Editorial: A Broadcasted Debate Panel

It’s unlikely that this will ever happen, but wouldn’t it be interesting to see a broadcasted event where different OGs talked about their histories and experiences with street dance styles? We see panels held at conferences like Zulu Gremlin’s Pro-AM Tour and Hip Hop International. These are rare chances to see some of the luminaries in the street dance world talking together in one place. For a new school generation, they have an opportunity to listen, ask questions, and absorb insight from these mentors. But a broadcasted debate panel would be especially intriguing for the poppin’ world. More than bboyin’ and lockin’, poppin’ has a wildly divergent life history depending on who you ask. Whether it’s the Electric Boogaloos, the OG poplockers of LA, the G-style camp, the Boppers, or the Wavers; there seems to be no one agreed upon history of how poppin’ originated or how it developed into so many different camps.

So getting all these OGs together to discuss and debate in one place would create interesting results. We’ve only see heated debates flare up on Internet forums or in Youtube videos. But to have physical bodies forced to hash out their differences in person is something else. We’d cut through the miscommunication, deception, and misinterpretation that has plagued the poppin’ scene for years. Yes, it would still be difficult to find issues to agree upon in a debate panel, but it can be one small step in the right direction. Filming and broadcasting this panel online would also be informative for many new school poppers who couldn’t attend the event. With this in mind, we’d also need a neutral moderator to help navigate the panel and allow each of the participants to have equal time in sharing their thoughts.

As mentioned earlier, this kind of an event is unlikely to happen in today’s poppin’ climate. There is too much pride and fear that prevents the different camps from coming together. But if there’s a small possibility that this could happen, we want to entertain the positive results that could arise. We want to to know more about the diverse stories these OGs have to share with us. There’s just too much history there and it would be a shame for it to be forgotten forever.