More than any other popular music genre, hip-hop has managed to survive against all odds, transcending cultural boundaries and even infiltrating other musical styles. Far from being confined to any particular era, its popularity continues to increase, with no signs of flagging. With this is in mind, audiences watching Benji Reid, who draws on his b-boy roots to create ‘hip-hop theatre’, might be shocked and confronted when his latest piece begins by suggesting hip-hop is dead.
In between rehearsals for Slam Dunk, a show he is co-directing and co-choreographing about ‘brotherhood, beats and basketball’, Reid tells me the basic premise of his new one-man show, 13 Mics, is that the ‘voice of revolution in hip-hop is dead.’ Reid plays a number of different characters, each represented by one of 13 microphones surrounding him on stage – from a young boy to an old American guy. In telling their stories, each one describes their version of hip-hop.
‘It certainly looks at the history of hip-hop and then brings it to the present day,’ Reid explains, ‘but you’ve got other voices in there, you’ve got political voices that look at hip-hop as a movement – you know: “If you don’t watch out, the record industries are going to tell you exactly what to play, and the true power of hip-hop will not be heard because everyone just wants to get a number one hit.”’
‘It’s about going back to its [hip-hop’s] political base,’ he continues, ‘which was about disenfranchised people having a voice. It’s questioning a lot of things about the whole culture of hip-hop and rap.’
Reid’s beginnings in hip-hop stretch back to his youth, when he would impress guests at weddings with his Michael Jackson-style moves and out-dance bullies in the schoolyard. To some, it’s known as breakdancing, to Reid and aficionados, it’s b-boying – and Reid went on to win UK and European championships for ‘body-popping’, the fluid style of movement popularised by Michael Jackson.
Reid extended his dance repertoire beyond body-popping, studying at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and working in Scotland with Dundee Rep and TAG theatre on a dance production of The Tempest. He toured with Soul II Soul as a dancer and choreographer, worked in mime with the David Glass Ensemble and Black Mime Theatre and began creating his own style of theatrical performance in the late ‘90s.
Most recently, Reid performed a trilogy of works to sell-out audiences at the Sydney Opera House Studio, as well as hosting workshops at a youth club in the Australian city. His one-man shows generally incorporate spoken word and movement inspired by body-popping, but for 13 Mics, Reid says he wanted to push the artform further.
‘I use body-popping, but in a way I transcend the old artform itself,’ he observes. ‘In 13 Mics I’ve really explored the language of body-popping and how it can work as a non-dance form.’ The way in which he does this, Reid explains, is to take away the traditional hip-hop 4/4 rhythms.
By taking hip-hop and body-popping onto the stage, Reid wonders: ‘Is this the evolution of hip hop, is this the new evolution of the dance form – to take it into the theatre and slightly change it?’ It’s something he has been exploring along with Jonzi D, who also creates one-man stage shows rooted in the world of hip-hop. The pair often co-direct each other’s work – a partnership which ensures they push each other to the next level, Reid observes.
After attempting to push the boundaries of hip-hop and exploring contemporary dance and physical theatre, what artform will Benji Reid tap into next, I wonder? He barely hesitates.
‘What I’m really interested in, is how my physical language could be translated into film.’
Benji Reid will perform ’13 Mics’ at X-Trax, a culturally diverse showcase of works in Manchester this weekend which also features ‘Slam Dunk’.
CLICK HERE to read an Arts Hub feature on the event.
