Elements of Hip-Hop was a night of positive energy and inspiration at Schine Underground Saturday. Throughout the night, the crowd was treated to dance performances, musical mash-ups and speeches. 

Hosted by Asian Students in America, the night started with hip-hop and modern dance performances by Shift Crew and powerful spoken words by Verbal Blend. The crew breakdanced and sang a remix of hits from Eminem and Rihanna, Kanye West, Yolanda and Ellie Goulding, which drew huge cheers from the crowd. 

Jonathan Shih, a sophomore computer art major, said Shift Crew started practicing for the event a month ago. ‘We felt pretty good about the performance and got a lot of good feedback from the crowd,’ Shih said. 

The night continued on a more serious note when Derek Ford, an organizer for Syracuse’s branch of the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition, took the stage to discuss racism and police brutality. Ford played ‘Handcuffs’ by rap group Native Guns and asked the crowd to listen closely to the lyrics. The song was inspired by the murder of an unarmed civilian, Oscar Grant, by police in California in 2009. 

‘It’s such a positive feeling that Asian-American students here want to connect with the people here in Syracuse and with people of other color,’ said Ford, whose group works for civil rights and liberties for people in the United States and internationally. 

Evin Robinson and Tiffany Bender thanked the crowd for coming out and being involved with Scholarship Showcase. Half of the night’s ticket sales, more than $200, were donated to Scholarship Showcase. It is a $1,000 textbook scholarship awarded to five high school seniors from Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx. 

Robinson, a junior communication and rhetorical studies major, and Bender, a senior communication and rhetorical studies major, talked about their student-run organizations, InspiRing and Young Harlem, respectively. Both organizations were founded to empower youth and restore community pride. 

John Kunz, a junior computer art major and half of the DJ duo Chemicals of Creation, played a mix of hip-hop beats, which was followed by fist pumps from the audience. Those closest to the stage danced to the tunes of Far East Movement, Flo Rida and Cali Swag District. The crowd then made a big circle on the floor to make room for the next act, SU Breakdance. 

The nine performers of the student breakdancing troupe, including Ran Li, ASIA’s cultural director and an organizer for the event, broke into two teams and had a dance battle. The dancers spun on their heads, rolled on skateboards and maintained a high energy level that kept the crowd’s eyes growing wider by the second.

After the dancers spun on their heads one last time, the crowd prepared for the night’s final and featured performer, Taiyo Na. Na is an Asian-American singer, songwriter, emcee and music producer from New York City. Na said he was in awe of SU Breakdance’s performance and had to catch his breath before his performance. 

‘That was hands down the best student B-boy performance I’ve ever seen — and I’ve done a lot of college shows,’ said Na, dressed in a green anorak, Levi’s, a black T-shirt and sneakers. ‘It’s so beautiful to see that this culture’s still alive.’ 

Na got the crowd members to sing along, clap and wave their hands to his songs ‘Summertime,’ ‘We Belong,’ ‘It’ll Work Out’ and ‘Lovely To Me (Immigrant Mother).’ 

‘It was a really beautiful event to celebrate hip-hop,’ Na said. ‘It’s moving for me as an Asian-American because I grew up with hip-hop and I always feel like it’s going away, but tonight proved the opposite. I wasn’t joking when I said the talent was exceptional.’ 

jwong04@syr.edu

Published on November 21, 2010 at 12:00 pm