Breaking
Dance
B-Girls Asia One and Rokafella break down the ethics and repercussions of biting moves and stealing another dancer's style.
When it comes to hip-hop culture, it’s no easy task to pinpoint even in which block the various mediums of the genre were born, let alone who was responsible for what. From the music, the moves, the samples, to the graffiti and the fashion, each element took influence and inspiration from an artist or cultural movement that sparked its creation long before.
Pablo Picasso once said, “Good artists copy, great artists steal”, well some of the most talented and revered artists in hip-hop have been 'creatively robbing' from each other for decades. The Sugarhill Gang famously stole the sample for Rappers Delight from Chic. The 1970s street-artist-turned-contemporary-art-icon Jean-Michel Basquiat had his style duplicated hundreds of times while he was alive and even more after his death – and MCs have been some of the worst, with rappers like Drake, Lil Wayne, Jay Z and even Migos notoriously biting lyrics and getting slapped with lawsuits.
So what’s the difference when it comes to hip-hop dance? Gigantic multi-million dollar video game Fortnite is about to find out. After viral internet star The Backpack Kid (who invented party dance The Floss), Brooklyn rapper Milly Rock (who invented The MillyRock) and even '90s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star Carlton (who invented, you guessed it, The Carlton) all clapped back at Epic Games and sued, demanding they be paid in full for the use of their signature moves.
Copping steps isn’t uncommon in the breaking world either, especially at its outset. But there’s never been a lawyer ever brought into a battle. In the past B-Boys and B-Girls have settled their differences on the topic on the floor.
The difference with the Fortnite case is that Epic Games is making big money every time a user buys one of those signature dance moves to show off to their opponent. So it all boils down to the fact that if someone’s getting paid for the use of an artist’s creation, then shouldn’t the artist also be getting a cut?
In 2019, with the roots of hip-hop culture running so far back, is it even still possible to bite a dancers signature style or move? We caught up with legendary B-Girls Asia One and NYC’s Rokafella to go back to the dawn of breaking when the fundamental moves were laid down and asked about the repercussions of biting someone’s style back then and their perspectives on that versus what’s going down in battle today.
Can the act of biting moves still even exist in 2019? Or is there not a sense that everything has been done and we’re all copying the legends who pioneered them before?
R: Windmills, six step, CCs, air chairs etcetera were all at one time new. Then they became ways we measured ourselves. Then it was collectively agreed that those moves would be fundamentals.
AO: Our human movement and the origins of hip-hop moves and steps go way back. There are people around from that time who can validate who created what, based on the fact that they were there and saw and witnessed it. As far as if 'copying moves' is still relevant today, it doesn’t matter as much as what we need to do, which is to focus on continuing to teach and carry on the traditions that started the dance.
Is it ever cool to steal someone’s moves?
R: It’s tricky because unless you've spoken to the person accused of biting, you don't know what's going on with them. Some people idolise good dancers. Others want to challenge themselves to see if they can learn that dancer's moves and execute them.
AO: It’s a different era for the dance though, and many people's signature styles and steps have translated into actual styles and steps of the dance that are taught and passed on. But certain battle moves (blowups, things like that) are people's signature and in my opinion shouldn’t be copied by the next person and just added to their own repertoire.
As dancers, how can we positively inspire each other artistically?
R: We're all influencing each other and energy is the base of how and why we communicate. Through our eyes, we receive subtle messages and it causes an emotional reaction. Call and respond. Trends happen because a ripple effect of excitement takes place and from that hundreds begin to respond by doing whatever that new way of expressing yourself is.
Is there a difference between taking inspiration versus copying? How important is earning respect? How much credibility can you lose if you get busted biting moves from another B-Girl or B-Boy?
R: The whole point of this dance was not only to be noticed, but to earn respect as a form of love. If someone is trying to pass themselves as original and their throw downs are identical to someone else's, then they're trying to fool people. Inevitably heads who know will be able to notice the copying/biting and just know. No one’s going to be impressed by that.
Did anyone ever copy your moves in a battle or do you remember a time you saw someone throw down someone else's?
R: I only remember one time, being in a battle and seeing my opponent, who was a previous student of mine, do a move that I taught her. I just did it in my round after her and told her that's how you really do it! That particular move was a basic one, but how I did it was what made it mine.
AO: That’s funny because I was recently at an event where I saw someone do all of someone else’s signature moves. And yet they were a generation apart, so whether or not he knew what he was doing, I’m not sure. I think there’s enough video documentation of this person doing those moves that the B-Boy probably did and just thought, 'Oh well I can do it too, it’s been over 10 years.'
What’s the best way to retaliate and respond if it happens to you?
R: I’d recommend approaching the person with some dated footage as your evidence and if they still continue, then take it as flattery. If you came up with that much, it usually means that you have an endless creative flow. If all this other dancer can do is copy, then they’re the ones that are limited. With that knowledge, you move on completely secure.
What can dancers and artists do to maintain their own aesthetic and signature style?
R: In breaking, it's been widely regarded as a violation to use someone else's blowups or unique freezes. However, that still doesn't stop many around the world from jumping in and copying someone else's flavour. But then again teachers have travelled extensively at this point passing down their way to break, pop, krump etc. It’s a complicated world as to who owns what.
Like I said before, we're all influenced by each other because we're a society-based diaspora and we react to good vibes. We're excited by creativity because it communicates intelligence and we prefer to be around inspiration. Otherwise, life feels stagnant and flavourless. The important thing is while doing all that to carve out your own niche.
Do you think the case for dancers wanting to copyright their signature moves can be a thing?
AO: A person can copyright a dance, but not a move. That in itself is confusing because they seem to mean a movement (series of moves) not a dance (since can you imagine if someone could copyright an actual dance like ballet, popping, breaking etc?) Michael Jackson copyrighted The Moonwalk even though he didn’t invent it, but popularised it.
R: I agree with you Asia. But ultimately, once a trend begins you really can't stop people from performing the move. A choreography can definitely be protected but again Thriller has been performed millions of times, recorded and reposted but there won't be any royalties paid to the original choreographer Michael Peters. Movement is just tricky.
AO: Ethically, these game companies are making millions and billions even! And they are using dances and lifestyle of black America to do it! So somebody other than them needs to get paid. I think companies, reaching out to the credited individual and utilising him or her and asking or involving them is the right thing to do. If Epic Games did this, they would be setting a precedent that other companies would possibly follow. That's my two cents.
