Loebz interviewed for Growing Hip Hop Scene article
This week London Community News published an article by Mallory Clarkson regarding the growing hip-hop scene in London, Ontario.
Along with local rappers MC Moore and Exit Only, ill at will’s Rob Loebach was interviewed for the article which you can check out here: http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/2012/03/londons-hip-hop-scene-growing-despite-challenges/
Finishing off 2011 Strong
The Year Twenty-ILLeven (2011) has been a great one for Ill at Will crew. We held a successful, large Breakin’ (Breakdancing) competition at Centennial Hall (video from London Free press) in London, ON in January, performed in front of London Mayor Joe Fontana for a charity dinner in February, and the good times kept on rolling from there!
6 of the illains demonstrating the IAW hand sign in Toronto
Check out our Facebook Page for more links and photos from the year’s highlights, including:
- JFX & Loebz win 1st place at Mind Your Mind
- multiple free workshops through LIHC and London Public Library
- workshops at several Ontario schools & dance studios (London, Windsor, St. Thomas)
- Flash mob “breakdance” performance for Toronto’s upscale Oliver & Bonacini (Why not hire us for similar Flash mob show!)
- Commercial video & photo shoot for Trend Setterz and Swag On Clothing (J-Good, Toronto!)
- Twice appeared as the half time entertainment for the London Lightning at the JLC in London
- Opening act for Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah concert in London, ON
- NYE entertainment at Caesars Windsor Casino
- Performances and workshops at University of Western Ontario (UWO), Fanshawe College (London, Ontario), and Windsor University
- And regular weekly classes at Elan Dance Arts studio throughout the year
JFX, Loebz, ka_boom, and Kayo @ JLC
Twenty-Twelve looks to be even better for the crew as we continue to build locally and represent abroad. We’re also expanding as we welcome new members Spencer, Connor, and Eric, making us 10 strong!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Please recommend us to your friends on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @illatwillcrew.
-ka_boom
Trend Setterz & Swag On clothing commercial
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np2571bXCbQ[/youtube]
Recently IAW and Style2Rep got together at Trend Setterz to shoot a commercial for the Swag On clothing line by J-Good (GOODIE).
The commercial was released online this week and you can check it out in the video at the beginning of this post!
The original post about this shoot (w/links and pics) is here.
Ready for some F U N!? Funky, Unique, New
The last few days I’ve been enjoying a party mix from DJ Simple (Buffalo, NY). There’s a few parts I especially like, including the juggling of the first song “I’m Ill” to shout Simple’s name and a Ludacris track smoothly mixed over a dubstep version of Ginuwine’s “My Pony” beat. Somehow it just works!
From the artist:
About the mix: Released in early 2011, DJ Simple aims to create a fun party atmosphere for everyone in attendance while remaining unique in his track selection and mixing style. This mix is guaranteed FUN! The only thing that would be better than playing this mix at your next party would be to have Simple himself rocking the crowd!
Click to download the MP3 goodness of DJ Simple – FUN (Funky, Unique, New) Enjoy! (Right click -> Save As to download)
Time to Get Our SWAG ON
Last week IAW and local crew Style2Rep got together at Trend Setterz to shoot a commercial for the Swag On clothing line by J-Good (GOODIE).
Ill at Will, rapper J-Good, and Style2Rep at the shoot
The video and photo shoot was a lot of fun and the vibe was good in Trend Setterz (727 Richmond St. London, ON) as we threw down to a mix of J-Good, James Brown, break beats, and some house.
Click here to see behind the scene photos posted by J-Good! More footage to come (update: click here for video)! Make sure to follow us on Twitter and FB for the latest on IAW!
Social Media in Hip-Hop today
“Follow me on twitter” .. “Like us on Facebook” .. “Check out our MySpace”
These sayings would have made absolutely no sense 10 years ago in any languages. And yet today, there are close to 200 million twitter users, and over 200 countries have Facebook users according to Socialbakers.com.
Today’s promotional companies and talent agencies may take advantage of the ‘Fan Page’ feature on Facebook to attract new clients, keep people informed of their activities and involvements. It is also used for various contests, to increase traffic to their official website, and also to send out invitations to public & private events.
Artists and musicians make use of the Fan Page as well, to submit their work or to direct them to their YouTube page, and keeping in touch with the supportive fans.
Follow us/Like us
As it can be seen all around us; social media is such an important tool in marketing that more and more industries are starting to anticipate the use of such interactions online. It is very common to hear “Make sure you check out our Facebook page” or “Follow us on twitter” to persuade the audience to dig for more information.
It has helped original hip-hop community grow significantly over the past few years especially when international b-boying events became more popular and attracted new countries all around the world. Getting the word out through the social media channels became a key component in successful event marketing for many reasons. It lowered costs on invitations, provided a way to keep in contact with a large number of invited guests, gave them an opportunity to forecast the size of the attendants, and it allowed everyone within the culture to get connected instantly.
The following image shows the official Facebook invite page for an upcoming b-boy event, in comparison to a traditional flyer from the late 70’s:
Trading video cassettes of old-school footage has become uploading it publicly and sharing on YouTube. Handing out flyers and posters has turned into a simple click of mass invitations to your entire friend list on Facebook. Day-long trips across the country became weekend-long celebrations in a whole new continent.
As some would argue the shift in authenticity of this hip-hop culture, it is no doubt that social media had a huge role in closing the international gap in the b-boy community. In order to continue to grow this scene and inspire the rest of this rapidly-changing world, there’s no slowing down in usage of social media.
Sources:
SocialBakers: Facebook Statistics by country
(http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/)
Mashable: New Facebook Pages: A Guide for Social Media Marketers (http://mashable.com/2009/03/04/new-facebook-pages/)