Singapore hip-hop dancer Luqman from Flair Brothers gives us a lesson in the dance and also the lifestyle, introducing terms that are well known in the scene, and sheds light on how the scene has changed over the years. “If let’s just say there is any oppression, there will always be hip-hop.”
This video is directed and conceptualised by LASALLE students Mandel Yap and Iffah Jeffry, who say that they wanted to “highlight how each interaction and movement has its own specific meaning or connection to its history.”
The pair had a vague understanding of hip-hop initially, and found themselves surprised with “how deep the culture can be”. They were reminded of its origins in the Bronx as “a communication style that was initially used to prevent yet reflect gang violence” and noted that it has been adapted “to change to the current dance ideology we have today, taking into account our own socio-political context”.
The interview can be found below, as well as on YouTube.
Between February to April 2021, BA in Arts Management students from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, embarked on an artist documentation project as part of their module History & Contextual Studies. The first-year students were tasked with interviewing an artist to better understand an aspect of their practice, and to produce the result of the interview in the form of a video. The students were given creative freedom in how they executed the brief and shot and edited their videos. Five of the best videos are shown in partnership with ArtsEquator.
This interview with Luqman is part of a series of video projects in 2021 by BA Arts Management students of LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. For past videos in this series, click here.