Come & Go

Olympic Views

The view of breaking in the Olympics is a divisive subject within our community. For the most part, it is still a positive direction for the breaking and hip hop culture.

"Despite skill or athleticism in an activity, if you need people to inform you who is the winner, it is not a sport."

A sport is a competition between people that produces an objective result. One person or team gets more points, does something the fastest, goes the farthest, etc. And it must require apparent physical effort. If the winner has to be decided by the subjective approval of a collection of judges, it is can not definitively be a sport."

Mainstream

The acknowledgment of the breaking on a worldwide mainstream stage offers a significant opportunity to the culture. Having a majority of society exposed to breaking solidifies a staple in world competition. Sponsorship, validation, and financial stability, similar to basketball and other sports, would obviously become more realized and attainable. A recent example of how impressive this can elevate breaking and the community is e-sports.

While e-sports are not available in the Olympics, the world's notoriety with competitive games has invited the economic growth and cultural impact we currently see. Games' culture is globally accepted and accessible now, when before games were referenced to a niche or nerdy hobby. Now, games, especially competitive games, are normalized in the majority of social culture.

Why is breaking's opportunity now with the Olympics a subject is seen as both positive and negative?

Culture

Breaking is the dance birthed by hip hop culture. Hip hop culture manifested in the community of the have-nots, ghettos, societies disregarded or demeaned. Hip hop was the youth of these communities to try to create a positive environment together. Block parties, DJs playing and mixing music, people dancing, community uniting was the core of what manifested this culture.

As hip hop grew and aged during the infant times, it exploded on the mainstream stage everywhere so quickly that many speculators assumed it was just a trend. Breaking during this time was saturated everywhere. That saturation overflowed and burst out of style. While hip hop's music side survived this saturation, breaking seemed to have faded into the shadows. During the dark ages of breaking, practitioners of the dance still cultivated the culture underground. As hip hop, now, we know it is not just a trend. Breaking began to flourish once again towards the end of the 90s.

The history of the rise and fall of breaking popularity is why there now exists a division if breaking in the Olympics is good or bad. A culture cannot be added up in points or have a defined winner in competition without elders and judges' opinion in decisions.

Hoop Dreams

I like basketball, and I love watching games, highlights, stats, etc. When I watch a game after 4 quarters, if one team has more points than their opponent, I know exactly who won. There is no precision in how breaking competition is decided. There is no basket where we score points.

Just because I view the breaking going into the games as not the right fit does not mean I do not support where the community goes. Personal views are my own decisions, whether to participate in that environment or not. The perception I carry is that history will repeat itself, and I will stay underground supporting those who pursue the world stage in the shadows because of my love of the culture.