A Little Rockstar

So last night I partied like a rock star in Sacramento. I met Rachel, Graham, Tim, Mario, Gina and Christine at Mason's and we had overpriced cocktails and food and horrendous service. We then moved to the bar at The Residence in across the street since they were having drink specials. We then got hungry and headed to Chicago Fire, but alas they were closed, so we went to Level Up the little bar upstairs of Thai Basil. After drinking a Lemon Drop martini, 2 Shock Tops, a Cosmo and a Kamikaze, I sang happy birthday with this group of gay guys at the next table and then I asked our server to get us pieces of cake from that same table. I do remember dancing on a chair and having this drunk guy say he would kiss my ass right before he was apprehended my the police. The final straw was ordering a Long Island Iced Tea for the table that we passed around as we finished our pieces of delicious ice cream cake. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard and so long.

I would like to say that I celebrated the end of a difficult week and the fact that I got over my insecurities in teaching, Yesterday in my hip hop classes, I gave the midterm and started my students on their poetry assignments. Everyone was done with the exam in 30 minutes, but my first class when asked said the test was easy (Nancy said "Scarily easy"), but my second class came back a chorus of "hard"s. Brandon, who was the last to finish said something about it being unreasonably hard. I was floored.

I did love that in both classes there was conversation flowing about the who, what and where of hip hop before I gave the exam. It was like a series of scholars. I am sure it was just the cramming talking, but hopefully they will remember some of this stuff later on.

So, I open it to you. Here's the exam minus the matching dance terminology section. Have fun!

(4 Points each)

1. Which of the following is NOT a basic hip hop technique? ______
A. sharp isolations
B. getting low in the body
C. strong movement
D. tight rib cage

2. Which of the following is NOT true of “popping?” _______
A. It is a sharp, quick, staccato movement.
B. It is usually an isolation.
C. It is a slow and mellow movement.
D. Muscles tense to abruptly stop the movement.


3. Locking is by nature an improvisational dance, but also consists of a set of signature moves. (T/F) ______

4. Hip Hop dance should never show off your personal style. (T/F) ______

5. What is the difference between and a demi and grand plié?


History and Origins (4 pts. each) 60 POINTS TOTAL:

1. Hip-hop culture grew out of gang-dominated street culture. (T/F) ________

2. The Emcee/M.C. can be traced back to the African griots. (T/F) ________

3. Afrika Bambaata founded the Fabulous Five. (T/F) ________

4. Don Campbell created Def Jam Records. (T/F) ________

5. Isaac Hayes is the most “sampled” artist in hip hop music. (T/F) ________

6. Who created needle dropping? _______
A. Grand Wizard Theodore
B. Sha-Rock
C. Reggie Reg
D. DJ Baron


7. Which of the following is NOT a hip-hop forefather? ______
A. Jim Jazzy
B. DJ Kool Herc
C. Afrika Bambaata
D. Grandmaster Flash

8. The Hip Hop Theatre Festival was created by? ______
A. Queen Latifah
B. Russell Simmons
C. Danny Hoch
D. Lauryn Hill


9. DJ Kool Herc was responsible for all of these things EXCEPT _____
A. the “Merry Go Round”
B. coining the term “b-boy”
C. founding the Rock Steady Crew
D. introducing “the break” in the music


10. James Brown influenced hip hop with all EXCEPT: ______
A. his funky dance style
B. his percussive lyrics
C. his graffiti artistry
D. his rhythmic music

11. Which DJ created scratching? _______
A. Pistol
B. Grandmaster Flash
C. Fabel
D. Whipper Whip


(8 points each)

12. What are four similarities between capoeira and hip hop?


13. What are the four components of Hip Hop culture?