gotta switch up to us. Until then, we are happy staying on the sidelines waiting for you guys to come to us. It's LA mentality with everything.

[R-Tistic]

I agree...
I can't really speak about the whole C-Walk situation since I'm not from LA, but my guess is...let's suppose that the West "comes back" and they start doing the Crip walk again in the videos...don't you think that they'll be immediately criticized for bringing gang culture in their videos, and maybe this can lead to the videos being banned (remember the Boo Yaa TRIBE incident earlier this year?) from TV.

Well, this is the thing. Nowadays, most people, especially 21 and under, don't crip walk anymore, they clown walk. Even the younger gangbangers clown walk. It is like a real extra'd out crip walk that looks better because it actually is a dance, but has no affiliation. It is a lot more complicated too. But I mean they could have somebody clown walk in a Snoop or Game video and it won't look too soft or commercial. This is somethin that I hope could happen. The dance culture in LA has a small part of gang culture because the clown walk grew from the crip walk, but the movement itself was all positive. At the dance battles that were a little bit similar to what was in "you got served" it was never any fighting and it was never any gang involvement. That's why I wish the clown dancin and all didn't get played out like it did because it was a good thing.

[R-Tistic]

True... with the short lived Westcoast comeback, the C-Walk became the thing to do on the dance floor when a Dre or Snoop song came on. With all the clown dancing and stuff, there are some westcoast beats that people can dance too, the only thing is that the artist are straight gangsta, so yeah it is about image. Can you picture someone dancing in an MC Eiht video. We'll see though, I can't see LA leaving the gangsta image. It's implanted in all of So. Cal. Basically it's like the NFL, fuck what the rest of the nation is doing. We like things the way they are, and if you don't and you want our market, you gotta switch up to us. Until then, we are happy staying on the sidelines waiting for you guys to come to us. It's LA mentality with everything.

I feel what you are sayin, and that's the reason that it may be difficult to merge the two. Thing is, if you see the Mase video for Breathe stretch shake, not only is that a west coast (Rick Rock) beat, but they got some clown dancin in there too. And seein that Timbaland has produced some Missy tracks like "I'm really hot" where it was nothin but clown dancin, and Game is gonna have a Timbaland beat for the first club single, it's like damn wouldn't it be easy to somehow put two and two together? Even if it's not Game, somebody like Guerilla Black with a club single like the one he has with the Jazze Phe is PERFECT for clown dancin or stripper dancin which is somewhat the same, and just havin it in videos like that would bring a lot of attention.

[Sikotic™]

I never realized how the decline in popularity of the C-Walk also led to a decline in west coast rap. Rappers should rep dances by puttin them in their videos. We need all the help we can get.

[LakersAlldaWay]

Clownin has been at my school for a while now, battles always go down and I live in southern cali. but i agree with this post, america has always had a fascination with fresh new dances and when the c-walk came out it blew up really quick. now a lot of breakers and hip hop dancers incorporate krumpin and c walking so its definitely mainstream. i think people who do not appreciate west coast music look at it as boring, so dances could definitely spice things up.

[The Predator]

'Gangstas dont dance..we boogie' - Westside Connection

there you have it...anyway breakdance rules...

[white Boy]

i dance something like this  or if i really want to get down 

[allfromtheIE]

You know the bay has the hifee dance.  That shit is wild but they incorporate that shit in thier music too.  So when the bay blows up , expect to see that in the videos.
IE

[R-Tistic]

You know the bay has the hifee dance.  That shit is wild but they incorporate that shit in thier music too.  So when the bay blows up , expect to see that in the videos.
IE

Yeah thas one thing I do notice. People from the bay do their dance to all the bay area songs when they come on.