With colleges doing "online courses" to get a degree I have decided to also give online classes on obtaining a degree in OLDSKOOL. It will not be easy and it will take a lot of studying but with a little help you too can have MDOS (Master’s Degree in Oldskool) First I will provide some viewing material. At the end of summer session there will be a test.
Your first assignment would be to find and watch some of the iconic movies of Oldskool. A list of some of those movies are below. Many of them are not superbly acted in fact a lot of the lines or terrible. However that doesn’t take away the fact that to get a degree in Oldskool you must know about, have seen or can quote lines from these movies. Included is the year it was made, who starred in the movie, movie facts and some of the iconic lines/scenes of the movie. There will be guest professors who will also be providing information this summer session.
Wild Style -Released in 1983 this movie directed by Charlie Ahern and starred graffiti writer George "Lee" Quinones and Hip Hop icon Fab Five Freddy. This movie had cameos by Cold Crush Brothers, Rock Steady Crew, Grandmaster Flash and Busy Bee. Some of the memorable scenes in the movie is Double Trouble (Rodney C, KK Rockwell) "Heres a little story that must be told" on the steps and Grandmaster Flash doing his thing in the kitchen. But for many it must be the Fantastic 5 versus the Cold Crush Brothers on the basketball court with the memorable line "Eat ya ass up like a steak an take"
Beat Street - Released in 1984 is more widely known the Wild Style mainly because of a larger release. This movie starred a young Rae Dawn Chong and Guy Davis (son of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee) is also not as improvised as Wild Style. There is also a plot. These movies made sure that they had cameos and this one was no exception. The Hip Hop Icons that appeared in this movie included:
Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell Afrika Bambaataa & the Soul Sonic Force
Some of the more memorable scenes included the battles between Bronx Rockers (Rock Steady Crew) and Beat Street (NYC Breakers)
Krush Groove- Released in 1985 is widely considered the best of the "Hip Hop Movies" The movie gives a loosely based account of the start of the Def Jam label. This movie is also known for the LL Cool J impromptu "Radio" performance. This movie did not need cameos as the stars of the movie RUNDMC, Kurtis Blow,The Fat Boys were the main characters.This movie provided us with the legendary Run statement "We had a whole of superstars on this stage to tonight but this is my M****** house" or the Fat Boys eating everything that wasnt nailed down in Sbarros while performing "All you can eat" This movie also gave us Sheila E rapping (still don’t understand that)
Breakin and Breakin 2 Electric Boogaloo- These movies were both released in 1984 now neither of these movies would win any awards for acting. And for the movies to have "breakin" in the name there is not much of it. The movie starred Lucinda Dickey who couldn’t "break" an egg, Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers and Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quuinones Most of the dancing is more "poppin" then "breakin". Shabba Doo or "Ozone" as he is known in the movie doesn’t even attempt to "break" The obligatory cameo is by none other but Mr. "Law & Order SVU" himself Ice T although someone would need to explain all the chains and spikes he was wearing. The memorable scenes include "Turbo's" solo dance numbers (with a broom and string attached in "Breakin" and on the ceiling in "Breakin 2")
This course will not be as easy as you think. But If you study hard and pass the tests and quizzes you will have a Master’s Degree of Oldskool
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