Hip hop is not only a kind of music but this has become a culture and a way of life. A culture, that has given space to the youth and to their identity. This culture was characterized by graffiti art, rap music and break dancing. This is a language which speaks for the youth; it is a set of values which enable the youth to be ‘just’. This culture always believed in making something out of nothing and conquers the whole world with its ideologies. Many youngsters are opting for the hip hop culture and jewellery.

Hip hop clothing apart from a form of clothing is the clothing which represents the set of values and the attitude which promotes the individualism. Hip hop clothing is adopted by the youngsters as a casual wear and to promote their ideas and voice their opinions. Urban clothing represents the ideologies of hip hop culture about pain, love, hard times, racism, expressions, art and overcoming the adversities. Urban clothing has always talked about the human expressions and always believed to talk about the human needs. When it comes to the expression of love and pain, street clothing is the way above than any other clothing. Street clothing is loved by the youngsters and preferred the most as the casual wear.

Hip hop clothing is always loved by the youngsters and the attitude which is thrown by these clothing is always welcomed by the youth. Hip hop culture has supported the thoughts which inspired the society to be one and united and be above all the discrimination. This culture has turned the minds towards new ideologies and inspired the youth to be fair and fear less. The same is expressed in the street clothing which breaks the traditional boundaries of the dressing style. Big fashion brands also could not escape from the growing impact of the hip hop culture. Big fashion houses also capitalized on this dressing style to make big profits. And realised the importance of the street trends among the youth and flooded the market with the hip hop and urban clothing.



By: alok

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Graffiti is as old as human communication. Having its traces in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, graffiti is a form of art, drawings or words, which are marked on public surfaces.

In the United States, graffiti is primarily associated with the explosion of urban gangs in the late 1960’s and 1970’s in South Bronx, Washington Heights and other impoverished neighborhoods of New York City. Starting with the major urbanization of many areas in the post-war period of the 20th century, urban gangs of young teenagers produced graffiti murals and covered the city with self-invented stylized signatures of names, known as tags, to mark their territory. Although this was not a new practice to the city, graffiti gained extensive consideration viewed as a way to challenge the system and express social manifestation.

Near the end of the 20th century, non-gang related graffiti was practiced for the sake of personal promotion and increased reputation. In some cases, artists performed extremely elaborate murals only to pay their respects to a deceased person. Such graffiti occurred after the deaths of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. In this context, for the first time, hip hop graffiti and gang graffiti were differentiated, at least in the minds of those who could spot the differences.

Hip hop graffiti is a means of self-expression and creativity rather than a way of gang demonstration. In the mid-1970s new music and dance forms emerged in Bronx and Brooklyn as a result of experimentation of black youth with new sounds, and neighborhood block parties. With the emergence of DJ’ing and breakdancing, graffiti pieces involved highly stylish letter-forms drawn with markers, or puzzling, multi-colorful spray paint murals on walls, buildings, and subways. Most of the DJs, MCs and break-dancers were also graffiti artists with distinctive and recognizable designs. They were friends, they shared similar graffiti methods and they were reshaping old practices to new, innovative and exciting forms. Together these music, language, graffiti and clothing embraced a new cultural fact, a new massive reality, ultimately a rich mix of creative practices that became known as hip hop. Eventually, many of these self-educated graffiti artists became well-known graphic designers working for Snoop Dogg, Run-DMC, Buddy Esquire, Spike Lee, Dapper Dan, designing album covers, sportswear, stage backdrops and great logos.

Hip hop graffiti is not vandalism as many people wrongly believe. Another element that differentiates graffiti artists from gang graffiti is that hip hop graffiti is constantly improved with new additions in its techniques. In contrast, the function of gang graffiti is mostly related to marking territorial boundaries and, therefore does not require, neither presupposes artistic intent. Those who differentiate between tagging and graffiti generally view tagging as gang-directed or vandalism-oriented with vulgar meaning and extremely controversial to encompass public value. In contrast, they consider hip hop graffiti as creative expression, even when it bears elements of political controversy.



By: Christina Pomoni

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Belly dancing originated from various sources which are why there are lots of theories about its origin. It is known world-wide and practiced by a lot of people.

As far as world history is concerned, Belly Dancing is among the oldest societal dances. It is believed that it originated from the Eastern Mediterranean. This is due to the fact that there are similarities in Egyptian artwork poses and modern dance.

Belly dancing have two forms that are called raqs baladi and raqs sharqi. Raqs baladi is a social dance in Lebanon and Palestine. It is performed by everyone during festivities such as weddings that are intended for celebrations and mere fun. The theatrical version of Belly dancing is the “raqs shargi”. Raqs sharqi is the most popular type of dance in the United States today. Both forms of Belly dancing can be performed with female and male dancers.

Belly dancing is a native dance that is why it is generally learned in the early stage of childhood. The children learn the dance informally by imitating and observing their elders through community and social celebrations, along with informal gatherings like most social dances. Nowadays, belly-dancing classes are offered throughout the world. Skilled dancers of this art share their knowledge that was even passed down from the indigenous people.

The real and exact origin of Belly dancing is widely debated by dance enthusiasts. Dancers who attempt to understand the origin of this dance did some research. This is because these dancers overlooked the fact that most Middle Eastern dances take place only in social backgrounds rather than going with the current glamorous and more visible background of professional dancers in nightclubs these days. There are lots of theories about the origin of belly dancing due to the misunderstandings of the people who want to learn its art. It is also regarded as a fusion of different dance styles. This is why belly dancing has many origins. Thus, most of the dance styles are derived from folk dances.

Here is a list of theories about the origin of belly dancing, according to most dancers:

1. Belly dancing originated in Greece and it spread because of Alexander the Great.

2. Belly dancing originated from a religious dance that a Temple Priestess made.

3. Belly dancing originated from the Upper Ancient Egypt through indigenous dancing.

4. Belly dancing descended from Uzbekistan and traveled to India because of the slave trade.

5. Belly dancing was spread during the Romani people’s migrations (termed as “gypsies”) and other related groups.

6. Belly dancing originated in Northwest India, particularly in Banjara of Rajasthan.

7. Bally dancing is part of a traditional birthing practice in its region or regions of origin.

From all the theories stated above, the first one is considered as the most “believed” theory. This is although the most popular theory is that it originated from a religious dance. The theory about the “birthing practice” has several movements that are incorporated in the modern “raqs sharqi”. This is because some of the movements demonstrated a type of exercise in order to ease childbirth. Thus, there are two points stated above that suggests that the so-called “Roma dance” is the origin of belly dancing. Regardless of where this dance began, it has a vast history and this eventually traveled fast around the world. It has a wide history in Africa and the Middle East as well.

The Costume

The most popular costume style include a bra or a fitted top that usually have coins or beans, along with a skirt and a fitted belt placed in the hips that have fringes of coins or beads. The skirts may be layered, paneled, circular or straight -styled. A veil is sometimes used in performing a complete dance. The veil must be four or three and a half yards in length. It is used as a part of the dance in order to frame and see the movements of the belly dancer. Egyptian belly dancers wear dresses that are fully beaded and designed according to tradition and dance. In the western world, dancers are free to choose the design of the costume according to fantasy and taste.

Dancing Techniques

The basic step of this form of dance is doing a circular motion on an isolated part of the body. An example of this is a step where in the dancer performs in a circular motion that is parallel to the ground and a body part. This is, in which, the shoulders or hips become isolated.

Belly dancing both have physical and mental benefits. Dancing alone gives a good workout to any person’s cardio-vascular muscles. This can increase the strength and flexibility focused on the “core muscles” or the torso. This form of dance also builds up leg strength. Most belly dance steps emphasize the so-called “muscular isolations” due to the fact that it teaches the ability to move different muscle groups or muscles in the body independently. The veil work can build the shoulders, arms and the general upper body system. Playing the “zils” builds independence and strength on the fingers. This form of dance is good for all body types and all age groups.

Belly dancing is now a part of the modern pop culture as well. Some pop icons of this age fused belly dancing into the modern hip-hop dancing. The Latin star Shakira has recently popularized belly dancing for she uses Latino dance along with belly dancing and modern dance. The late R&B singer Aaliyah used this form of dance as her “signature move”. Ssliyah named her dance the “belly roll” and it was featured in music videos. Some singers or performers that featured a kind of belly dancing in one of their music videos include Ciara, Rihanna, Beyonce Knowles, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Nelly Furtado. Out of all the singers that performed belly dancing on music videos, only Shakira had a professional “Belly Dance training”.



By: David H. Urmann

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Indian dance styles, especially Bollywood dances are a craze among the Indian youth and are increasingly becoming popular all over the world. Even Indian expatriates living in the US are equally interested in watching such dance forms being performed as well as encourage their kids to learn and excel in these performing arts. A number of Bollywood Dance Classes have been established in New York, Princeton, Pennsylvania and other cities. A host of Bollywood dance instructors have also found the increasing interest in such dance forms a great platform to showcase their talent as well as hone the skills of tiny tots and teenagers in Bollywood dances.

Among the variant streams of dancing and performance arts being practiced in the Bollywood Dance Classes of Princeton and other similar cities with a high percentage of resident Indian and Asian population, hip hop, Indian, fusion and funk are the most prominent ones. The popularity of learning dance as well as other Indian-origin performing arts, which are directly influenced by Bollywood and Indian film scores have sky rocketed in the recent years. This has been triggered by the fact that Indian cinema, especially Bollywood is recognized in the US with veritable ease. Also, the frequent organization of shows and events involving prominent celebrities from Bollywood in the US has also catapulted Indian dance forms and performance arts into the limelight. The money, fame and critical acclaim that these shows and the performers often garner has encouraged parents of Indian-origin teenagers and kids as well as of the general populace to learn and excel in these arts.

The vibrancy, color and diversity of Bollywood Hip Hop Dances in New Jersey and other parts of the country has caught on with people from other communities as well. A number of allied stores and retailers have opened shop to capitalize on the increasing indent of popularity of Bollywood Dance Classes. Some of these include Bollywood dance costume rentals, prop centers, PR companies, event organizers etc. Moreover, with the huge amounts of monetary benefits associated with the events organized, the performers and amateurs are also making a bee-line for qualified Bollywood dance teachers in Pennsylvania and other cities.

There are innumerable opportunities for dancers and allied performers to make it big, especially in Bollywood itself. Moreover, careers avenues such as choreography and a bright career in performance arts or allied management arenas lay wide open for professionals form the respective field. Hence, more and more parents are taking the initiative to enroll their wards in such Bollywood dance courses. Add to this the added advantage of the kids rubbing shoulders with the upcoming celebrities and stars of Bollywood as well as other film industries all over the world and you will have the ideal after-school activity the kids shall love! And with dance instructors and schools springing up all over the country, learning and performing those coveted moves of the Bollywood ‘superstars’ will be as easy as walking down the porch!



By: Anil Diwakar

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Pristina became the capital of Kosovo following World War II. As the largest city, it has a population of over 400,000 people. Presently, it is the economic, cultural and the administrative center of Kosovo and the location of the central government of Kosovo. Pristina is the only city with an International airport in Kosovo. The most popular sections of Pristina are the Kurrizi, the Dardania quarter and the Qafa, which is near the center of the city. Your travel agent can provide the information needed for passport, visa and registration procedures. The best time to visit is between May and September.

Among the new buildings are the Assembly Building, Radio and Television Stations, the Press and Publishing Halls and the University of Pristina Library. Shops, cafes, and businesses fill the downtown streets of Pristina and there is no shortage of restaurants offering both traditional cuisine and a variety of other cuisines. Among the new and older hotels in Pristina are three and four-star hotels. There are nightclubs and cafés offering jazz, hip-hop and all the latest dance music.

Among the attractions in Pristina is the village of Ulpiana founded in the 2nd century, which became the city of Pristina. Other sites are the 14th century Gracanica Monastery, the 18th century Academy of Arts and Sciences, the mausoleum of Sultan Murat from the 15th century and the Grand Hotel museum. The University of Pristina and the Sports, Cultural and Trade Complex are the center of much activity in Pristina today.



By: Stig Kristoffersen

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Hip Hop Abs is a weight loss program that is designed to be fun and help you lose weight. It was developed by a man who simply goes by the name Shaun T. who claims he lost 50 pounds simply by dancing the weight off and having fun. Now with a six pack, he promises that his ‘Tile, Tuck & Tighten’ technique will give you the same six pack abs while burning the fat off your body. What’s nice about the program is that is can’t dance, he’ll show the moves. Not only will you be able lose weight, you’ll be able to go to the clubs and not make a total fool of yourself on the dance floor.

Hip Hop Abs is a four DVD set that can purchased at your local Target or online for $19.95 a piece plus $12.95 shipping and handling. It comes with a 30 day money back guarantee if you purchase it online, although the same guarantee could be applicable to the copies you purchase at the store. Each DVD helps work a different area of the body and by using the whole set, you’ll be skinnier than you started.

DVD ‘Secrets to Flat Abs’ works on the upper and lower abs as while as the obliques, giving you a trim midsection as you use the 13 minute video. ‘Fat Burning Cardio’ is 30 minute DVD that is a cardio exercise routine to current radio hits. The ‘Ab Sculpt’ DVD shows you how to work that six pack into place without doing a crunch or a sit up through its 25 minutes, and the ‘Total Body Burn’ DVD is the longest at 45 minutes and helps you sculpt the body – and the abs – in another head to toe cardio workout.

When you purchase Hip Hop Abs online, you also get Shaun T.’s nutrition guide, 30 day workout calendar, and 24/7 online support where you get to talk to Shaun T. himself. Additionally there is extra DVD, ‘Hips, Buns, and Thighs’ which is a 25 minute workout that lifts and firms those particular ‘problem areas’. The ‘Results on the Run’ diet guide helps you eat at fast food joints, the 6 Day SlimDown plan show you how to lose 3″ in one week, and you also get a measurement card and tape measure.

Shaun T. will work with you to teach you 3 full Hip Hop dance routines on his Hip Hop Abs DVD collection all using steps that you learn while working out. So far there have been over 40 million copies of this routine sold. The workout is a great one, if you like that kind of thing, the only real drawback to the DVD set. Plus, he doesn’t really push any form of diet on you. Instead, Shaun T. goes over how healthy eating should be part of the exercise program and leaves it up to you to decide what type of foods you want to eat based on the diet you wish to follow while using his unique dancing workout problem.



By: Lillian Wills

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It is a common misconception that you have do hundreds and hundreds of sit ups and crunches to get flat abs. You don’t even have to do one sit up or crunch and you can still get flat abs and the stomach that you have been dreaming about. With the tilt, tuck, and tighten method that was developed by fitness expert Shaun T in his workout Hip Hop Abs, you can flatten your abs and you never have to get on the floor.

Doing sit ups can be painful on your back and your neck. If you do not do them properly you can even injure your back and neck. It is not comfortable laying on the ground and crunching up and down as your back and neck get jolted all around.

Not only are sit ups and crunches uncomfortable and painful, they are also not very effective in getting six pack abs. What many people do not realize is that crunches will not get rid of the fat on your stomach. There is no way that you can spot train and pick and choose where the fat comes off your body. Sit ups may help to strengthen your abdominal muscles and give them definition but if there is still a layer of fat sitting on top of the stomach muscles, then you will never see your defined muscles. Instead all you will see is a belly paunch that never goes away.

What you need to lose belly fat and get flat abs is cardiovascular exercise along with exercises that strengthen and tone the stomach muscles. Through a technique called tilt, tuck, and tighten, Shaun T provides that type of exercise in one easy workout called Hip Hop Abs.

The way that this technique works is that you are constantly engaging and contracting your abdominal muscles during your whole cardio workout. This not only provides you with a cardiovascular workout that burns fat from your entire body, but it also helps to strengthen and tone your midsection. It is an all-in-one comprehensive workout so that you can get flat abs in a quicker period of time. In Hip Hop Abs, you will never see Shaun T do one crunch or sit up on the ground. Instead, he basically does his “sit ups” while standing and dancing.

Along with regular cardiovascular workouts and strengthening exercises for your stomach muscles, you also need to eat healthy to get flat abs. If you are putting junk in your body or consuming too many calories all of your workout efforts are useless. You will never be able to get the flat abs you want unless you start a healthy diet full of vegetables, fruits, lean protein, and healthy carbohydrates such as whole wheat products.

A six pack and flat abs are not unattainable by the average person. It will take some hard work but with the above steps, you will never have to worry about doing a sit up again and you look the best you ever did.



By: Kevin Trent

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Three (3) Hip Hop Abs Ultimate Results Workouts

A perfect, flat abdomen is what everyone desires! Patience in repeating sit-ups is the key to it. But above all, it entails some dedication to either do it at home or any fitness club. Among several ways to do it, dance has become a sought-after. By dance, the hip hop genre is mostly fitting to get your body grooving and shaking.

A whole new level of dance excitement can be achieved by getting yourself oriented with the three (3) Hip Hop Abs Ultimate Results Workouts. You might choose any of these advanced routines that will help you cast off more pounds and give you more endurance.

1.Fat Burning Cardio 2

High-energy and heart-pounding moves will get you to a momentum of ultimate fat-burning technique. It will take you 40 minutes to immerse yourself into some enjoyable cardio or calorie-burning dance steps. This dance album allows you to start from the basic routines down to the most exhaustive ones. One thing’s a sure hit in this one: Extra fat no more.

2.Ab Sculpt 2

A well-built abdomen isn’t far to achieve by getting into this more entertaining way of workout. This gives you a road towards abs sculpting, so to say. Merely targeting your abs in 35 minutes, this can be done easily even without doing the torturing crunches but still getting the same results. Overworking your muscles cannot be too good, but in this one, you only have to enjoy dancing hip hop and execute the core exercises as if you’re doing 200 crunches. By then, you will achieve the curvaceous body and tight abs you aim for.

3.Total Body Burn 2

A 50-minute dance workout isn’t bad at all especially when it targets all the muscle groups of your body. If you are aiming to burn extra fats in a faster way, better than a 1-hour tread mill run or kickboxing session, this suits you. It’s surely to give you a full-body strike. Sweat some more and renew your entire body after a few weeks of melting those fats out.

With consistency and discipline, you’ll get that 6-pack abs you want in your life after a few weeks. Trimming down and sculpting your abs cannot be done overnight, certainly not. These workouts are to give you ultimate results in time. Either for plain fat burning or abs shaping, you ought to get the momentum moving before your body gains more calories that are unwanted. Do it yourself to see ultimate results.



By: Jesse Miller

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When you walk into an open dance studio where dancers go to practise it’s very easy to separate the hip-hop dancers from the ballet dancers and the hip hop dancers from the b-boys and b-girls from the way they dress.

The hip-hop dancers in their baggy shorts or pants and cool caps. The ballet dancers in their perfectly arranged outfits and the breakers in their loose clothing, hats and protective pads.

If you want to be taken seriously as a street or hip-hop dancer is it important to dress in a particular way? Well let’s take a look at the way they dress.

In ballet everything is tucked away neatly with shoes designed for maximum function. In hip-hop dance there’s lots of baggy clothes. You could say it’s less to do with function although of course trainers are a lot more suitable considering that it can be a very bouncy and energetic dance style.

The way street dancers dress is more to do with where the dance emerged from. It’s part of hip-hop so it would make sense that they dress in a hip-hop fashion albeit without all the bling which might not be suitable for dance!

However it’s by no means necessary to dress the way most hip-hop dancers dress. If that’s not you or you feel uncomfortable dressing that way you don’t have to follow what everyone else does. It’s about the dancing and how you express yourself through that.

In many fields a particular clothing is used either because it helps with the job or because it is part of the culture and where it emerged from. With hip-hop it is less about the clothing helping you but rather that a lot of early hip hop pioneers dressed this way.

Of course if you’re performing in a dance troupe or have a show of some sort then it may be appropriate to dress a certain way to make it obvious what type of dancer or character you’re portraying.

In practise though you can wear what you like. It’s not the fancy trainers, or the cool oversized clothes or fancy makeup that makes a great dancer, it’s the dancer that makes the dancer. Image is part of the package you offer and can make you seem like the real article but it’s not everything.

It could be compared to business. The fanciest suits cannot hide a terrible businessman but a brilliant businessman will be successful even with the discount-store suit.

If Michael Jackson wore clothes that worn torn and ripped from head to toe, that wouldn’t stop people noticing what a great dancer he is. Use image to compliment yourself not as a crux.



By: Kevin Shwe

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You could have the most sophisticated recording studio in the world at your fingertips but if you don’t have the inspiration to make great music then it’s all worthless. The real musicians and beat-makers that have the spark and creativity to move people have something that they tap into that sets them apart from the rest. 

I’m going to show you how easy it is to make hip hop beats instantly using something you already have right now. Worry about the drum machines, beat-making programs and synthesizers in a minute, but for now just hear me out. 

Hip hop and rap music are deeply rhythm based music styles. All of the great hip hop and rap songs are driven by the beat. The drum beat is absolutely the most important part of the hip hop song. If the beats are good enough they will tap into that invisible, powerful thing that makes everyone who hears them start to do the same thing – MOVE! If you can’t help but at least bob your head, clap your hands or move around a little when you hear a song you know you’ve got a great beat to work with. That’s my standard to make great hip hop beats to. It must move people. 

Need proof of this? Try putting on a great song at a party full of people having fun — they will all react. Everybody will scream out, sing along and dance instantly. But if you put on some dry song with uninspiring, limp beats, you can literally watch the energy evaporate from the room. Bummer dude. Your song sucks.

So how do you make a great hip hop beat instantly? It’s even easier than trying to come up with an amazing rhythm idea out of thin air. Here’s how you do it: you have to stand up, imagine yourself at a party or crowded club, and start dancing FIRST. It will only take about one or two seconds of moving your body before your brain starts to create something for your hips to react to. It’s almost impossible to dance to absolutely no music at all without instantly hearing something great in your head that your body really wants to dance to. Try it and you’ll see that it’s true. But don’t be lazy about it – you really have to move and get into it. 

To make it even easier, stand up, start moving and dancing a little and sing the beats and melody out loud while you get into it. You might feel stupid at first but who cares? I’d much rather be a great musician who does a corny warm up than a really cool tough guy who makes crappy, boring beats that nobody wants to dance to. 

the reason this works is that your mind and body are connected and what you do with one affects the other. Don’t sit in a chair at your computer or drum machine and try make great beats by staring at the buttons and lights, that’s not going to get you anywhere. Get your booty up and stroll around the floor like you would at a bangin party and your mind will fill in the music that your body is moving to. THEN go over to the drum machine and bang out the beat — but don’t sit down until you’re done. 

 



By: dale rogers

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