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!
i'll be lining up for tickets for Planet B-Boy:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/planetbboy/trailer/
Posted by: OM | January 10, 2008 at 01:26 PM
Those kids are awesome!
Posted by: JDP | January 10, 2008 at 01:49 PM
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!
Posted by: Jason P. | January 10, 2008 at 02:25 PM
"you better eat those eggs before I break yo legs"
Posted by: I | January 10, 2008 at 02:27 PM
Beat Street rules, but It's nor Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Posted by: Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah | January 10, 2008 at 02:48 PM
That YouTube clip makes me think of that South Park episode..."You got served!"
Posted by: merseydotes | January 10, 2008 at 03:09 PM
You're a spring chicken compared to me! :)
Posted by: Donna | January 10, 2008 at 03:14 PM
Blog is wonderful, an excellent layout.
Congratulations,
Ricardo Sergio
Faça the Difference!
http://facaadiferenca.blogspot.com
Posted by: Ricardo Sergio | January 10, 2008 at 03:47 PM
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!
Posted by: Lena | January 10, 2008 at 03:51 PM
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!
Posted by: Madeline | January 10, 2008 at 03:55 PM
Tell those chinks that when they're done playing with their records, I want my dry cleaning back.
Posted by: | January 10, 2008 at 03:57 PM
actually, it did win an oscar-- best shoelaces in a musical or comedy
Posted by: struglas | January 10, 2008 at 04:17 PM
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.
Posted by: KateW | January 10, 2008 at 04:52 PM
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.
Posted by: ~JJ! | January 10, 2008 at 04:52 PM
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
Posted by: Stefania/CityMama | January 10, 2008 at 05:05 PM
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"?
Posted by: V-Fly | January 10, 2008 at 05:32 PM
Have you seen the Korean Beyonce?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wx3m8p5YDHo
Posted by: Jamie | January 10, 2008 at 05:35 PM
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!
Posted by: Aviva | January 10, 2008 at 06:34 PM
I was pretty excited when i saw this and that the title said they were korean. they are japanese though!
Posted by: Ed | January 10, 2008 at 06:56 PM
Dude, what you need to do to feel young is get onto Facebook and...oh, really? ...never mind, then.
Posted by: Papa Bradstein | January 10, 2008 at 08:33 PM
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...
Posted by: Papa Bradstein | January 10, 2008 at 08:41 PM
I used to wear parachute pants. In public.
Posted by: whit | January 10, 2008 at 09:04 PM
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.
Posted by: karen | January 10, 2008 at 09:22 PM
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.
Posted by: Bill | January 10, 2008 at 09:48 PM
OMG, was that Rae Dawn Chong? What the hell ever happened to her?
Posted by: landismom | January 10, 2008 at 10:03 PM
Wow, talk about flashback. I used to love that movie. We would hunt down cardboard boxes to make dance squares... oh to be young and lame!
Posted by: Kat | January 10, 2008 at 10:12 PM
Ah yes, 1984. I was a freshman in High School and totally crushing on a pimply-faced guy with a mullet and hot red parachute pants. And a boom box that didn't fit in his locker. Wow--We.Are.Old. I still liked Breakin 2--Electric Boogaloo better. I know what I'm renting this weekend...
Posted by: misfithausfrau | January 10, 2008 at 10:20 PM
I love how the little boy looks like his mind's wandering when he's scratching.
Posted by: erp | January 10, 2008 at 10:46 PM
I'm crushed that someone else beat me to the Krush Groove punchline. My friends and I made a point of being there early on opening night...I guess we feared everyone else would recognize its cinematic brilliance and it would be sold out!
Posted by: Liesl | January 10, 2008 at 11:05 PM
so will we be seeing Peanut scratchin' and breakin'?
Posted by: Colleen | January 10, 2008 at 11:28 PM
Wow. That all brings back memories. Grandmaster Flash. Rae Dawn Chong. Beat Street...
My husband used to "break" (before we knew each other). Last week, he insisted on giving us all a demonstration. When he attempted "the worm," I think he may haver ruptured a disc, but I was laughing too hard to help him.
Posted by: Jenny | January 11, 2008 at 08:10 AM
"Koreans take what you make...and we make it better! Boo yah!"
I'm totally stealing that line. I love it.
Posted by: Chris K. | January 11, 2008 at 09:19 AM
god i was hoping when i linked to that video that i wouldn't recognize it! (thanks for making me feel old MD!)
Posted by: Angie in Texas | January 11, 2008 at 09:22 AM
oh and BTW, to the Anon. Coward who made the "chink" comment:
koreans are not chinks. neither are japanese. get your racist labels right, freak!
Posted by: Angie in Texas | January 11, 2008 at 09:24 AM
Thanks for this video, MD. I love it. I think I've watched it over 20 times so far and I've passed it on to all my friends. These kids are so darn cute!
Posted by: Helene | January 11, 2008 at 11:29 AM
My kid is SO doing this. I need to live through him dammit.
Posted by: HCG | January 11, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Beat street was brilliant -- but nothing captures the cinematic genious of "Breakin'" and "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo"!
Posted by: Vampdaddy | January 11, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Little Asian kids bringing the funk! Too cool for school.
Posted by: MC | January 11, 2008 at 01:42 PM
What's the correct slur for Koreans? In high school, my chink friends use to call our Korean friends goli? kimchi?
My friend in college always incorrectly called me a gook in college, and I constantly had to reteach the stupid nigger that the correct term is chink (unless you're fat where the correct term is chunk).
Posted by: Chink | January 11, 2008 at 02:05 PM
gook is the correct term for koreans, it dates back to the korean war, han gook = korea in korean language, it was mistakenly used in the vietnam war b/c americans didnt know or care about the difference in vietnamese and koreans,
Posted by: just some gook | January 11, 2008 at 02:57 PM
you mean rae dawn chong was NOT nominated?!
Posted by: | January 11, 2008 at 05:13 PM
Those kids are so adorable - and they certainly do kick ass.
Ah... 80's... good times.
Posted by: Mama Nabi | January 11, 2008 at 05:44 PM
These kids are even cooler than Sho'Nuff, the Shogun of Harlem.
Posted by: frostine | January 12, 2008 at 12:35 AM
MD, I hate to break it to you, but there's a slight error in labeling that needs to be corrected. Although those 2 kids are amazing and phenomenal on so many different levels, they are in fact Japanese.
I, like you, feel incredibly happy that children of the next generation are taking something I did in high school, college and a bit after, to a whole new level. True turntablism isn't dead! :)
Posted by: jason | January 13, 2008 at 01:52 AM
I LOVE mixtapes.....STILL. Monie Love, Eric B and Rakim, Grand Master Flash.....My husband doesnt understand why I keep my mix tapes. He says the tapes "hiss"........lol.
Posted by: Shannon Best | January 13, 2008 at 11:48 AM
That is awesome. The only problem is, it makes my kids look so damn lazy. I mean, they're 9 and 11, so why aren't they burning up the turntables?
Posted by: sweatpantsmom | January 13, 2008 at 09:51 PM
Now, I have a reason not to sell my turntables and records! Gonna pull them out of the storage closet so my little Pogi can wax the vinyl!
Posted by: iDaddy | January 15, 2008 at 11:29 AM
I'm with Papabradstein--I wanna know what amazing collection is behind the kids! Looks like they have more than enough to practice with. As for the lazy comments--they probably were asked to do that 50 times for the camera and got bored after the 3 time. Love the post + Beat Streets clip!
Katie
New York Kids Club
http://www.nykidsclub.com
Posted by: katie | January 15, 2008 at 09:57 PM
Man, I'm totally going out to buy two turntables and a microphone.
With Filipino and Korean blood, how could my kids NOT become djs?
Posted by: lisa k | January 17, 2008 at 09:23 PM
Brooklyn in da house!
Beat Street is a classic.
But WildStyle is even better.
Posted by: 1969 | January 21, 2008 at 10:12 AM