Korean DJ Wunderkinds

Back in the day, NYC was the birthplace of mixing and scratching.

Growing up as a young kid in the early 80's, my friends and I were always on the lookout for new mixed tapes from legendary DJs like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore and Afrika Bambaataa. The tapes were always sold illegally on random street corners all over the city. And while other kids from the suburbs were trading baseball cards, we would spend our free time trading mixed tapes.

Back then, I briefly entertained the idea of becoming a professional DJ. My buddy had a turntable and mixing board set-up in his apartment and the two of us would spend hours mixing and scratching until the break of dawn.

At the same time, MetroBro ended up developing a love for freestyle rap. He was fucking fearless. He'd go out on the streets and trade battle raps with anyone. He was like the illegitimate love child of Yeats and Eminem.

But let's face it. Two Korean-American prep school kids in blazers weren't going to have much of an impact on the future of urban street music.

That's why it warms the cockles of my aging turntablist’s heart to see these two young Korean kids burning up the decks. Big props to the next generation. Word on the street is that the little girl is seven years old and the boy is five!

As I like to kid all my white and black friends when we're talking shit on the hoops court and I'm dropping threes on them, "Koreans take what you make...and we make it better! Boo yah!"

By the way, while doing a random surf on youtube, I came across THIS. How is it possible that this movie never won the Academy Award for Best Picture?  Is anyone else out there old enough to remember this classic scene or am I dating myself again?

Fuck, I'm old!

Comments

[OM]

i'll be lining up for tickets for Planet B-Boy:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/planetbboy/trailer/

[JDP]

Those kids are awesome!

[Jason P.]

Oh man, that Beat Street scene brings back fond memories. Back in '84, my brother and I memorized all the lyrics to Grandmaster Flash's song. We used to drive our parents crazy rapping it all the time.

Beat Street is a lesson too, because you can’t let the Streets beat you!

[I]

"you better eat those eggs before I break yo legs"

[Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah]

Beat Street rules, but It's nor Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.

[merseydotes]

That YouTube clip makes me think of that South Park episode..."You got served!"

[Donna]

You're a spring chicken compared to me! :)

[Ricardo Sergio]

Blog is wonderful, an excellent layout.

Congratulations,
Ricardo Sergio
Faça the Difference!
http://facaadiferenca.blogspot.com

[Lena]

Those two kids are so adorable! I just want to eat them up.

P.S. I never even heard of "Beat Street" before. Heck, I was only 3 years old in 1984!

[Madeline]

Is MetroBro single? Is he as cool as you?

I've got a cousin moving to NYC in a few months. She's Korean-American, smart, funny, and hot!

Tell those chinks that when they're done playing with their records, I want my dry cleaning back.

[struglas]

actually, it did win an oscar-- best shoelaces in a musical or comedy

[KateW]

aaaaawesome. I spent my late teens-early 20s as the DJ's biatch, schlepping crates of records all over the place, coffee houses for the early sets, then warehouse parties, and downtown clubs for the late-late-late sets.
These kids are better than most of the "main act" shitheads whose egos I stroked in the name of bettering the boyfriend's "career". Too bad he sucked so much at it, 'cos I guess in retrospect it was pretty fun.

[~JJ!]

You're not old...

"Beat street-King of the beat I see you rocking that beat from across the street!"

Or am I old too?

Loved that movie.

[Stefania/CityMama]

Hello! I *lived* Beat Street everyday...in my bedroom.

And if you want to see some more cool stuff that the "next generation" is doing, just go onto youtube and search "Korean hip-hop dance"

Check it:

my boyfriend Rain:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JP9pzgj1WZc&feature=related

and this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vRG392fXMFM

[V-Fly]

This from the guy who still owes me 10 bucks over that bet about what was gonna be the bigger movie - "E. T. " or "Krush Groove"?

[Jamie]

Have you seen the Korean Beyonce?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wx3m8p5YDHo

[Aviva]

I had break dancers like that at my bat-mitzvah. Old Skool Rap channel on Sirius rules - my hubby plays name that tune.

Those kids rock!

[Ed]

I was pretty excited when i saw this and that the title said they were korean. they are japanese though!

[Papa Bradstein]

Dude, what you need to do to feel young is get onto Facebook and...oh, really? ...never mind, then.

[Papa Bradstein]

Oh, and the kids are amazing, but what I really want to see is that vinyl collection behind them. Of course, I'd need Vampdaddy to explain to me who half the artists are, but still...

[whit]

I used to wear parachute pants. In public.

[karen]

Okay that's it, instead of sending my half-Asian kids to piano lessons, I'm signing them up for DJ-ing 101. Too cute.

[Bill]

Under the name M.C. Shadoe I made a name for my self on the tough suburban streets of south colonie, NY. On and On 'til the break of dawn. I may have owned more parachute pants than whit...tough call.

[landismom]

OMG, was that Rae Dawn Chong? What the hell ever happened to her?