Recently I was having a discussion over Korean BBQ & soju dinner with my student about “cypher etiquette”, and why he should’t be afraid to dance in the cyphers. To my surprise, he mistakenly thought that I was talking about entering qualifiers for big name events! Now this wasn’t the first time that I had to explain to young Bboys that when we elder and mid-skool Bboys are preaching about Cyphers, we absolutely are NOT talking about qualifiers or competitions.
So I immediately, in a bit of an alcohol induced state, posted a tweet and tagged Redbull BC One, while also sharing the tweet on my Instagram account before going to bed, leaving the caption “I’ll probably delete this tomorrow when I wake up #drunkdyzee”. I usually re-post my tweets to my Instagram when I feel it’s a tweet that everyone should hear, most of my tweet reposts get maybe 200-300 likes at most.
When I woke up the next day, I noticed my post had over 70 comments and 1500 likes, with nearly everyone agreeing with me and asking me not to delete the post… because it’s true.
Now this got me thinking, if atleast 1500 Bboys and Bgirls from around the world, actually agree with me that RedBull BC One should change the qualifier name from “Cypher” to something else, could or would they actually do it? Would they actually care or take this request into consideration, or will they dismiss our request like big corporations usually do to the Bboy culture?
This is an interesting and important topic but before I “Break-It-Down”, I need to clarify something.
In no way is this a personal attack on Red Bull BC One. I actually am a big fan of the BC One brand and am grateful that there is an event of this caliber and magnitude. The fact that there exists a solo Bboy competition of this prestige which creates an annual platform and stage for 16 Bboys to compete for “the world championship solo title” is awesome, important and appreciated by our culture. Although I do have some gripes that a solo Bboy battle of this size has had a few negative effects on crew culture and the next generation, I’ll save that for another discussion. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t blame Redbull BC One for misusing the word cypher, and there is no way that they could have known the problems or harm that it can potentially cause. All I’m trying to do is bring this to topic to light, as other Bboys in the scene who work with Red Bull would be afraid to do so for fear of losing out on work.
With that said, here are my arguments why RedBull BC One should stop misusing the word “Cypher”
#1″ITS NOT AN ACTUAL CYPHER”
Before I break this down, I should explain where the term “cypher” even came from. Back in the early days, Bboys and Bgirls danced in “circles”, which was the original term. These circles were only found in parties where a crowd would form a circle around the dancers. However, rappers and emcees would get together outside of parties, such as in the parks or on the streets, and would exchange with each other rhymes, playing off each other’s words, rhymes and topics. These were called “rap ciphers” where they were trying to “decipher”, who was the best and had the most rhymes and skills.
In the early 90’s, Bboys and Bgirls still called it circles as they mainly danced at parties. However in the mid 90’s, with the steady growth of “hip hop” jams which eventually changed into “Bboy Jams” (a hip hop jam dedicated for Bboys without a competition) the emcees started calling it “Bboy ciphers”. While circles was usually formed by non-bboy crowds, a cipher consisted of mainly Bboys (and Bgirls), each one of them adding to the conversation, going off each other’s styles, moves and concepts, together trying to “decipher”, who was the best and had the most style, moves and skills. Majority of the time, the cipher itself would decide who are the best two, who would eventually and organically, battle it out. To simply state, circles was for showing off to the crowd, while ciphers were for seeing what the other Bboys got and finding out who is the best. The word “cipher”, was later also spelled as “cypher”, and more recently became the common way of spelling.
What was amazing about this cypher phenomenon, was that it didn’t need any judges. The cypher is where the dance really evolved into all these “Klassic New Skool” styles, moves, concepts and approaches. The cypher was and is instrumental to a Bboys growth, in order for one to gain the right confidence, to understand the conversation, the approach, the details, the etiquette and especially, the culture.
Unfortunately, a lot of young Bboys not only lack the opportunity to dance in a real cypher, but also do not understand what a cypher’s purpose even is, or how important it is for our culture, and their personal development. Which brings me to my next argument:
#2 “MISUSING THE WORD CYPHER, CAN CONFUSE AND HARM THE NEXT GENERATION OF BBOYS”
Now I know that may sound like an over dramatic statement, but there is truth to it. It’s no secret that many elder Bboys keep pushing the importance and significance of circles and cyphers. For the advancement of our Bboy community, we want our next generation of Bboys to be able to learn and progress in the right way, to figure out the dance, their style and the culture the traditional way, which is in the circles and cyphers. The cypher is an exchange of ideas, styles and moves, and it will not only let a Bboy know if they are ready or not, but also if they even have enough arsenal to even enter a competition. Many new Bboys of this generation don’t know how to dance in a cypher, and only enter competitions. These young Bboys need a guru (aka judge) to tell them how to dance instead of finding out who they truly are and full potential on their own.
Calling a qualifier a cypher, not only confuses the next generation of Bboys, but also makes it difficult for elder Bboys to teach what a cypher truly is. A cypher is not a qualifier. A cypher doesn’t have set amount of rounds or time limits. A cypher winner is not determined by the biased opinion of a judge, but rather by the Bboys and Bgirls who are partaking in that mutual exchange. A cypher, is how our culture and communities participants can truly enjoy the dance, art and culture outside of competitions.
I’m not saying that competitions aren’t important. They are very important in bringing our community together and for creating some sort of financial incentives for a few select participants with a rep. However, This brings me to my third and final point.
#3 WE AS A CULTURE NEED TO PRESERVE THE ESSENCE OF A TRUE CYPHER
Imagine that ballers (basket ball enthusiasts) only enter formal tournaments and never go to the local courts to play a game of streetball or have a fun game… the basketball culture would go downhill, especially if ballers couldn’t enjoy a game of streetball without having to wait to enter an official tournament. The same goes for Breakin!
The cypher is our playground, our skatepark, our outdoor basketball court, and the only problem is that we need to teach the next generation how to use it, and enjoy it. The more we move away from the cyphers, the more our culture moves away from the rawness… the “fun” side of Breakin, where the thrill of the battle is more important than a win or loss.
Everyone knows that I’m a big advocate for professional battles and I’m not afraid of the term “sport”. However, not at the expense of losing our traditions, history and the raw essence of the dance, art and culture.
With that said, I invite Red Bull BC One to stand up and make a change, prove to us that you really care about the betterment of our culture which has brought your brand millions upon millions of views and fan engagement around the world. All I’m asking, is for you to consider the following two options:
A) Make your qualifiers into REAL cyphers
Perhaps throw a cypher only jam. Have judges walk around and give “cipher passes” out to the best Bboys that they want to see rocking in a final ultimate cypher. Then have them cypher it out with no time limit until the judges choose either the winner, or the two that they want to see battle. This will teach the young Bboys what a true cypher is, and when you call it a BC One Cypher… it will really be a cypher!
B) Change the name “cypher” to something more better and fitting
Allow me to make some suggestions:
- redbull bcone QUALIFIERS
- redbull bcone NATIONALS
- redbull bcone HEATSAnd my personal favorite is….
- redbull bcone STAGES
I like the word stage because it fits! Not only is it “stage 1” of the qualifiers, but it’s also a literal “stage” which serves as a platform to showcase the best Bboy talent. For example, Red Bull BC One Canada STAGE!
Not a bad ring to it eh?
