YOUR NON TYPICAL REVIEW ON “THE GET DOWN” NETFLIX SERIES (Non-Spoiler)
This isn’t your ordinary review where I’ll just talk about the cinematography of the series.
I want you guys to watch it yourself.
What I’m going to share with you guys is what I took from the first season of this Netflix TV series.
After binge watching this historical Hip Hop TV series, I have a few points I would like to share.
The first section is for people who don’t have any knowledge on Hip Hop or the Bronx’s history.
The series’ background is based on the genesis of Hip Hop, which includes the creation of bboying (aka breakdance), graffiti, emceeing and disk jockeys (DJing). The series itself is mixed with historical references, such as the racial gap between the minorities and American citizens, as well as “tragical events like the New York Blackout in ’77.” (Eugene, 1977)
The Get Down has jumped back into time to the year 1977 to portray the lifestyle of Bronx citizens, particularly in the poverty domain. You could only imagine what the characters dealt with daily. The difficulties of being a minority, street gang horrors and government corruption.
The Get Down’s fondle with the Bronx’s history made me lost for words, as it illustrated how Hip Hop could prevent people from committing petty crimes and could potentially “save” them.
As a Bboy (breakdancer) myself, I was truly inspired to give my two cents on the series’ greatness and would recommend it to anyone who is fascinated by Hip Hop culture, the history, and a spice of romantic twists for romcoms.
The end.
Just kidding. That section was for the general audience, who doesn’t know anything about Hip Hop culture.
The rest of the article are for Hip Hop fanatics like myself.
Check out the trailer to get a gist of Hip Hop’s greatest show.
Spoiler alert: Jaden Smith is one of the main characters, and he can rap.
Alright, this one is for my Hip Hop heads.
Still with me?
This leads to the second section of my review, for the Hip Hop heads who already know about the Hip Hop pioneers and the history.
Renowned OGs (Original Gangsters) such as Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kool Herc, the Father of Hip Hop (Jeff Chang, 2005) make fictional appearances in the series, not to mention playing classic breaks that are not so popular in today’s generation, come into light.
“Apache” and “The Mexican” are just some of the classic breaks in the show!
Watching this series reminded me why I started dancing in the first place.
Let me explain.
If you didn’t know yet, I am a bboy myself.
Definitely not one of the best, but it’s been a few years since I was in the bboy scene. This is just a personal opinion piece about how I feel about the global scene right now in Hip Hop, particularly in the Breakin’ scene.
Nowadays, I witnessed that dancers put their attention on the competitive side of the dance. Bboys and Bgirls would train for the craziest mind-blowing tricks to demolish peoples’ mind or adjust their style to the judges’ unwritten criteria to order to gain those votes.
But are we getting moves to win?
Or to dance?
I think if you consider yourself a dancer but have the mindset of performing tricks to win that cash prize,
you are an athlete.
No disrespect towards competitive dancers, I enjoy competitions and jams myself too!
However, a certain minority of dancers are losing the soul and individuality when they represent on stage. Honestly it is sad to see this artform turning more to a sport.
Not to mention that the Olympics added Breakin for the first time, debuting at Paris Olympics 2024!
But hold up.
How does this relate to the series The Get Down?
Well, The Get Down contains scenes where bboys are getting down to just mess around in the cyphers, DJs scratching on the ones and twos, and making the crowd go wild with those funky breaks . They would view Breakin’ more of a party dance rather than a battle, compared to dancers with aims on winning international battles such as RedBull BC One.
Whether we decide to pursue Breakin’ as a dance or sport,
I will ask people this.
“Why did you start dancing?”
For most people, it’s cause of that initial feeling when you first witnessed Hip Hop.
That moment when you see a bboy get down, that nasty DJ scratch, or that killa rhyme that your favorite emcee spit.
You know what’s yours.
That alone is why we are here, as a Hip Hop community.
Take away the battles, the cyphers, the Hip Hop parties.
All you have left,
is the soul.
“Peace, love and unity are the core values of this culture and also about having fun” (Fabian Baez, 2014)
These core values are what we should strive for again in this generation, just like how the TV series illustrated.
Everything was just to have fun.
An escape from reality.
Alright I’ll stop with the emotional speech.
Let’s summarize.
Overall, The Get Down is a fantastic TV series to watch for people who are keen on learning on the perspective of a ‘77 Bronx boy or if you want to reminisce on the early Hip Hop days.
Wouldn’t recommend it for younger audience, since it contains vulgar slangs and “inappropriate” scenes.
Peace out yall,
Erryl / DirtE
References:
- Baez, F. (2014, September 07). “The 4 Hip Hop Values that can change the Culture.”
- Eugene (1977, July 14). “New York reels from massive blackout”.
3. Chang, Jeff (2005). “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation.”
