Word Up - Meet the CypherStyles Community

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Permalink Reply by BarryRabkin on May 5, 2009 at 7:57pm

#1 Whats your name and crew and where are you from?

Barry / BBoy GRIZ. I also go by BLISS and rep the 412Step, Livestyle Crew, Brooklyn Khaos Crew, Caution Crew, and first and foremost the Worldwide CypherStyles Family!

#2 What aspects of Hip Hop / Street Culture do you participate in?

I'm a House and Club/Hip Hop Dancer going almost 10 years strong, I've been breaking since 2003, I have an unhealthy obsession with dope street dance videos, I also edit hip hop dance movies, make hip hop and house beats and run CypherStyles the Street Dance Video Source to share my addiction :)

#3 How did you get into it?

My mom had me in dance classes when I was little. After that I got into music and played funk drums and electric slap bass for years, and listened to tons of techno and breaks. To this day, that's really helped me find and ride the beats of whatever I'm listening to. I went to my first rave in 99' and was hooked on house dancing, then after seeing Israel's "Freshest Kids"

I started learning to break with friends, starting a breakdancing club at my college, and started attending and throwing battles. This was near Chicago and Milwaukee which has a good scene and the first video we made while still in college was "School of Hard Knocks" a battle between many of the schools and colleges in the midwest.

I always loved watching street dance videos for inspiration and fresh ideas, but I was disapointed by the lack of selection and service of other stores so with the support of the street dance community I started my own dream hip hop store. The rest is history :) We're now bringing dope 4 element hip hop culture videos to every corner of the earth, and ushering new people into the culture every day.

#4 Who are your biggest inspirations?

Lacouir Yancey / BBoy Spirit was the first BBoy to really take me under his wing and show me the ropes. He didn't just give me instructions on the steps he gave me a passion for the culture, the soul, the attitude and emotion beneath the moves. In terms of dancers I love to watch, "Double O, Free, Do Knock, Machine, RoxRite, Crumbs, Junior, Hiro, Brooklyn Terry"

#5 Describe your personal style?

Very Fluid, Funky and Smooth. I'm mostly into complex footwork, intricate technical top rocks and soulful freestyle flavor. I'm working on incorporating more power into my dancing, but I'm always most at home losing myself in improvising style moves to funky beats in the Cypher.

#6 What are you working on improving?

I want to get more power in, like I'm training my headspins right now using the triple thick headspin beanie I've made alot of progress and I can do headspins now, but I want to get them faster and effortless. Other then that, I'm always working on getting all my moves smoother, more dynamic and more explosive.

#7 What is your favorite Hip Hop / Street Culture Video?

I've seen every video we carry, so picking from 1000+ Videos is really hard! I can name a top few:

Storms Footwork Fundamentals is the best BBoy Floorwork Instructional DVD in existence, it packs in almost 100 different moves and teaches them all clearly. It's very well done, and there's no better video to learn more floor moves.

Brooklyn Terry Footwork Fanatic - This cat is the truth. He's easily one of the best house heads alive today. Every single step he takes is steeped in oceanfuls of flavor and funk. Getting to share talent like this with the community and give back to pioneers like Terry is the thing I love most about doing CypherStyles.

Freshest Kids is a brilliant documentary about the roots of BBoying and where it came from. It features tons of interviews and clearly shows the birth and evolution of the dance and how it's tied in with Hip Hop Culture. It's impossible to watch this movie and not want to become a BBoy or BGirl!

There are tons of videos with endless power, but in terms of pure BBoy Style and Flavor, the most diverse, heated, closest matched, balls to the wall battle I've ever seen is Lords of the Floor 2, this features legendary cats like Crumbs, Ruen, Frankie Flave, Dyzee, Free, Orb, Lil Jon, Bebe, Kmel, El Nino and to many more to name. It's incredibly well shot, well produced and has some of the best BBoys on the planet in one of the most heated battles of their lives. Every time I watch this video I see a million new things to love about it!

I could talk all day about great videos, but if your going to watch anything these are the ones I recommend the highest. Alright Kids, thanks for reading and getting to know me a little bit. I'd love to get to know you better, please fill out the questions and share a little something about yourself with the rest of us.

Much Respect,

Barry / GRIZ / BLISS
President,
CypherStyles.com, Inc.

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