Artist Spotlight: Hugsby aka Francis Vida rises to the top

A few weekends ago, the Filipino community in Jacksonville, Florida celebrated their 2nd Annual Filipino Pride Day, a festival full of food, fashion, dance, art, and stage talent. To no one's surprise, the event was full of hip hop culture. For those concerned about hip hop being "dead" in the younger (and very young) generation, I'm happy to announce that hip hop lives!

In a medium metropolitan city like Jacksonville, hip hop's livelihood has always bubbled but has never gotten the "mainstream" attention, except for maybe the booty bass groups 95 South and the 69 Boyz (holla if I'm blanking on any other notable J-Ville acts). Regardless, hip hop has been produced by the multiracial dwellers of this military town. Maybe the inattention makes for hungrier, creative and unique expressions (the SF Bay Area is another case, although spilling into the mainstream intermittently).

I had a chance to catch up with Francis "Hugsby" Vida, a young Filipino American street dancer/b-boy who testifies to the "underground" nature of hip hop in J-Ville. He is also a witness to the ways in which Filipino Americans have for a while been a central part to the hip hop scene in the city.

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Why do they call you "Hugsby"?

The story to my "Hugsby" nickname is really lame unfortunately. In high school, my friends were doing a research project, and one of the main people in their project was named "Francis Hugsby". And so they would call me that jokingly, and I guess it stuck. Great story right? I'll come up with a much better one one day.

When did you get involved with street dance?

I got involved in dance when I was pretty young. My first inspiration for dancing was, without a doubt, Michael Jackson. I would literally turn on the TV every day and keep the channel on VH1 (they showed much more music videos than any other channel back when I was growing up) just incase a Michael Jackson video came on. Then I started getting into b-boying. The reason being, is because there was a youth group called Youth for Christ that a lot of my older friends were a part of. All these guys ever did was bboy, and when I was younger, I really wanted to get into it to be cool with the older guys. I got some props for being probably the only 12-year old out there doing windmills at the time, but eventually the bboying phase went away.

Who inspires you dance-wise?

There's a lot of artists and dancers who come to mind when I think of who really inspires me. On a broad scale, I'd say Chris Brown is unmatched in the mainstream with his dance talent. He doesn't move like anyone else, and his moves are always explosive and unique. On a choreography standpoint, I'd say that Brian Puspos from So Real Cru/The Architeks is probably my idol. The reason why is because I feel like our personalities are real similar, and he isn't scared to show his goofy/humorous side in his pieces. And from a raw, bboying perspective, without a doubt, I'd say Bboy Kid David is my all time favorite. His style, musicality, work ethic, philosophy on the dance--EVERYTHING about the kid is inspiring. A dancer like Kid David, in my opinion, is THE RAWEST form of someone who genuinely created their own style and is using it to smoke cats in battles.

CDLC are a crowd favorite at Jacksonville's 2nd Annual Filipino Pride Day

How did you meet you crew, Creme de la Creme?

I met Creme de la Creme (CDLC) at the beginning of 2008 when it was formed. At the time, an acquaintance of mine, Elvis Mangune, was calling a few people up to ask if we wanted to join a group to compete at Tampa's annual Philfest. During our first competition (**cough cough** which we won), CDLC consisted of 14 members. Because life happens, only six of us remain from the original 14 members: Elvis Mangune, Mike Confiado, Shelley Torio, Sharon Torio, Mariel Manalo, and myself. We've picked up a few new members in the past year or so who have done several performances with us even up until this day. Throughout the years, CDLC has become a lot more of a family than a dance crew, and I've always believed that we're friends first, and dancers second.

Where do yall perform, and for who?

2010 was probably the busiest year CDLC has ever seen. We've travelled all around Florida, from Tampa, to Tallahassee, Gainesville numerous amount of times, and even to Atlanta. Our performances are mostly FSA (Filipino Student Association) affiliated because we have strong connections with a lot of the officers and event organizers from different Universities around Florida, but we've also performed at parties and fundraisers as well. We were also lucky enough to be requested as back-up dancers for Toni Gonzaga in August, a famous artist from the Philippines.

Describe the dance and hip hop scene in Jacksonville. How do you think it compares to other places around the nation you might be familiar with?

The dance and hip-hop scene in Jacksonville is REAL underground. You have to really dig to find real hip-hop. I would say that the only time I really see TRUE hip-hop heads are at bboy jams. As far as dancing goes, I'd also say that Jacksonville is still pretty young in the choreography scene. The b-boys have their own community, and I've seen it grow tremendously. I remember when there was only Main Ingreedyantz, and now I'm not surprised when I see a dozen cats I've never seen before training in an empty racquetball court. In comparison to other cities around the nation, I'd say Jacksonville has no where near the biggest hip-hop scene, but it's definitely there.

Francis displays the championship belt prize at stake in the First Annual Hip Hop Competition at Filipino Pride Day. The Systematics crew danced their way to victory to win the coveted belt.

Why did you decide to emcee for Filipino Pride Day? Why is it important to you?

I emceed for Filipino Pride Day because I was asked by Francis "Doscat" Namocatcat. I've had experience emceeing big events before, but nothing NEARLY as big as FPD. I was kinda nervous at first, but the crowd was extremely responsive, so it made the job a lot easier. It was important to me because, though I can't speak tagalog fluently, I want the younger Filipinos to know how important their culture is. So many of us here in the states are "Americanized" and I wanted to show the younger generation who grew up like me that it's okay that you don't speak the language, but it shouldn't stop you from embracing your roots. You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you came from.

What are your next steps for CDLC or for yourself in terms of dance?

Creme De La Creme will be competing/performing at Def Talent Jam in Gainesville the first weekend of November. We've also been asked to do some private performances, and we have a lot in store for 2011. As for myself, dancing is just something I do because it's fun. I dance to express, not to impress. I'll definitely be sticking with CDLC for as long as my life will let me, and in the mean time, I may be brushing up on some power moves.

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Massive Takeover? Will Seattle own it?

Instead of flying fish at Seattle's Public Market, flying Monkees.

Reference:
BakitWhy: "MTV's America's Best Crew Kicks Off Season 4"

Big ups to the crews who competed on the first episode of Season 4 of America's Best Dance Crew. I've been having conversations with a few b-boys and the consensus seems to be that the Massive Monkees are in a position to flatten crews into submission. No b-boy bias right? The b-boy cred for the Massive Monkees is serious, plus they got paramount skills for the "choreo" too.

Just one example of the veteran status of the Massive Monkees: I remember back in the late 1990s me, my crew, and other Pinoy hip hop heads used to swap bootleg copies of homemade Massive Monkees VHS tapes somehow acquired from Seattle Filipino network sources. Over 10 years later, the Massive Monkees are still making a name for themselves across the country, but this time through MTV and the internets, not from blurry, dubbed-over, crumple-ole videotape. (Ya'll jville heads still got those tapes?)

And ABDC is giving center stage to Filipinos and hip hop/street dance for all the world to witness (although I hear in the Philippines they are still only airing Season 2). To explain the intensity of this season's competition, check out this killer quote by Marcus (he dies?) in the Massive Monkees introduction during the first episode:

"We take extreme pride in being b-boys. Supercr3w was b-boys. Quest crew did b-boy moves. But we're really b-boys. We live and die it everyday."

Rillz? Mayn, then we better see some maniacal, magical, megalomonumental moves we aint neva seen before. Testify brah.

America's Best Dance Crew (Season 4) - MTV Shows

The other Filipino-dominant crew, Fr3sh, gave a fun and energetic performance, but unfortunately they were the first crew eliminated. They opened their performance with green hairspray or deodorant-lookin spray, to I guess signify their freshness. They said, in their introduction clip, they didn't want to be compared to other Asian crews like Kaba Modern or SoReal Cru (aren't there like 12 other crews who look like this?), so they tried their best to stand out from this reflexive racial cataloging. We gotta give them props--they look good, they're hella Pinay/oy, and they're East Coast! They were not as clean, intricate, or acrobatic as other crews on ABDC, but we should congratulate them for making it on the show.

Now, all the Massive Monkees accolades aside, the crew I think we should look out for is Rhythm City. They are clean, versatile (they got an extensive cache of styles), the ladies are sexy (come on, when will at least one lady win?), they are from the Bronx (hey, that's hip hop capital), they're not Asian (I'm just keepin it real), and they are not a b-boy crew. After 3 seasons of b-boy domination, will MTV want a 4th Asian/Latin looking b-boy crew to win again? I guess we'll see. Rhythm City definitely raises the level of competition, so keep ya eyelids peeled for these guys/gals.

BTW: How do crews practice the specific segment of the song (in this episode, it was "Boom Boom Pow") for Sudden Death battle? Looks suddenly rehearsed... Any insiders?

Also, congrats to the Philippine All Stars for making it to the championship round of the 8th Annual World Hip Hop Dance Championship against France's R.A.F. Crew, who took the crown away from the All Stars this year. Astig! Next year nalang pare!


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With Style: Filipinos servin up street culture

Doin it...

With style..

With Style: Filipino Americans and the Making of American Urban Culture

By Victor Hugo Viesca

The global popularity of rap music has shed light on the role of Filipino Americans as a significant force in the urban based culture of hip hop. This is particularly the case in the art of DJ-ing, one of the original four elements of hip hop along with rap, graffiti and breakdancing. The role of Filipino Americans in shaping and reproducing hip hop culture is most evident in their prominence as world renown DJs...(read more)

The article above by my friend Professor Victor Hugo Viesca is old school. But that's a good thing. What Victor is writing about in this 2002 article is the popularity of Filipino American DJs and the influences of Filipino Americans in urban culture in general.

The article is old school because the popularity of Filipinos in hip hop culture has now broadened way beyond DJs and turntablism. Taking a look at Filipinos' dominance in televised street dance competition, this year might as well be called "battle the Filipino." Filipino presence in hip hop culture is getting noticed- sure, ok- but Victor gives us historical context and demonstrates the impact Filipinos have been making in street culture for much of the 20th century--from the zoot suiters in the pre-WWII era to beyond.

Perhaps the bravest statement by Victor comes in the last sentence of the first paragraph:

"In fact it may be argued that if it wasn't for Filipinos' support and practice of hip hop's various elements, hip hop might have never exploded and gained the momentum that it did in the 1990s."

As a Chicano, Victor's observance of Filipino Americans in hip hop culture is refreshing because it shows that someone is testifying to Filipinos' long-term investment in and contributions to hip hop culture other then, well, ourselves. In a broader sense, Filipinos and hip hop are not usually congruent, except of course when mentioned in that one Jay-Z song or when Q-Tip shouted us out at Rock the Bells. So even though the article is a little old school (where is the new generation of Fil Am DJs?), it builds a good (middle) base to the hip hop structure that Filipinos been building. Can't wait to read about the popularity of Fil Ams servin up street dance.

So, what do you think?

Do you think hop hop might have never exploded and gained momentum in the 1990s if it wasn't for Filipinos' dedication to the culture?




Note: In no way am I claiming that Filipinos are only now getting heavily involved in hip hop culture. I'm only referring to the wider appeal we gettin. Like when Latinas and Black ladies start sweatin Pinoys strictly because of Jabba. Oh lawd! Mask me!