Last November Red Bull BC One took place back in the home of hip hop, New York City. I remember that night well. I was up until the early hours following the results to write this news report.
Prior to the battle, Red Bull ran a Red Bull Reporter competition for one lucky writer to go to New York and report on the event. That lucky writer wasn't me...
Phil Waddell, international relations student by day and b-boy by night won the competition, and got to see B-Boy Lilou battle B-Boy Cloud in the final for the former to take the title for the second time.
A few weeks later we tracked down Phil on Twitter where he actually linked us to his report. It's taken this long and a reminder from Red Bull to get round to posting it, so thanks to Holler for the prompt.
Big respect to Phil for winning. In fact, he even stated that TooMuchFlavour was an inspiration for him to give writing a go - thanks Phil!
Below is an extract of Phil's report below:
Stepping out of a yellow taxi in New York City, outside the Hammerstein Ballroom, the location of the 2009 Red Bull BC One, the first thing I hear is the music coming from inside the venue; it’s Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind”. Add this to the fact that I’m here in the USA for the first time, and about to take my seat ringside at one of the most prestigious B-boy competitions in the world and you can see why I suddenly get butterflies in my stomach.
I make it inside and take my seat just in time to see the competitors take to the circle for the introduction, sixteen of the world’s best, picked for their uniqueness and dedication to B-boying, and definitely deserving of the deafening applause from the crowd. It’s certainly emotional for everyone here. The sixteen competitors form a ring running around the circle; standing in the middle is our MC for the evening, a certain KRS-One. It’s a powerful scene. KRS-One, the man who is hip hop, surrounded by the latest and greatest ambassadors of B-boying, united where it all began. Our DJ for the evening is DP One, a New York resident and B-boy. If anyone knows the beats to spin this evening, it’s him.
B-Boys to the circle. The battles commence.
Read the rest of the report at the Red Bull Reporter website here.
You can follow Phill Waddell on Twitter and check out his blog at Tumblr
Above: KRS One announces the winner...
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