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Multi-media research and the consumption of popular culture
Edited by Marylouise Caldwell and Paul Henry
cypher1 ([25] Soanes and Stevenson, 2004)noun 1. a secret or disguised way of writing; a code: he wrote cryptic notes in a cypher | [mass noun] the information may be given in cypher. [black square] something written in a code. [black square] a key to a code.2. (dated) a zero; a figure 0.
cypher2 ([27] Urbandictionary.com, 2009a)noun 1. two or more b-boys or b-girls breakdancing in a circle together in an informal freestyle manner - they could be battling or simply playing off of each other.
Breakbeat 1: intro
The Oxford Dictionary of English definitions of cypher include "a code," "a key to a code," and "a figure zero." As the b-boy (breakdance) movement emerged in the Bronx in the 1970s, dancers from competing crews (basically, dance-gangs) cleared a circle on the dance floor before battling at hip-hop parties, and it is likely that this zero-shaped competition space inspired the term cypher as urbandictionary.com defines it above. The idea that hip-hop culture is coded and requires decoding before the mainstream can understand and consume it is also relevant. Given the atypical section headings in this paper, note the leading [28] Urbandictionary.com (2009b) definition of breakbeat is:
A drum part, usually sampled from old funk records used in hip-hop tracks. Breakbeats are also sliced and manipulated in drum-n-bass and other forms of electronic music.
This article acts as a companion piece to Breakin' Away ([6] Dalecki, 2010), a short documentary I directed and which the International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research (IJCTHR ) has included with this special edition. This paper touches on Texas b-boy culture and tourism, the hip-hop industry, book publishing, intra-industry media-synergy, the Hollywood film industry and related aspects of pop culture. Part ethnographic memoir, part confessional, part anecdotal how-to, the article is written in the first person and fits within the academic tradition of autoethnography ([19] Heider, 1975; [18] Hayano, 1979; [20] Jackson, 1989; [26] Tedlock, 1991; [22] Reed-Danahay, 1997; [12] Ellis, 2004; [21] Miller, 2008). Given its autoethnographic bent, the paper follows several unique cases rather than attempting to abstract generalizable principles ([13] Ellis, 2008).
Breakbeat 2: enter the...