Snowboarding and hip-hop

[AK 77 0]

(edited out double post) sorry.

[Ocean11 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by bettyx:
in my jhschool english classes my teacher insists i say 'i like skiing', as these city students don't know about snowboarding!

So I guess they won't know anything about snowboarding at the end of the lesson either. I had always had the impression that lessons were for learning about unfamiliar things...

[Rag-Doll 0]

>As for why hiphop has a presence in snowboarding...

Partly it is that the rhythm fits riding quite well, but also the attitude - i guess it's that badass 'I don't give a fck' feeling that matches throwing yourself off big shit and feeling like you might die (plenty of Biggie in snow and skate vids). That's just music though... the posing and other crap comes in the realm of culture.

 

If you say snowboarding "is just a sport" you are really missing the point. (I think the same would go for skiing too).

 

Snowboarding WAS a counter-culture, and still retains aspects of that in it's culture - for example it encourages people to choose a lifestyle of temporary or 'unworthwhile' employment in order to maximise time on the snow. The culture of doing seasons as a snow bum in order to reach the standard of being a pro is hardly following social etiquette."

 

What a load of crap.

 

If you’re riding to a rhythm rather than the terrain you ought to move further up the mountain and ride something more than challenging than greens.

 

People drop out of the rat race to do something they love for all sorts of reasons – snowboarding just happens to be one reason among many and doing so doesn’t make you alternative or revolutionary or in any way different to the millions of other people who make lifestyle choices everyday. It certainly doesn’t warrant the bullshit attitude or hard man image or the stoner image or the gansta image or any of the other costumes/identities that snowboarders adopt. If you have a sport that has participants ranging from pre-schoolers to grandparents (like snowboarding does), it is more than a little delusional thinking that being a snowboarder in anyway marks you out as being something different or being anything but mainstream. Furthermore, in my experience the guys who really do push the limits are not the ones with the theatrics or the hype.

 

When it started, the only thing snowboarding was counter to was skiing. Everything else is marketing. Bringing street culture to the snow is simply an extension of the commercial hype around free style riding aka skateboarding on snow hence the youth/street connection.

 

Snowboarding is a sport. Swimming is a sport. Tennis is a sport. Water skiing is a sport. Rock climbing is a sport. People do these things because they enjoy doing them. It is called recreation and for some it is also the way they make a living. It has nothing to do with any kind of social or cultural leaning or philosophy.

 

 

Bettyx - According to a poll by trade association SnowSports Industries of America, there were 1.58 million snowboards sold globally in 1998. On a quick search I couldn’t find anything more recent but I reckon the numbers of snowboards sold annually around the world is now in the millions if not tens of millions – that is mass participation by any standard. And I agree, I’m sure there are lots of very happy snowboarding CPAs and lawyers and doctors and teachers and IT geeks etc. which just goes to show how phoney and misplaced any notion that snowboarding is anything but a mainstream sport. I think there is still an element of the industry that likes to promote snowboarding as involving something edgy and rebellious because it gets the kids in - even though the snowboarder next to them on the lift is just likely to be a CPA!

[kaiser soce 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Kumapix:

 Quote:

Originally posted by merryJim:
Another reason I'm switching to skiing

Why? because your pants got too tight?

Frankly, I don't see anything wrong with hiphop in snowboarding. There's just as much rock, punk & indie in the scene. The first post of this thread refers to More and the Salt Lake City rails segment. If you've ever watched a Finger on da trigger video (Tech nine) which is put out by the SLC crew, it's all bandannas and hiphop (pretty good stuff mixed by MFM). While I personally hate the bankrobber bandana look done by Aaron Bitner & others, whatever, it's all part of snowboarding. The Forum riders do a better job of mixing hiphop with their riding.

BTW I bet there are hiphop skiers too, so all those comments about snowboarders having super baggy wear, listening to hiphop, having rags hanging out of their back pocket etc apply to new school skiers too.

Finger on da trigger are garbage....definitely not my thing. I wear baggy gear but I don't have my whole arse hanging out of my pants! It must really suck having your belt done up at the top of your thighs!

[AK 77 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Rag-Doll:


People drop out of the rat race to do something they love for all sorts of reasons – snowboarding just happens to be one reason among many and doing so doesn’t make you alternative or revolutionary or in any way different to the millions of other people who make lifestyle choices everyday. It certainly doesn’t warrant the bullshit attitude or hard man image or the stoner image or the gansta image or any of the other costumes/identities that snowboarders adopt. If you have a sport that has participants ranging from pre-schoolers to grandparents (like snowboarding does), it is more than a little delusional thinking that being a snowboarder in anyway marks you out as being something different or being anything but mainstream. Furthermore, in my experience the guys who really do push the limits are not the ones with the theatrics or the hype.

-- I agree with all of that, I don't think I wrote anything to support bullshit macho attitudes of fake gangstas (who the fck is a real gangsta anyway? Not most gangsta rappers anyway)I was merely trying explain why hip hip has such a strong presence in snowboarding.

Snowboarding is a sport. Swimming is a sport. Tennis is a sport. Water skiing is a sport. Rock climbing is a sport. People do these things because they enjoy doing them. It is called recreation and for some it is also the way they make a living. It has nothing to do with any kind of social or cultural leaning or philosophy.

--- For some people this might be true, but you cannot say that snowboarding does not have a culture, and is a sport like tennis.
On the one hand it IS a sport like tennis (with pros, competitions, etc) but at the same time (pardon mixed phrasing) it is NOT - it has a history, folklore, and a lifestyle that encourages people to follow a non-career orientated path that is not socially entirely acceptable. It does not make those people gangsters or whaetever costume identity you want, but their action is 'alternative' - just try telling someone you've been snowboarding and waiting tables in a 'proper' job interview.

The contradiction between the heavily marketed consumption and the lifestyles of those who are marketed is what makes it interesting.

[Rag-Doll 0]

AK77,

 

I understand what you're saying. I guess the crux though is that I reckon the alternativeness that you highlight is less significant than some people would like it to be or the manufacturers would have us believe. Maybe I view it that way because as a snowboarder I see snowboarding as being entirely normal and not the least bit alternative or non-conformist. I agree, many people (particularly those who don't ski or snowboard) would view a year spent working as a liftie so you can ride in your spare time as being something of a wasted year but I don't reckon it is the snowboarding that would cause them to have that view, it is the self indulgence that it represents. I reckon you would get a similar reaction if you said you had spent a year waiting tables and rock climbing, writing short stories, studying theology, scuba diving, surfing, [insert favorite means of recreation]. Pick any sport and there will be hard core groups of people who really do nothing else or devote large amounts of their time to it - golf has its golf tours and golf pros and tennis clubs and tennis pros, triathletes, rock climbers, swimming coaches, scuba diving instructors, football clubs, the list goes on. Snow skiing has its drop outs as well. It's not a snowboarding thing. It's not even that unusual, although I do agree that spending a year doing nothing but working as a semi- pro footballer or tennis player or whatever is less likely to get you a dead beat tag than doing the same for snowboarding but it is only a matter of degree. So many people snowboard now that it really is very much a mainstream sport.

 

But anyway, the main thing is that we seem to agree than gansta snowboarders are a bit ridiculous.

[snosurf 0]

Wow, 80% of you guys are clearly delusional....either that, or just plain stupid.

 

Hip-hop is a genre of music that has encompassed far more than just 'gangsta life' and 'street gang- banging'. While these themes were prevalent during the infamous crips and bloods era, the real origins of hip-hop can be traced back to funk and jazz of the 1960's and 70's.

 

For the presumptive ones out there, hip-hop is more than just bragging and acting big. It is about rhyming, lyrical eloquence, cool beats and funky rhythmic melodies.

 

ghostofwar, while hip-hop often talks about the 'struggle' of afro-americans, you cannot pigeon-hole the entire genre. Australian hip-hop does not talk about the struggle of blacks, for example.

 

Anyway, i'm not going to go into it too much because a lot of what i've just read is pure nonsense.

 

Hip-hop is great, and 90% of the time it goes perfectly with snowboarding segments - this is simply because the beats are awesome and the songs have a sense of 'flow' and casual style to them, just like boarding.

[NoFakie 45]

The dude wrote a post because he saw famous snowboarders throwing gang signs and acting bling bling. They are not the only ones.

 

The history of hiphop (or your version of it), Australian hiphop, and whatever Public Enemy, the Last Poets, Michael Faranti, Mos Def or other more politically motivated artists may rap about really have nothing to do with it. If you weren't so quick to jump on that high horse, you might understand. Chuck D has never gone out of his way to defend gangsta rap, which has long outlived the Bloods and Crips battles tbh.

 

Tookie Williams RIP.

[Kumapix 0]

I don't think you can associate hiphop with snowboarding. Hip hop used in videos is because a)the rider listens to hiphop and really wanted it for their part or the editor chose it because he liked it, cleared the rights for it and it fits well with the riding.

Being an editor myself I can tell you that editing a snowboard flic to hiphop is loads of fun. A good video has all the landings/ cuts/ hits synched with the beat. THis is easy to do with hiphop and really effective. It provides a really good flow to the video effectively making the song seem to belong to the riding or vice versa.

That said, I think if you did a poll of all the snowboard videos ever released, you'd find that there was way more punk or heavy metal. I have seen many a rail segment of a guy in tight jeans and a leather jacket.

Re: the gangsta bullshit from the More video, like I said earlier, that is just one group from SLC that does that. Other videos have plenty of rails without guys making w's with their fingers.

 

You guys can talk about how the roots of hiphop and snowboarding are inter-twined and blah blah blah but it all comes down to the type of music someone listens to. and there's no way you can say that hiphop is the most popular with snowboarders or that it's the identity of snowboarding

[nzlegend 1]

I am old school so hip hop can hippity hop the hell out of my way - period.

[Kumapix 0]

hey maybe we could get some SJ bandannas made up for an SJ bankrobber posse?

 

Good idea, no?

[bettyx 0]

just when i was becoming impressed at the level of intelligent debate on this forum,someone goes and brings up aussie hiphop!

 

and in defence of bandanna-wearing riders everywhere - it's not always about style! wasn't shaun white the lad who started it all, to protect his pasty ginga skin from the sun? im not a fan of the goggle tan, occasionally bandanna up to protect against the sun/wind/ice.

[rach 1]

Hip hop and rap makes me laugh. Best bit is all the "looking well hard" and strange hand movements.

 

I can't imagine sitting down and listening to that over and over again.

[Ocean11 0]

You're not alone there rach. NickNack agrees widyou;

"I ain't changing my style I'm just tellin' the bitch niggers why I don't exchange a smile - Rap niggers make me laugh"

tra-la-la

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Yo dude, widyou. It's all rather funny isn't it.

 

The best thing about rap is the music videos that often have a nice selection of attractive scantily clad ladies squirming about. Just turn the sound down.

[panhead_pete 27]

I actually like a lot of Aussie hip hop these days. 1200 techniques were always great to see and Hilltop Hoods etc are doing it now. I guess if you dont like it turn it down, but if you do, turn it up REAL loud!

[snowbender 3]

Agree widyou bout the vids man bagofcrisps dude.

 

Oh, I can't do it.

[snosurf 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by bettyx:
just when i was becoming impressed at the level of intelligent debate on this forum,someone goes and brings up aussie hiphop!

So you are implying I am un-intelligent for bringing up the topic of Oz hip-hop? What do you listen to bettyx, just out of interest? Britney? Christina? Paris Hilton?

There are some great artists within the Australian hip-hop genre sweetie. Listen to some hilltop-hoods, the herd, 1200 tehniques, TZU, muph and plutonic. Try to look past the fact that they're not imitating american accents and you may be surprised that there is actually a lot of good aspects to their music. That's just immature and idiotic to suggest that Australian hip-hop music (or the discussion of it) is in any way un-intelligent.

panhead pete, you know where it's at mate!

[soubriquet 0]

I'll put up my hand too. Hip-hop isn't my preferred style of music by any stretch, but some of the Ozzie stuff is excellent. Hilltop Hoods

[eskimobasecamp 0]

hahahaha i like hilltop hoods and bettyx will kill me for saying that lol

[eskimobasecamp 0]

........... but i just LOVE aussie/kiwi accents ..... ohh and hip hop of course..... listening to hilltop hoods now

 

it's not all about the commercial gangster rap shit, there's some real good classic hiphop out there. i like DJ format

[Rag-Doll 0]

>I am old school so hip hop can hippity hop the hell out of my way - period.

 

Word.

[SirJibAlot 0]

Snowboarding is as dangerous as the hood.

 

In the hood, they have drive-by's....on the mountain they have out of control phsychos that smash into people causing great injury - possibly even death.

 

In the hood, someone might stick a gun to your head and take all your money. On the mountain, the lift ticket, food, lockers, etc. take all your money.

 

In the hood, someone might punch you in the stomach for wearing the wrong color - next thing you know your on the pavement spitting blood. On the mountain, you catch an edge on the rail - broken ribs, spitting up blood....

 

So in a sense, rap music and snowboarding go together nicely....

 

-SJA

[eskimobasecamp 0]

[snosurf 0]

People should stop incorrectly using the all encompassing term 'hip-hop' and instead use the term 'gangsta rap' when referring to hip-hop music that primarily focuses on the hood, gang warfare and drive-bys (etc).

 

It annoys me.

 

EBC - I agree with you about the Aussie/kiwi accents. It's fresh and I can sing along without sounding like a tryhard american!

 

DJ Format is cool...I love that track featuring Jurassic 5 (keep forgetting what it's called). Thanks for the support anyway!