The breaking competition returns to London this weekend; to celebrate we chatted to two of the dancers about their favourite hip-hop tracks.
Red Bull BC One Cypher UK is back! The esteemed global one-and-one breaking competition returns to the UK for its UK championship with a special showcase on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th August.
Two brackets of Top 16 B-Boys and Top 8 B-Girls will be showing off their skill with the hope of reaching the 2023 BC One World Final which is set to take place in Paris on Saturday 21st October.
Coinciding with 50 years of hip-hop, a musical genre with deep foundations in the breaking community, we wanted to shine a light on the occasion, so chatted with two of the hopeful finalists, celebrate the competition, Roxy and Sunni, about their favourite hip-hop tracks, new and old!
“My selection is a mix of different eras within Hip Hop that I enjoy battling and dancing to. I’ve picked tracks with inspirational women in Hip Hop like Missy Elliot whose bangers get me dancing and her iconic videos get me fired up, feeling like I want to be a rapper too. The UK have so much fire coming out of our rap scene so I had to add “Hunnids” and it would be disrespectful to have a hip hop list without Wu Tang in there – “Gravel Pit” is one of my favourites.”
Roxy’s picks:
Wu Tang – “Gravel Pit”
Sainte – “Hunnids”
Souls of Mischief – “93 ’til Infinity”
Method Man – “Judgement Day”
Missy Elliot – “The Rain”
“I’m from a new generation of breakers who respects the foundations and future of hip hop culture. I love listening and breaking to a range of hip hop, especially UK Rap, as it helps me to perform in a way that brings out my personality and keeps me connected to my UK roots whether I’m training on my own or repping my scene out in the world. For this selection, I had to add a throwback Nines banger in there and the Pusha T track is a good example of new school hip hop with the original element of ‘boom bap’ hip hop. This track is super popular in the battle scene right now because it can be appreciated across all the generations.”
Sunni’s picks:
DEEMA – “I WISH I HAD TO”
Meekz ft. Dave – “Fresh Out The Bank”
Pusha T – Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes”
JID ft. 21 Savage & Baby Tate – “Surround Sound”
Nines – “My Hood”
