Well
This is what I wrote to the guardian, and why I think the article was ridiculous.
Hello, my name is Neema Nazem, and I'm e-mailing you because of the gross misinterpretation that came with your article, "Footwork takes competitive dancing to the Chicago streets". Before I go on, if you don't know who I am, I am from Chicago, I organize footworking events on a weekly basis, I own my own label, and I'm just generally well connected with the local, as well as international community. Basically, I'm upset with what you've done with this Guardian article. It shows you've only gotten some responses from a few very opinionated, as well as in some cases, very unknowledgeable sources. I think this is going to be a laundry list, so I'll start with paragraph to paragraph.
"At 165 bpm, footwork – the dance sensation that has replaced breakdancing in inner-city Chicago – is an exercise in speed and one-upmanship"
This is a ridiculous claim. Footworking is nothing new to Chicago, it's been around for nearly 30 years! It's the evolution of house dance in the ghetto's of Chicago. Breakdancing has its place in Chicago, but house/footwork dance has been around longer, and has much more roots in the Chicago community, simply because Chicago house is a localized art form that has shaped itself to fit with each community it's involved in. To set the record straight, Footworking and Juke as a genre exists outside of hip hop, and is more closely tied to house. While they have lately begun to sample hip hop lyrics, the patterns sound almost exactly like classic house patterns sped up to 160 bpm. And that's the other thing, it's 160 bpm, not 165.
Really, footworking crews have existed since the early 90s, search up House-O-Matics, Gutter Thugs, Wolf Pac. These groups are not new, and never replaced breakdancing. A lot of the crews and popular figures today stem from these older crews. King Charles, head of the footworkingz, came out of Wolf Pac. Wolf Pac, came out of House-O-Matics. Terra Squad, led by King AG, was taught by members of Wolf Pac and House-O-Matics. The popular Chicago hip hop duo, Do-Or-Die, were footworkers. Hell, even the most popular artists today, DJ Spinn and DJ Rashad, came from Wolf Pac.
And I bring up DJ Spinn, and DJ Rashad because they are the most popular footwork DJ's, not DJ Nate. If you look at every Walacam video for the past 4 months, about 75% of all the tracks that are played are Spinn N Rashad tracks. Spinn N Rashad even won an award at Wala Cam for best crew of the year simply because they've been nothing but dedicated to footwork. On the other hand, Nate quit making tracks nearly 2 years ago, and it didn't change anything in Chicago simply because he never really had any influence out here. The reason being is that Nate never got popular for his footwork tracks, but because of his R&B career. He is well known for his song, "Lil Mama Bad As Hell" and that's what caused his name to become popular on youtube. His footworking tracks, firstly, are not the type of track anyone wants to listen to anymore, and secondly, are not that amazing in the first place.
I find it funny that you bring up Headhunter's project, Addison Groove, because he often times quotes Spinn N Rashad as the best juke n footwork artists. Look at his soundcloud mix as proof!
http://dubstepheadhunter.blogspot.com/2009/12/headhunter-juke-mix-december-2009-by.html
Rashad N Spinn are the actual ones still around trying to evolve footwork. They're the ones who have worked hard their whole lives to work alongside individuals such as DJ Benzi, DJ Godfather, and DJ Funk, and are now blessed to having upcoming projects with (confidential, sorry people!), and they're the ones who've had footwork tracks on beatport, itunes, and juno for the past 2 years! If there's anyone you should be saying has influenced the evolution of footwork and juke, you should be looking at Spinn N Rashad.
And then you say this:
The style evolved in a pre-filesharing era, with pioneers such as RP Boo struggling to get their music heard on weekend radio stations and in clubs. As this decade progressed, younger DJs such as 20-year-old Nate started sharing their music through sites such as YouTube and Imeem
Finally, RP Boo is a legend, but he still have so much influence over the footworking sound! He originally created the style back in 2003, but he still makes tracks that break so much ground. He still DJ's, still has nothing but props from everyone, and has never lost his reputation as one of the best footwork dj's and producers in Chicago. Sorry to continue my tirade against Nate, but Nate didn't evolve Boo's sound, he replicated it. He did nothing new with it! I have to firmly establish this point, he did nothing new for footworking. RP Boo was a pioneer in creating the footwork sound, and is very much still a man who still has soooo much more clout than Nate in the footwork world. And for the record, RP Boo has plenty of tracks on youtube as well.
So basically, here's my key points:
1. Footworking is nothing new, it's not some new fad, and it isn't just now taking over Chicago because it's such an integral part of Chicago Black Culture for the past 30 years. The sound itself is simply the influence the footworking community has had on house music.
2. Look up DJ Spinn, and DJ Rashad for your own integrity. FYI, every song on youtube.com/ghettotekz is one of their tracks.
3. DJ Nate is not a Chicago staple. He is nothing groundbreaking, revolutionary, or evolutionary.
4. RP Boo is a legend, but he still has so much authority over what happens in Chicago. His creative genius has never stopped, and he will continue to be one of the biggest contributors to the footwork scene.
There were a few more things I wrote, but thats the jist of it.
And how in the fuck are they going to write a newspaper article on footworking and they only interviewed Nate's manager? They probably talked to a few more people, but it's just downright shitty journalism not to spend more than an hour to write on something which has yet to have actual media coverage. Our history can not be confused with a manager's PR statements!