A Shot from a Battle scene: ADOBO/Twin Eaves in frame by Donato Amoranto
Hiphop has been around for years and was only seen as a hobby until it developed to be a lifestyle for others especially to Dizzy Caday.
In the Philippines, Hip-hop is generalized to be seen as either too “jeje” or for “cool kids”. What most people don’t know is the scope it holds. They have listened to Skusta Clee or EZ Mill, or may have seen Philippine All-Stars dancing internationally. Those examples follow hip-hop or may have seen to be excelling in this culture. Yes, it is a culture, and let me change your perspective on it in this world full of stereotypes.
Luckily, in this time of pandemic, I got a hold on a professional in Hip-hop culture. His name is Dizzy Caday, a member of Le’Go Fam and a performer of this arts for 8 years. His team won championship in the World Supremacy Battlegrounds Australia 2017 (Open Division) and a 2nd runner up to World of Dance PH hosted by ABS-CBN. Right now, he is focusing on a specific element of Hip-hop which is Emceeing. That’s right, reader. There are elements to Hip-hop.
ELEMENTS
Hip-hop culture has four basic elements. Each element has categories which needs to be mastered before being called a professional.
1. Breaking
Not the literal one but the ‘uy, tumatambling!’. This is the dance element that includes categories such as street dance, popping, b-boy, etc.
2. Emceeing (which our interviewee is currently mastering)
It includes rappers and MC. MC in Hip-hop is the same as those you see in birthday parties but the only difference is that they host for this culture’s events. They are mostly seen in battles (e.g. 1 dancer vs. another) such as Anygma in Fliptop.
3. DJ
They are the party starters, beat producers and beat makers. In songs, we hear the artist itself singing and the background music. The music is created by these DJs. On another note, party starters are the ones who plays music in clubs since this culture is most performed in this setting. Now, we can’t say Mozart is a DJ since he produced a music. This mastery needs to follow the culture and essence of Hip-hop.
4. Graffiti
These are the wall artists, bombers, street artists, and visuals. This differs from vandalism. Although vandalism may look ‘dope’, Hip-hop only aims to spread love. If it’s hurting someone, it’s not Hip-hop unless it is for the reason of advocating.
HIS STORY
Moving on, Dizzy has mentioned his history of meeting Hip-hop. Back then, the culture was shared on MTVs especially rappers like Eminem and Snoop Dogg. At 2006s, Jabbawockeez entered the mainstream TV and broke the internet. Like those inspired, Dizzy followed their genre which is Popping and there, he met this culture that became his lifestyle until today.
STREET ART: HIPHOP
I asked Dizzy, “Do you consider Hip-hop as a street art?” He gladly agreed and mentioned the foundation of Hip-hop. According to his statement, this so-called “Hip-hop” started from the black culture especially in the streets (e.g. gangsters).
“Kung sa Pinas, may iskwater. Sa America, may ghetto.”
They started this culture and applied its roots as a lifestyle.
In our country, being an artist such as Dizzy is a hard path due to limited job opportunities. Given this constraint, he still advocates to share this culture to others and maybe, allow Hip-hop as a lifestyle to be mainstream. It is important for him to spread this knowledge from people who wants to learn, those who are unaware, and those who doesn’t understand Hip-hop.
HIPHOP IS A LIFESTYLE
Dizzy, as a person part of the Hip-hop community for 8 years, claims that the biggest impact of this culture is the changing of his perspective. The change revolves around from small things such as his way of talking, acting or in dressing to his way of thinking. Being part of the culture allowed him to gain confidence, and see simple things into a complex object. As per disadvantage, he worries that in a normal setting, people may perceive him differently.
“Siguro dahil hindi talaga para sa lahat ang Hip-hop. Para lang talaga sa mga willing tumanggap at bukas ang pananaw.”
FOR THE FUTURE GENERATION
As a former member of this community, I asked him what are his advices towards to those who want to know more about the culture. He eagerly said that they should put their hearts in every masterpiece they are doing in passion for Hip-hop. The output in return will reflect to other people by making them feel the message being conveyed.
An artwork for Dizzy that I made as a token of appreciation
Not only did I create a wonderful blog article, I also received a wisdom regarding this topic. It sparked my interest and might as well quit being a graphic designer… Just kidding! I can probably do both if the school works doesn’t end me… Another joke! Or is it?
Anyway, I hope this article allowed to see Hip-hop on a lens of a professional. Hip-hop as a lifestyle changes one’s well-being holistically. Its deepest art still hasn’t reached the mainstream but as long as people such as Dizzy is working in this industry, we might see the action being passed for generations.
Just a plug for our interviewee, Dizzy Caday, here are links from some of his works and performances:
Takam – Dizzy D.
LEGO FAM in World of Dance Philippines 2019
Contact him through his socials:
FB Page: https://m.facebook.com/Dizzygurado
YT Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYUmgl1KGcJJnj8PSsW-ADQ/featured
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Stay weird!
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