Latinos Help Built Hip Hop: The Untold History of the 4 Elements

In this special episode of The Global Latin Factor Podcast, host Christine Valentine sits down with Claudia Tiffany Rodriguez, also known as Tiffany Folklore, for a powerful conversation on the real Latino roots of hip-hop.

Together, they dive into the 4 elements of hip-hop—DJing, MCing, graffiti, and breaking—and unpack how Puerto Rican, Mexican American, and Latino pioneers have been part of the culture since its earliest days. From DJ Kool Herc, DJ Disco Wiz, DJ Charlie Chase, Prince Whipper Whip, Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, Crazy Legs, Kid Frost, Mellow Man Ace, Cypress Hill, and Disco Al, this episode traces the story from the Bronx origins of hip-hop to Texas, Chicano rap, border identity, and community storytelling.

The conversation also explores corridos, cultural pride, protest, social struggle, representation, and the ways Black and Brown communities helped build hip-hop together. This is more than a music conversation—it is a deeper look at history, identity, and the voices that helped shape one of the most influential cultures in the world.

If you want a richer understanding of hip-hop history, Latino influence, and the 4 elements of the culture, this episode is for you.

Transcript

Welcome, welcome you and all to another episode of the Global Latin Factor podcast where we talk about Latino everything. I am your host Chrisine Valentine. Today we have a very special episode when we talk about we talk about everything. We literally do related to Latinos. We got a very very special episode of hip hop history and we got a very special guest with me to be able to share. Tiffany Fclord is going to be with me, Claudia Tiffany Fkllor, to tell the story about hip hop and how Latinos been embedded in the DNA of hip-hop since the beginning of time. And now to the episode. Tiffany. Hola. Hola. Hola. Welcome back. For people that don't know, you missed the first episode about you. Again, I know who you are. I know what you do. But you recently graduated from TCU. Yes, I did. Okay. So, tell me about graduating in general and tell me about your degree for clical for clitical degree. Yeah, of course. So within my undergrad, if y'all don't know me, my name is Claudia Tiffany Rodriguez, born and raised in Fullorth and just graduated from TCU. So go frogs. Congrats. And my degree, I created my own degree. My degree was interdisciplinary inquiry with the emphasis of balorico with the minor of arts, leadership, and entrepreneurship. I'm a balorico dancer and now I'm pursuing my masters at the University of the Rio Grand Valley. Okay. And then the degree itself for masters, what is it going to be covering under? In Mexican-American studies with an emphasis of clarity. Okay. Mexican American study with the emphasis emphasis of bal mouthful. But uh also congratulations because you did started a company during this time of you were doing that. So I don't know if you still pursuing that or it'll be imposed until you complete your masters. So it's a bit postponed kind of sort of. So my company is the heart of forgo for and I teach little ones from ages well it's all ages but the mainly I'm focused right now with kids from like ages 5 to 8 and currently because I'm over in Macallen I'm you could say I'm showing over Zoom so it's kind of like in and out in a way but like over the summer I'll be in town so that's when I'll do more of the in person. Yeah. And we happened to be whenever you did the the whole ceremony for the initiation of the That's right. So, it was pretty neat. Oh, we've been there, girl. We've been there. Oh, I mean, time flies. And no, obviously super happy cuz I had my shirt, too. And I was like, I love the And uh today we're going to cover something neat. Uh as you heard in the introduction, Latinos in hip-hop in general and Mexican-Americans in general also in hip-hop because a lot of people might not know who it is. Before we get to that, we're going to do a segment that I like to call Chile. This is a very special edition, very short, but still of uh what are we talking about? Hip hop. So, if you have not subscribed to the channel, now is the time. Por you're missing out on these amazing stories and amazing individuals contribution and history of things that you might not realize that we so heavily involved from the inception of this thing called hip hop. Lisa, are you ready? Yes. At the same time, I am going to answer it also myself just because uh why not? Go for it. Okay, Lista, rapping or DJing? Which one do you like better? DJing. DJing. I like DJing a lot more these days because I actually do DJing and I've done songs before. So, even the rapping part is kind of graffiti or break dancing. Which you like better? That's so hard. Gosh. I mean, I'm within the dance, so I have to go with break dancing. Break dancing. I was going to say Kid Frost, Cypress Seal. Do you know these two artists? I've heard. I'm not too familiarized, but I would say Kid Frost. Kid Frost. This for Larasa. Uh, Larasa or Insane in the Brain. In a main brain. Those are both hypers seals. Insane in the main brain. Larasa is Kid Frost. So, I'm guessing Larasa. Say Larasa. Absolutely. Uh, so Bronx Party or a backyard carada? I I mean I have to go with like the backyard garness. I have to. Would you would you like better consider conscious rap or party rap? Which one do you like better? If you like any rapping at all whatsoever. I would say conscious. Conscious. Okay. So if for you doing balo chlorico if you was to have the option to dance a balorico but with a hip-hop song, which one would it be? Which one do you think you can make the most spectacle? for the best show with a particular song that you might like that is hip-hop or rap pending cuz I actually don't know. I've never actually thought about political with a hip-hop song. I mean I've done like national anthems of like what's it called like the TCU anthem which doesn't go with influ but sometimes I've thrown out there you know but I have to investigate now. That's super cool. We might be in the fusing something here. So, if for people that don't know, uh again, we're going to be talking about hip-hop. So, hip-hop in general covers four elements. So, when we talk about hip-hop, everybody most of the time assumes that it's going to be just rapping. So, in for you as far as thinking about hip-hop, what was the first thoughts for you? What do you thought it was? Do you thought it was rap? Do you thought there was more to it at all whatsoever? Well, growing up, I wasn't too familiarized with hip-hop. You could say my dad would listen to hip-hop, but I like my just thought of like what hip-hop is. I just knew it was like based in New York, based in like break dancing, and then I would say graffiti. And then as well, I know it ties in a lot of with with a tricky subject with gangs, you could say. But now like now I've kind of have gone more in depth and it's not just necessary gangs or just partying you know there's a lot of history to it. Same thing with forico you know but it's just getting your foot in the door. Yeah. So if somebody doesn't know who h what hip-hop is there's four elements depending who you're asking it might be a fifth element. So there's the MCing or the rapping, there's the DJing portion, and there's their uh graffiti part and then you have the B boying or break dancing. All those are the four pillars. And again, depending on who you're asking for, if you're asking the Nationals Sulu Nation, they might incorporate a knowledge or conscious uh knowledge or conscious element of it because it's not just rap and the general public that you ask most of the time they really go into just that part itself, which again is understandable because if you don't look into it, you don't realize. But to your understanding, how how much do you know that we were Latinos were part of the initiation of hip-hop? Do you know anything about that at all? Well, going into it, not at all. Because even then, um, like when I would speak with individuals like, yeah, like hip-hop has like a lot of culture, a lot of history. It ties in with like Mexican-American like culture, you know? A lot of people are like how like I don't understand like that doesn't like they don't make that association, you know, especially like coming from my background of balico, they're like that doesn't click, you know, and like I get a lot of questionable like looks, you know? So that's when my radar kind of kind of started like curiosity, you know? So that's where I'm like I need to get more educated when it comes to like hip-hop or like even more cultures, you know? So yeah, it's like it's like on top of the iceberg you could say. So kind of like balorico that you know more a lot than I would. It's very uh parallel worlds, parallel history story of them both because hip-hop started one way for Glorico started one way and now it looks a whole different than when it first started. You know what I mean? And within forcloico, even though there might not be elements, but if you start breaking it down, the apparel, the earrings, the hair, the costumes, all those things are are different. Uh similarities kind of you could say, but they're kind of like structural things for for folklorico. Same thing for hip-hop. It's the same thing. So the hip hop in general was an African-American, AfroCaribbean and Afro Latino tradition back in 197 in New York. Mostly black and Latinos were the ones that were actually you can say were the ones that were together and uh started forming this that is called hip hop now. So the very first thing the birthday of hip hop technically is uh back in August 11 in 1973 specifically in a party a street party uh and credited to one particular DJ which is DJ Cool Hurt. DJ Cool Hurt what he did was he was able to take one song had two turntables he was able to play a song and then in the break of when the song was but the end he could loop it around and keep the beat going. So in general for a DJ your main goal is to keep an ongoing beat forever and that's how you keep the uh the element of DJing itself just entire endless beat and an endless song and then of course involving the crowd and get the crowd engaged. So I don't know if you ever noticed going to some dances or anything the DJ you can kind of sort of see if the DJ does know what they're talking about cuz the song stops and like what the heck is going on. Yeah. Even then sometimes I have performances and I have to speak with like the DJ like you know like here's my music etc. and he's like he's like give me a minute cuz I'm like in more like in my art form you know like he's in like he's zoned in you know and I have to like respect that because from like an outside perspective it's just like oh it's just buttons or it's just moving the thing you know and it's like no there's like a whole science to it. Yeah. And uh when it talked about hip-hop in general and like there's not like a that is the date of hip-hop that is 53 years old now but going on 53 years but even before that there was a lot of Caribbean influences. So we were talking about the Caribbean big speaker individuals even Kherk's uh family himself was Jamaican descent. So all those things were like piling together into creating what he started doing. and DJing and even from that particular party that's where the actual birth of hip-hop they call it that is D-Day that people use in general in terms of anybody that knows about hip-hop but into the culture they know about that. Mhm. Yeah. Did you know any about that at all whatsoever going into it? No. Now that I'm getting more educated or more aware of like what hip-hop is, it it does bring a lot of similarities within because even then when you look into pale forico, you have like a lot of roots from Africa, from the Caribbean, from Cuba. Same thing with hip-hop and it's like, huh, like I didn't wasn't aware they had the similarities. Yeah, there is uh one main Latino DJ in the beginning of times that was incorporated that it is credited to be the number one very first one ever. Sometimes self-proclaimed but other people do follow suit as far as him being the very first one which is DJ Disco Wiz and that's also comes from the National Museum of American History which identifies him as the very first Latino DJ back in 1974. 1974. How many years has that been? 52 years old. See? Wow. 52. 52. 52. Yes. Yeah. So again, I hear those claims of people saying uh hip-hop is the a house and the house of hip-hop. Everybody else that is after the fact is a guest of hip-hop. But I think it's so they limit the concept of hip-hop being a cultural thing. M because it's moved on from worldwide now. See, so I'm sorry to say, but it's not We've been in that culture. Like the Latino kids, the Puerto Rican kids, the black kids growing up together in the Bronx all together were literally the ones that were amongst each other kind of sort of exploring these things that was going to become something bigger than they were. You know what I mean? A lot of culture as well. And like again like like similarity with forico it really comes from like the culture very like roots from like like not necessarily well within city but within like Laente within La Rasa you know it's a lot of root to it and that's mostly what it was about in general. I don't think they ever imagined this could be this worldwide phenomenon that reach so many things and we're going to talk about it as well as the ultimate peak of certain things that reach u you know from you know Grammy nominations to you know just in general being on the Olympics things like that that people don't even realize that has happened but again it's always like the hip-hop term of rap which is not we want to clarify there's four elements and depending who you're talking about there's even a fifth element and even more elements sometimes because of it is true. It has been changing over time. It has been growing over time. And uh one of the funny things is that hip-hop is 53 years old, you know, going on 53 years old. We have something similar to Latinos Mexicos, which is coridos, right? Some people could say, is very similar to hip-hop. Of course, the elements, the the instruments of music are different, but what do we do in coridos? We tell stories. We talk about the struggles. We talk about love sometime is uh political sometimes to celebrate a hero a war hero. So all those things are and then they the pattern of is kind of like in in rhythm too in poetry tamian. So what's not to say that technically you can say that that's one of the original OG raps. Yeah for sure. Definitely. Yeah. now like even then like when I was going into it like I wasn't like I didn't see necessarily the connection I wasn't very aware but like now when you look into it and see and like there's like meaning behind the songs there's some message behind the song there's a purpose you know it has a lot of representation and it's like wow like like you take a lot of things for granted sometimes and sometimes you don't open your eyes to see what's like outside you know like what's more into it. Yeah. for you as far as uh DJing, did you ever of course you realize that that was a it's kind of difficult not pressing buttons at the time. So as far as like the DJing element itself, anything shocked you as far as the things that you've looked into recently? Well, I would just say the representation because like I just had the general not the general idea but the general perspective of like oh it's just partying or it's just talking about drugs or stuff like that, you know, not necessarily like the whole representation of the whole meaning behind it, the whole community to it. Like there's a lot to it and especially like if you really analyze like the songs there's like really it really talks about like the struggle that the community is going through and like even being soft sometimes too because even when it comes to like rap a lot of people take it like as aggressive and etc. But there's songs that as well like represent love or represent like the strength of the like the community, the family. And it's it's it's nice to like be more aware, you know, but like and again like I I want to get more educated about it too. Absolutely. One of the other DJs that is also notable as far as the Latino and the history of hiphop is DJ Charlie Chase, Puerto Rican descent. uh he was very he was one of the ones that was incorporating salsa the percussion and Latin rhythms into the uh mixing of of the whenever you were in a party. So before that time there was not a lot of DJs that were doing that but we have such amazing salsa specifically during those times in the 70s it was already all over the place. this DJ just happened to be able to say, "Oh, we have this amazing drums. We have this amazing this. We can incorporate it into the beat." And the breaking part is where the B boys and the bee girls were do their thing. And that's how it all came together. That's another one that actually incorporated some of his upbringing, seeing salsa being played all over the place. And I'm like, "Okay, we got this thing hip-hop coming around this DJing part. Why can't I incorporate this part into it?" And all of a sudden now you have another element, another addition to the hip-hop the DJing part that it wasn't it wasn't around before. Yeah. He was again I don't doubt there was your opinion when you were the whatever that was giving credit for it. But as far as the books and people that I give credit to he was one of the ones that incorporated Latino sounds into mixing which is pretty neat. Did you ever consider that in in uh DJing there was any point of time that maybe some of our sounds like Sasa will be incorporated at all whatsoever? Well, it makes sense now, but like originally no not at all. another uh again once again one of the uh disco whis main one but DJ Charlie Chase also another very and these days to today in 2026 when we talking about DJ because a lot of the times you'll find the DJs on parks on parties and house parties and event centers but these days you still find all the DJs doing their thing sometimes whenever you were protesting sometimes whenever you have events that are socially related and things like that so You still find them supporting the things that we do without even realizing that the history goes even deeper. Yeah, of course. Even when it comes to kinetta like, you know, they're like right there centered. And that's a lot of work. By the way, I do some DJing and I do MCing. So, for me was more of the MCing. The MCing, not the rapping part, but supporting the DJ as the DJ is playing his thing. Cuz again, if you DJ, you know that it's a lot of concentration and a lot of like getting to go to a thousand songs to get the songs, get ready for the next one to transition over. And then sometimes it's hard for you to be able to just talk on the mic and be able to do that because you got to stay focused, right? So you have to kind of sort of plan out the things. So that's why a lot of DJs will bring me on to be the MC master ceremony. So, I'll be able to transition, not only make announcements about a kinera, a wedding, grand entrances, but also as the party's happening, hyping people up, getting them invited to the dance floor, getting them excited, make them shout, make them scream. And I'm one of the top bilingual uh MC's there is. Y'all heard it here. I'm telling you, because it's pretty neat to be able to do bounce from both. You can literally speak fluently English, but with the certain things that you say that make people want to do stuff and move. And then you have the Spanish that I'm in. Cuz if you don't know how to say the wrong thing or say the right rhythm and get them excited, then they'll be like, "Okay, what's going on?" And like a lot of people don't ne like it's really like an everyday basis too because for example like currently there's Coachella right now and like there's like there's DJs right there too, you know, and it's it's a lot to it. No, it's a lot of it's a lot of work that people don't take for granted. They feel like it's a lot easy and uh sometimes they don't want to pay the your price tag, but they wouldn't do it because it's not easy to do. No. And it's and it's a whole art form, you know, and a lot of people don't understand like what it takes, you know, because like in order to do that, you have to learn and there's a lot of discipline or even like the like cuz I'm not very aware, but I know like I imagine those are very expensive like to just do that. Yeah, it's expensive. So from the DJing, we kind of sort of transitioning over to the uh we got the light that came off. Great. So we transitioned over to the rapping part. So, back in the days, the DJ had an MC and wasn't a rapper yet. He was all he was doing is kind of sort of saying a few things over the beat like maybe I if you having a great time, let me hear you say yeah or kind of sort of making a movement. Maybe here and there he'll bust a little rap that he was improving. So, there was nothing recording at that time. So, there was a lot of that. So the DJ and the MC work part in part for the party to be able to make people feel great and incorporate a couple of things here and there and then you know it slowly it morph into being rap right. So did you ever thought about that that kind of sort of is the relationship that it happens because a lot of times you see the DJ and you see a guy like okay so I thought they were connected together which it it is a connection you know but I I wouldn't necessarily like separate them. I thought there were like like best of both worlds, you know, and same thing with for a lot of people think like within mariachi and the diane it's like one but it's actually like two elements within the whole culture. It's exactly the same thing for the DJ and the MC uh relationship. Back in the days there was that that that's how it initiated started but they're definitely two individuals and then eventually the MC and morph into rapping. So the guys were getting really good, I'd be able to as the break was happening and there was room for them to say something as the next song was coming along that will bust a couple of things here and there. So it's crazy how people were starting realizing like wait a minute maybe there's something that we can do there that could be like an entire song. Yeah. And from that thing that happened from them dudes just freestyling something to all of a sudden now boom we have actual songs. Right. Yeah. Did uh what was your favorite song, very very first rap song you ever heard for you? I don't know it by the top of the the name of it, you could say. Cuz I'm not really within within this, you could say, but I would say an artist that I would really like tie back in would be Eminem. Eminem. I would really tie it back in because like growing up like that was kind of like the the artist during that time you could say but I would say yeah but I'm not very too familiar if I'm going to be honest. Okay. So I was born in Mexico. I got here when I was 11 many years ago and shortly after a few years I heard Bone Thugs and Harmony Crossroad. Mhm. So Bone Thugs and Harmony Crossroad is a very unique song back in the 90s. I heard the song and English wasn't even my dominant language at that time. I was just beginning to learn the culture and English. So when I heard that song, I'm like, what is that? And then I seen them perform at MTV and they were wearing all white and they were see you at the crossroad crossroads you be. And the way they were spitting so fast and sometimes you couldn't even understand what they were saying. I'm like, oh my god, what the heck is this? This sounds freaking fantastic. From that moment on till all my teeny years and beyond, I was like heavy on trying to learn more about everything there was. Later on, the uh breaking that we're going to talk about came to mind and and everybody in their mama during that time was when you go to a violet back in the 90s, people were actually battling out in basis all the time. Uhhuh. You'll find the homies outside the B list with uh cardboards here in Dallas, Texas or the Dallas Fort area or here in Texas in general or probably all throughout the United States with their cardboards practicing their moves, battling each other out. Wow. At that time. Wow. So yeah, the as first as soon as I heard that particular song, I was like rapping that's my thing. I need to learn everything about it. I need to hear all the time and hurry up and understand the language in general because I didn't know anything. I'm getting I'm still struggling trying to learn English and say the right words and all of a sudden you got this dude just I'm like what is this? It's fantastic. Do you remember the first time you ever listened to Eminem? I do, but I I think honestly it was I kind of not that I necessarily blame my community, but within my community when it came to like rapping or just like the idea of hip-hop, it was seen more of like a negative perspective because there's like a lot going on. Like sometimes there's like rap about drugs, you know, but it's a lot of like more of like the representation, you know, but like even like that scene within my community as like portrayed of something bad, that is something we basically avoided, you know, and like growing up like like when it came to that music, it was always something that would like change the radio or like even in schools like they wouldn't allow like for you to like listen to that music or it was always like something they would skip. See, that's what I don't like sometimes because it is true. Certain songs are just not it for people to and kids to hear, right? But then you hear a lot and you start taking away a certain bad words and listen to the profound sound of messaging of the songs itself and they all talk about struggle because what they're projecting or what they're singing about or rapping about is what they had to deal with in order to do this. This particular person grew up nothing around nothing but drug dealers and the pimps and everything else and that's all he knew his world was to be. So how come nobody went and grabbed a hand to him and put him over here on this side? Nobody he there was nobody for him to be help but that's all he saw his role models at that time. So that individual either he sold drugs or rap about that because that's how he was getting his money. Right? Granted, I'm not saying that it's justifiable, but that's just his way that he grew up in. And then all of a sudden, now he made something that came from the heart because that's that was his reality. To be able to come out with a song that everybody in the neighborhood kind of sort of can relate and any other neighborhood all over the US can kind of sort of can relate cuz they came exactly from that same background that that person did. And now they're doing a lot better because they came up into some money and they now they're they're living a better life, right? And you can say that ties in with goritos like same thing with goritos. There's goritos about drugs, about struggles, about like like you know like going in like the cortillos and stuff like that. But like a lot of people from an outside perspective is like oh like that's bad that's negative you know which it can be seen and it's understandable you know but it's a lot about like the struggle of like you could say of not well you could say in a way of survival but like overcoming those challenges or how those certain situations help cope or like hide pain you know. So like even that ties in with goritos, but like a lot of people just like to break the association as well. And you're right, those are very similar because a lot of them want to go from nothing racks to riches, you know, from not having a darn thing to be able to make something of themselves and have a lot of money and be somebody in society that is doing way better, right? You know, from eating freaking bologn sandwiches to steaks. And some of those lyrics are kind of similar things. Same thing for somebody that's in unfortunately got into the narco life or whatever is because there was no way for them to make any money. Nothing was growing, let's say, in the ground. There was no other option. They didn't have no money to go anywhere else. So, they just had to do what they had to do to survive. No excuse as to the criminality behind it. But that doesn't mean that like that's why Robin Hood and all those individuals that made it or anybody that came a story from the bottom. That's why Drake's song coming from the bottom over here. thinking about that. Same thing. It's the same thing. They were came from nothing to something bigger for themselves of doing whatever they were doing, telling their story. And it so happened to be that it's crazy that other people were so into the song. The lyrics hit so deeply. They're like, "Oh, that's my story, too. That's my story. I I feel why he's saying the things that he's saying cuz that was me, right?" You know, so that's why I don't like the negative connotation of the hip-hop because Yes. But if you listen a little deeper, you'll be able to kind of sort of like if you take away the judgment part and be able to kind of sort of just listen to the in the the story that he's telling you about how much he struggled, how bad he had it, how he was in like literally mud because there's a lot of the the terminology gets used from the mud to be being better for himself because he literally went through some ish to be able to get out of there and be better now, you know? So that's why I don't like it sometimes. I hear it. I see what you mean. And I don't like much of the druging the consumption consuming drug type of rapping, but I can see why uh they talk about it because it's just their their daily life, right? And and and fortunately for people that they're were never in that situation. They never had to deal with that. But unfortunately, there is people that have to deal with that every day even till this day, right? you know, so some of the most uh very very first credited hip hop is uh Ko Lorac and uh doing that party era where her was one of the MC's and the very first Latino that is credited MC is Prince Whipper Whip out of the Museum of Pop Culture identify as Puerto Rican descent and there's also he was a member of the Grand Wizard Theodore and the Fantastic 5. So people that know are heavy heavy purist hip hop individuals will know about this guy. Did you know there was a Latino that was one of the very first Latino MC's ever in the history of the birth of what's happening at that time at all? Not at all. For the same reason. I've never made the association, you know. It was just more of like oh like hip-hop is more of a New York thing and more of more of like the Afro community. for folklorico. What is some of the um one of the credited founders of folklorico you would say? Was there a particular organization individual that they kind of sort of were credited for? Yes, there's actually um so a lot of people make the association of like oh like bal forcico like one of the founders is Amaland which is like known for like the balico in Mexico but it wasn't just Amaland like Amaland was like one of the pioneers to be well recognized but like there was bal for like many years before she came about like not only that but it's regional right it's more it's more rooted it's more like you know But it came it came together with an Amalia which is an influential person but it's not just her. Like there's more to it. There's more history. There's more background to it. Okay. We're going to be wrapping up the rapping part of the element. The rap or hiphop seeing but the Latinos deserve in addition to whipper whip. There's uh also some people might not know this but there's a Lberto disco al Calvo uh which here in Texas San Antonio Express in back in 1980 the bounce rap is credited to be one of the first raps ever in Texas and then of course Kipar elevated the history uh which Larasa that a lot of us know and there was something about chicanos in general and that anthem itself and then you have mellow ace which uh a lot of people is the first gold recorded by a Latino MC. And then you take Cypress Hill as Latino that went mainstream fusing what is a metal type with a Latin funk sensibility and you can hear it because it was different and you can kind of sort of see that. And not only that, but they also struggled because Melamman was a Afro Latino that was light-skinned that he was in New Mexico in that area somewhere. And there a lot of individuals saw him as a like, why is he a black dude talking Spanish? And then the African-Americans, the black folks would be like, "Why is this light-skinned guy light and talking Spanish, too?" So they were like trying to figure out where they were at doing struggling with both ends of the spectrum, the Mexicans and the blacks. And then they were just in the middle trying to fuse something together and make something for themselves. So it's pretty neat how they they came about to to do their thing. And Melamines of course and Cypal some of you might know my if I'm correct they're brothers. Uh so as far as that's have that connection. So this is the ending of the rapping element. So, we just covered DJing. We covered MCN or rap. And now we're going to get into the graffiti part. Fun graffiti. What do you know about graffiti in general? Well, a lot of association with gangs, a lot of uh breaking the law, you know, breaking the rules. Yeah. So, that was my first like main idea or the first perspective cuz that's how it usually was talked about. Like for example, like if there's graffiti, you get fined. If you get caught, you're put in prison, you know? But there's more to it. Like there's a meaning, there's a message behind graffiti which is very beautiful to know more about too. So as far as to your understanding now, what does it mean? What what did you look into as far as what it is? It's a lot of representation. A lot of of where community comes from a lot of of making your voice heard, you know. I would say I would say so when an institution doesn't really acknowledge that you exist an African kid African-American kid or a Latino kid uh the bigger institutions don't even care to know that you exist then how do you make them to see see you right so out of rebellion you can say or out of just being want to be seen they started doing this art form so they created different things so for the people that don't know what graffiti is yes I understand some individ iduals tag everything in their thing their mama but it was out of like a desperation of like hey I'm here still acknowledge me instead of just like uh just painting this wall because I'm bored it wasn't of that so graffiti is the element of tag throwups pieces burners and murals in spaces spaces um used to proclaim disability style and presence most commonly credited pioneer of uh graffiti is cornbread the strongest earlier documented equivalent to that is Lee Kinones who is officially was tagging back in 1974 and 1984 and is credited that he painted over 120 whole subway cars. Wow. He was busy. No, definitely. And like imagine like even the paint it's expensive to just do that. The thing neato thing about him is not he he wasn't only painting cars like at one time they say in one night they painted about 10 of them. him and his crew cuz it wasn't only him. It was the Fantastic Five. If I'm not mistaken, it was five of them. But his thing was he's very strategic like the the card. He knew which line was going to go where and and and that particular card was going to get more visibility as his made his route. So, he will purposely tag certain cards because he knew that tagging it will get more eyes on it as he did his route in New York. Wow. Like I like you like I mentioned there. a lot of meaning, a lot of message and then same thing if you tie it in with like the like even when it comes to murals like there's some message behind it like like a lot of representation of like what's going on in today's spaces or like for example there's been a lot of murals of like people who have passed away or who've been killed you know like Vanessa like from what's it called from Fort Hood like there's murals of her you know and it's a lot of representation and then same thing when it comes to graffiti there's a lot of representation a lot of history there's more to it than just a paintwork. So when you come to a point of frustration where you don't know where else to do and you have the ability to be able to write something because sort of out of outrage and be able to do something to at least do something for yourself, have an outlet to to do that. I mean, I get it that people don't like it because it might not be so appealing, but for them, it's art and it's expression and it's frustration for things they're going on that they don't want to feel helpless and they feel like they can do this, you know, right? And to be visible, too. To be visible. That's that's mostly the main thing uh for the ladies. I don't know if yall knew these ladies, but Lady Pink, not the rapper lady, but Lady Pink, Ecuadorian American, is one of the ones that has uh found a pioneer in regards to tagging or graffiti as far as the ladies go. She was uh one of the uh pioneering ladies graffiti and uh all over the place as well. So, that's another um another Latino that is was in the mix during that time. So, I don't know if you know this, but also graffiti during the AIDS uh pandemic or the AIDS crisis, a lot of the protests and things like that, taggers and painters graffiti, we're actually doing and using that to protest as well with the things that were happening. It's not a rare, but it makes sense like I see the connection, you know, again, because you were feel like nobody's listening, the government, anybody is not doing anything. How else can you kind of sort of show if that's kind of the thing that you like to do and you have a gift for it because I couldn't tag my name to save my life but other people make some amazing pictures and you made a great point to now you have murals of people of making a stand for things standing for something trying to find justice for this particular person and still to this day there's no justice behind and like hey don't forget about this individual that something happened and still there's no accountability accountability for them you know like like we mentioned, there's more to it. There's a lot of meaning as well. Yeah. When it comes to the actual Mexican-American Cass Bo Hor is the Mexican-Americ that's recognized in the Smithsonian American Art and Museum, bringing Chic Graffiti into the established art world. So, Mexican-Americans been in and part of hip-hop for a long time as well. I get it. It was established. I I like to say it like this when it comes to hip-hop. I was going to say at the end, but I think this is the moment. So, spaghetti, you think of a spaghetti, you just think of a dish, right? But spaghetti, if it wasn't because of the noodles, and it wasn't because the incorporation of tomatoes from the Americas and everything else that goes into all the spices, you would never have a dish of spaghetti. You would just have noodles with tomato juice. But because of all the incorporation of different cultures putting it together now spaghetti is like an amazing dish that yes uh you could say it's Italian but in general it comes with history just like balorico all the infusion of uh maybe span culture maybe indigenous culture maybe this type of culture all of a sudden now it just becomes what it is so it's a whole melting pot it's a whole melting pot so hiphop itself whether we wanted it or not the kids Latino kids and black kids were, you know, intertwining living amongst themselves in the neighborhoods and they were all bringing their cultures together to form this amazing cultural thing dish that is hip-hop too, not just the house, right? Bigger than that. Yeah. Way bigger. Yeah. Yeah. So, for you, did you uh did you ever when you doing have you done any art in general and painting for you? Well, you could say yes. not very too like it's not too much of my specialty but even then when it comes to like the vestario there's certain visuals that are like hand painted and can only be hand painted you know and then that's where like your art goes into it you know like the hand painting even when it comes to more of like like just artwork itself what's the name of it it's it's like a I forgot the name of it is it a technique or a paint it's It's like there's the embroidering which is an also an artwork but there's also like artwork with tint like the metal that they really like it's I forgot what the name of it but there's like a whole artwork to it and it's oh yeah like it's rooted from like the community you know but it all has its specialty but like I mentioned it's not like stronger you know but even then it's all composed within Fort Glorico because within Fort Glorico it's the music it's the dancing it's the costume, it's the culture, it's the history, like a whole melting pot. But there's a lot to it and there's always five elements going into it. You see, there's a lot to it. And like I mentioned within Florico, you have the traditional forico which is more indigeno academic which is seen in universities and then the spectacular which is more like show presence like you know and it all has the all the whole contributions. Have you uh ever have to you know do um paint your own dress or were part of creating your own dress? I was part of it. I was creating um a dress for Sinaloa which is the coast you could say um for Sinaloa mystiso because there's Costa which is more of like a lot of skirt work a lot of mus you know but mystiso is more a little bit more indigenous and then not too much um not too much skirt work you know but with those dresses it is hand painted so there's a lot of there's a lot of history so y graffiti in them dresses pretty much that's pretty neat I did not know that. And again in in forico itself kind of like okay so let's backtrack just a little bit. The hip-hop the hip-hop went all I mean the rapping part it went all over the place like you had you New York and then for a long time you had east coast rappers only biging them and then before you know it went to west coast Houston area too and then we had Houston uh for a long time there was the the DJ schools and you name it they were infusing different uh innovating the sound and then you have now ATL Atlanta was had a long run for a long time and now right now there's a lot of uh lat Latino Mexican-American rappers rappers here in Texas, they have a lot of strong foothold. And then you have your California still the Chicago style type gangster type of rapping that you have as well. And then just in general, your main guys that are just like mainstream hip hop that you listen to on the radio. Even and even then within Texas like the what the perspective of like hiphop world within our culture you know it's different what we see like within North Texas what we see in Houston area and even as well within the borderlands like like be it in Mallen like that's something that's not really touched base into of like hip-hop for the same reason that it's not very like very seen or very visible for the same reason that it's more of like the Russa community and like Russa tries. It's obviously they're protective, you know, but it's avoidance too or a lot of ignorance as well. So, to wrap up the uh tagging or graffiti, a lot of people call tagging graffiti. I never parttook. That's one of the elements that I never actually uh dip my fingers in. But as far as like literally from the streets painting out of frustration to try to make a statement to be seen to, you know, being in the trains and be able to see their magnificent work cuz some of them are like, man, they're so neat. And then all the way to now in museums and, you know, exhibitions and murals all over that people actually asking for. There's very a lot of artists that are out there that are doing murals and things. not only here in the uh DFW area, but I'm pretty sure RVG as well that uh now are doing that compared to what he was in the initial times in part of the hip-hop element to what is that now? So, it's incredible to see. Okay, moving on to break breaking break dancing. What do you know about break dancing? When I hear break dancing, what is the first things that come to mind for you? A lot of movement for sure. Um getting your hands on the ground for sure. um footwork, like just those elements you could say, but it's a lot about like the beat as well. So, it's going dancing to the rhythm, dancing to the beat, like break dancing, you know? Yeah. It's a lot to it and as well um ties in with the music too. Absolutely. So, break dancing, if you don't know, break dancing is the dance element of hip-hop uh which is again the four pillars. B boying or B girling built uh from battle footwork, freeze style and power moves to the break uh breakbeat. The most factual origin of the statement is not just one single innovation. Uh it's uh World Dance Sports Federation says that the earliest innovation to break is African-American and Puerto Rican in the Bronx back in the mid 1970s all the way to the 1970s again when the DJs Kher started formulating the breaking that's when the B boying breaking break dancing that's kind of sort of how they incorporated now you have the B boys the B girls doing their moves and all of a sudden now you have a thing that's happening and That the cool thing about that that 1973 party all the elements were there. There was graffiti, there was dancers, there was the MCing and there was the DJing happening all at the same time in that day of that party the memorable birthday of hip-hop. Wow. Yeah. So for you, have you ever tried it at all? Have you ever take because there's a bunch of hip-hop classes in general that you can go and take classes and things like that. I mean, I've taken classes within hip-hop, but not my like specialty, you know, but I do see a lot of similarities with like if we tie it in back with bal forcico when it comes to like the roots of like Afrouban, you know, Caribbeans, same thing within forclo if you look at more of like what's Yugatan Cruz, it's a lot of roots from Africa, from Cuba as well. So yeah, you got your your tenos with the different elements, the different beats, uh the drums, then you have your indigenous way back in Africa that So the way that it kind of sort of works um let's say in a time stamp was individuals that were brought in as slaves to Africa. Some of land in the Caribbeans, they were uh interacted with the dyenos, which is the indigenous individuals or whatever native was there at that time. Before you know it, they after years they kind of sort of like became a thing and then all of a sudden their elements were incorporated into what the natives already have and before you know it, you started creating different sounds which again that's part of the birth of salsa which is the same thing. Salsa is called salsa because it incorporates all those things because it has the element of the tyenos because it has the European thing because the European cording thing because you have all these other things that fuse together to make this amazing sound and then not to mention moving for in salsa you have incorporating the jazz incorporate all the other things and it's just been a mix of things over time. Yeah. So it's interesting that a lot of the times it does come from African descent and African um instruments is it brought in that were forcibly brought in even the chanting and the songs sometimes come from some of the same things. See? Yeah. So for you as far as uh would you ever give it a shot of break dancing? Okay. So for me, I might have or might have not done or tried to break dance really, but it was in my room trying to dance some of the moves and maybe in a B or two, I might have busted a move, but there was no impact behind it cuz nobody said nothing. So I'm like, okay, I suck. I need to stop this. This is not for me. I mean, as a dancer, you have to be open to like all dance genres, you know? Obviously my you could say my strong root is within ballet for clico but I wouldn't necessarily close my doors into like break dance you know like learning more to it obviously it's going to take time you know but I'm I mean I'm open to it absolutely so one of the most recognizable names as far as Latinos go in the element is a Puerto Rican by the name of Crazy Legs. So Crazy Legs, one of the pioneer B boy dancers that there ever was and credited and you can still hear his name all over the place as far as one of the ones. There was other B boys already prior to him. Uh they were doing it, but it's the very first one of the credited very first Latinos is Crazy Legs. And if you're a purist into the hip hop, you heard the name over and over again. And it's again Puerto Rican descent, Latino. Wow. Yeah. Cool story. Yeah. I know yall seen the episode with my boy Louis the Great. uh he was one of the ones that as it still hasn't been solidified in documents yet but I seen the videos of him uh doing a particular move which the continuous air flare that before him other people try to take credit of that move and but he did it in 93 and the other uh recorded video is from 94 if I'm not mistaken so not only Louie is into hip-hop, but Louie knows all. He actually can do all of them. He can break dance. He used to be one of the B boy, United B Boys here in Dallas, Texas. United B Boys are very recognizable, not only here in Texas, but in Houston because of the name itself. The group was very solidified back in the 90s. They were competing. They were go all over the place um creating moves, um battling anybody in their mama. One thing about break dancing that a lot of people don't realize is that the reason why people were break dancing is so they would not fight each other. So it was a way of battling each other without actually creating violence and fighting amongst each other. So that's the reason why it was actually done. Battle each other out to settle something instead of doing it with your fist. Right? And then same thing within within the dance like other dance forms and other dance genre like capa I believe it's from Brazilap and it's considered within a martial arts form but as well it's dancing. Yeah it's very neat by the way uh a lot of capoa moves kids could use in break dancing. So break dancing uses not only just dancing in general but they incorporate their own moves their own way of doing things. Of course, there's your basic things, but then you have your power moves, your air flares, your all kinds of stuff. Swap that facial expressions as well. It's an incorporation. Yes. And then, of course, you incorporate some of the martial art things and some of the Olympic moves that even before it was an Olympic thing, they were already doing certain moves. So, it's interesting. So, my boy Louie does all of them. He does the rapping. He does the graffiti. Really great artist. He goes, "Okay, so let me if I can remember us." So, his artist name is Louis the Great or Lucito Grande and I think he's going through a change right now. His uh tagger name is Oxygen and then his uh B boy name is Logo. So, he the only one that I feel like he does a little bit but not so much, but he supports a lot of the DJs here in the DFW area. And and again, he's Mexican descent. So, Mexico, so he does all of those things. The only one that I feel like again he doesn't do is the DJing part, but he does host a lot of different things. I don't doubt that he can do a couple things here and there with the DJing part, but he definitely uh incorporates a lot of dudes that are um in the DJing spectrum. The natural the the scratchers, the real I wouldn't want to say real DJs, but the ones that are really into the craft of of of scratching and you know kind of sort of still do vinyl and things like that that other people nowadays don't do. I I'm a DJ of a controller DJ like I have my setup that I do and have all the music in the world but not that scratching part so much right now proficiently. So yeah. Wow. Yeah. Do you know anybody that's into the hip-hop culture at all now these days? Did you meet anybody that into like knew a little more than your average individual about hip-hop? Not necessarily. Not necess Yeah. I'm the only one pretty much. I mean, my professor from the my professor, um, Dr. Rodriguez, he's he knows all the gist to it. Like, he's he's obviously a professor within the University of the Real Grand Valley and also the director of the program, the Mexican-American studies program for undergrad and grad program, but he's the one that actually developed a hip-hop class at the Valley. So, we're into So, you're pioneer for the vocalico, here's pioneer for the hip-hop. Uh, professor, please take it easy on the comments. Uh, if there's corrections, please did not stop. I don't stop from correcting me so I can uh correct the record. But for the most part, these are some of the things that I looked into the most common knowledge about this individuals being credited for this. Now, is there other individuals that maybe they were less popular that maybe their name was not in the record books of doing the first thing in pioneering? I don't doubt it. It's like everything, you know, right? Uh, I don't doubt that there's maybe an individual that was the first ever rapper, even Latino before things and nobody gives him credit because nobody knew. But down the line, down the family's history, they know that he did it, you know? Right. That's true. Yeah. Were you going to say something? I'm sorry. No, no, no. I was just reflecting as well like that's very true. Like a lot of people don't really know necessarily like who the pioneer was or like who how it was rooted, you know, but there's they're there. Yeah. So again, before Cool Herk, there was other DJs already doing certain things, but it so happened to be that the the way that he was breaking the beats kind of sort of made it stand out to the point to where I don't want to say the world stopped, but the world did kind of stop for a second to be like, what is this? So it was so important that even the birth of hip-hop is from that party to that date in August that they say that that was the birth of hip-hop. Now is there a counterargument for other people saying opposite and things because there was already other DJs back in the 60s already doing stuff because there was already uh people from uh Jamaica already doing parties and kind of sort of talking over the beat. Yeah, there is. It's not saying that they're not. but its own fusion of what it was doing and created that was slightly different is him cool herk and going forward the whole building bro yes a whole different so again shout out to my boy Louisie uh again one of the main things uh as far as here in the Dallas area that is hasn't been solidified and credited but I don't doubt if I'm not mistaken there's been things that been submitted in to to uh give him credit for the things that he done and the crew and uh also So the um I mean just in general just to do the thing crazy things about break dancing man back in the days I know you don't see it so much but back in the days man I'm telling you and kinas in the middle of the viol you bust of a freaking battle right aside most of the basar where there was a a dance hall or whatever they were break dancing man these guys were devoted these guys with I don't know if you know what dragon Ball Z is so dragon Ball Z is an anime and they used to do what's the hyperbolic chamber with the hyperabolic chamber was like a it kind of uh it was a machine that kind of uh increase the gravity so it'll be heavier for you to walk. So these guys will be dancing in concrete or dancing in uh cardboard t uh um cardboard in general and then they will put weights on themselves and things like that to be able to be more agile for the next time they have to battle somebody. So these guys are really training for battle battle. Yeah, it's insane. Like a lot of people, they just think it's a dance. Same thing with forico. They just think it's a dance, but like they don't necessarily understand like the sweat and tears it takes to present that. What is the uh extreme amount of training that you done for for clico to to get you conditioning to be able to dance like at least four or five events for a weekend or more? I mean, when it comes to me, I tell people it's just I tell people I'm like, if I'm not either dancing, I'm at the gym for the same reason that I have to condition myself, especially being a soloist, like performing through like 30 minutes to an hour and then being outside too. Like it's a lot because sometimes I have like three to four performances like a day, you know, and like four to five times a week. Like it's a lot of conditioning. It's a lot of training and pushing your body to the limits as well. But like obviously not to because then again if I'm not okay or if I'm not well I can't perform or I can't perform to my potential or to my fullest you know. So it's always it's a tricky road obviously it's very tricky. What is the most amount of performance that you you done in a day or let's say in the weekend starting Friday and then in Sunday evening? I mean I feel like it's usually during Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from September 15 to October 15th. Mhm. I think there was like a week where I had performances like every day like obviously when it's like September 15th, September 16 up to like three to like up to three performances like outside, you know. But the performances throughout the week like every day performance every day, man. Yeah. Two or three times. Sometimes two to three times. And then when it's Texas heat outside. Outside. And then keep in mind it's like not only am I dancing, you're I'm wearing heels as well. Yeah, I'm performing on heels. Sometimes I'm performing on concrete, which is concrete, which is not the safest thing to do to perform on heels, you know. And then for Glorico dresses too, man. Which are heavy like for example, sometimes I hear you girl. Sometimes the dress can weigh up to like 8 to 10 lbs. Like it's like it waits like it's a lot of like for this to make the skirt work you need you know and so you need I mean muscles to be able to to do all those fancy moves. I'm like I look I might look small but I dig all my muscles. No you have to you have to be able to have some uh muscle mass to be able to do the all the wave. It looks freaking beautiful but you make it look easy cuz hours and hours of it easy passion to it. Amazing. So again, uh, break dancing recently. Oh, I hope it comes back because the last showing, so eventually, I don't know if you know this, but break dancing actually made it to the Olympics. So he went from in the streets, people kind of sort of like dancing in the break to uh not trying to beat up each other to now being in the Olympics. And hopefully he stays, but it's not going to be a showing in 2026 because of things that y'all seen online and things that happened of people that were, how can I say it? People knew people and those people allowed those people to be part of one of the actual athletes athlete quote unquote for them, not for the actual break dancers because the actual breakdancer, they're hardcore, right? But that particular person did not deserve to be in that category of Olympians to perform or or compete in an Olympic level. Because if you just right now go on YouTube and do break dancing street moves, you'll be able to see the crazy things that are capable of doing that is very similar to some of the things that you see on gymnastics and different things like that. But unfortunately because of that show and I don't even know the name. I'm not really a care to bother to look into who her name was. It sucks that there was an opportunity for something fantastic as break dancer to be part of it and be a serious thing to make it almost into a joke. Yeah. Of the showing of the last Olympics. And it's unfortunate because it takes sometimes it takes one person like to play you know like a lot of people well we're human beings but we tend to see more of the negative aspect rather than the positive you know or like the greater outcome. And it's it always gets tricky when it comes to the thing that uh the thing that ticks me off the most is the politics behind it of the reason why the person was able to even make it through because even the people that were organizing and selecting the people they were like that was her husband or something like that of that lady that showed. So you know what I mean just not aware. So it was a lot of politics behind it where it could have been fantastic but it was not. No, but like even then if we tie in with like break dancing like you it's an everyday use honestly it's a whole art form you know it's and it's to take serious because it's a professional artwork for the same reason you have like a lot of artists who are touring right now and they use like backup dancers and a lot of the moves that they're doing it's break dancing now people don't take that into consideration it's just like oh they're just dancing but like no more to it you see you try to do it for a second see how it feels is like so again at its peak so far because I don't doubt it's going to go away but it reached the Olympics. Break dancing has reached the Olympics. It was at the Olympics and it made a show on in 2024 if I'm not mistaken. So it's great that it started from something in the streets to with the idea of people not hurting themselves to all the way to the Olympics. Wow. It's insane. That's neat. It's insane to see how far come. Okay. So again as I mentioned earlier depending on who you're asking there is a fifth element which is knowledge or knowledge of self of consciousness some people call it and this name has been coming up on the news recently on social media Africa Bombat uh unfortunately he passed away uh which created the universal Sulu nation and is uh credited with uh pretty much kind of sort of the philosophy of hiphop and the culture and kind of sort of giving it like a structure And maybe they didn't call it the elements, but that's where the actual formation of the elements or the pillars of hip-hop originated from from that particular group. And that he's been again, I don't know what happened. There's been accusations on this gentleman that unfortunately he passed away of uh sexual misconduct and all kinds of other stuff. But unfortunately sad that he passed away. But you know can't take away the fact that whatever he did this is part of the things that were um formed for hip hop and the pillars and that's why we talk about the things that we talk about these days. So yeah. Did you know have you ever heard that name at all? Africa Bombado? No. Sulu nation at all? Yeah. So, I've been uh going through the DNC, the um DJ battles, because right now you still have DJ battles. You know, you can actually they have them yearly where DJs go and and spin and scratch and there's a whole ordeal. It's a big deal. So, I believe it's not mistaken, it's called the DNC, which is the uh if I'm not mistaken, but anyways, DJs compete. There's also competitions with break dancers. There's also rap, hip-hop, battling. We didn't talk about too much about that, but rap ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra rapping rap b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b battles where you say one thing and I go and say the the next and there's even programs about it too. Yeah, there's all that and then uh you know graffitiian steel very relevant all over the place. You can see it everywhere still people are doing murals instead of you can still find taggings here and there differently all over the place and I don't think it's ever going to go away. You know they see a nice canvas they have a message like bingo kind of like that. All right. So, as far as uh your take for hip-hop now, um I know it's not a class or a whole entire course, but in general, how does it make you feel to know that 53 going on 53 years of hip-hop history, there's been um it's like a thing now? It's it's like full of richness. And even though you just hear the word hip-hop, you think of rapping, but there's a whole lot more. It's interesting to know now. I'm I'm I mean honestly I'm amazed of seeing how it came about, you know, how it's like really rooted in community and as well like within community like the roots such as like Africa, such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, you know, like there's a lot to it and that's where I tie it in a lot with Florico because within Forgo, it's not just a dance center. It has its art, it has its culture, it has its history, you know, but I'm very amazed to see how it has evolved over time and how it continues to evolve. So, I'm very interested and fascinated to see how it continues to evolving within the Mexican-American like culture and as well and like not necess like not that not necessarily but as well within other communities too because as well it has impacted the Asian community and also it has impacted like the white community too because for example um Eminem like he's not Mexican-American he's not black you know that's someone within like our culture you know within like you know within in the states, but like he also went through struggle like family issues and that's where he found like this art form and like really has paved the way as well. It it's amazing to be able to know that the struggle was happening for them. Their life wasn't easy and they were able to harness that all that pain and all that suffering into something amazing, right? And you're right. A lot of meaning, a lot of meaning. And you're right, like the movement, even though it it initiated in the Bronx, New York back in August, it's worldwide. There's hip-hop uh rapper artists, you know, um there's Korean artists, you name it, there there's they're there and K-pop as well. Yeah. And in competition, you'll see it too as well as far as like the DJing, the MCN, all the everything that you can think of as far as the elements. you have somebody from another culture, another place on earth, planet Earth that is not the US, that are harnessing those skills and the innovation part, right? the innovating part because the DJ from the DJ from him doing two turntables to now the fader which is another element that was incorporated into the DJ that made it easier for go from one one of the uh turntables to the other very easily and uh quicker way to transition to these days the sync button the other buttons that might some DJs might not like but I'm just saying they're there innovating the craft you know a lot of I would say uh main key point that I would take away it's a lot of representation. Yeah, a lot of representation like you mentioned when it comes to the history, the music, the art, very rooted the struggles you know. So if I could say one word I would say representation and there's also a lot of pride because a lot of the individuals um even though there was battling social things happening injustices they were able to use their talents to protest and not only that but pride in who they are. Like if a Mexican American was very proud to be able to rap about this and incorporate it like for example Melman was one of the first ones to be able to include he heard somebody rapping in Spanish but he was one of the ones they incorporate Spanish into the rap and saying words. So he will start a lyric and end it with a Spanish word and that itself had had not been done in the mainstream for a long time to the point to where it got him a gold um all the way gold as far as his record went. Right. So even that, you know, pride of like all these Mexicans don't understand why I speak Spanish. All these uh black folks don't know why I'm lighter and I am the way that I am. But I'm still going to do me. I'm still going to go ahead and put this art and incorporate who I am, the uh me being where I've come from and be able to put those words, Spanish words that is me still, right? And and show the whole world, not just this neighborhood. Yeah. Because even then being in Mallal now pursuing my masters like hiphop is something that is but isn't really touched based on but it really depends on who you're speaking to because for example with my professor Dr. Rodriguez like he grew up like learning about hip-hop like he like that was really like what was home for him you know and like just coming from a background where that wasn't well myself coming from a background where hip-hop wasn't necessarily really touch base for like the stigma it has it's very eye opening you know and a lot of curiosity has emerged of like wanting to know more about like what hip-hop is and as one more cultures too. Yeah. And that's the beautiful thing about um just getting to know more about other things. It's funny to know that I think it's uh a lot of the times uh as far as the global land factor for me is getting to tell people, giving them a window to know the unknown of the Latino community, the Latino culture, cuz I think there's uh fear behind the things you do not know. So if you don't know about hip-hop in general, the history of everything and all you see is the rapping, maybe that is not the nicest word sometimes, then all of a sudden maybe it'll create a negative narrative for you to be like, I don't think it's my thing. But if you realize that some of these things were from struggle uh from the bottom to try to make better for themselves just like just like you know florico I don't know the uh politics behind it but I'm pretty sure they were trying to express something for a reason. What was the reason for forico coming up? As far as it's a lot about representation, a lot about like community as well religion too because within forico it's very rooted based you know but like there's always a meaning behind to each dance ritual representation community festivities weddings you know a lot of like roots you could say. Yeah. And uh we're going to wrap it up soon. So, thank you very much for helping me get this going and uh I got all the by the way hip-hop maybe a album cover type of shirt. So, that's amazing. Fact right here. So, go to the website, visit and it could be yours. It looks very hip-hop, doesn't it? Yeah, definitely. So, uh thank you so much for bringing the idea to to me. Again, when you said it, I was like, "Girl, you you need to uh not leave it to the last minute, but oh, I'm so excited to be able to do it because I really enjoy talking about hip-hop as well." Because again, from my very first interaction with hip-hop, learning about again bone thugs and harmony to then later on learning about California, Little Rob type of hip-hop and the way that he was incorporating that rap and the way that he was uh blending the oldies with the new new type of way to be able to even the SPMs that a lot of people don't like, but still it is what it is. He's can't deny his lyrics, lyrical ability, uh to the baby bashes, the hit platinum to Larasa to all these other things to even at one point trying to break dance, but now currently DJing and MCing still whenever you brought that I'm like I'm your perfect guy. Exactly. And there is fear into it for the same reason that I have like a lot of people have the perspective that it's just a for political dancer just rooted in Mexicanamean identity or just in Mexico you know but as well hiphop does tie in with the Mexicanamean like history you know like our roots and everything. So there is like a bit of hesitation or a bit of fear because I feel like I'm stepping into something that I'm not very too knowledgeable as well and I don't and I you could say I didn't want to necessarily disrespect too cuz it's something that I'm not very aware or very still you know still getting educated but I'm glad I did reach out you know in comparison to Florico is a lot uh younger hip-hop but it has its own history and within its DNA whether people argue or not about it and they to not be happy about it. Latinos been there in the inception all the way to the first one of the most first photographers uh of Puerto Rican descent, Joe, uh that was taking pictures back in the days of of documenting all these things that were happening over and we were right there on the pictures too. We were not too far from it. I mean, we were here within the seats, you know. Yeah. And then too now Real Coros taking the big chains and everything that you know of course it is influenced from hip-hop but at the same time they're doing their own type of of genre of music. Yeah. Even it ties in with fashion as well because like artists like Besso Pluma they have like the you could say like the fashion choice of like what's used like in New York which is like an everyday basis you know but that's also like influential within. Absolutely. Before I let you go, Tiffany, for I let you go like you remember my guest. Before we go, please tell them about your social media. Where can they find you at? Yeah, of course. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook. On Instagram as Tiffany_Y_FKlor and then on Facebook Lia Tiffany Rodriguez or you can even Google search me, Claudia Tiffany Rodriguez or even Bal for Chllorico. I found out a few days ago if you search it Bal for Glorico, the first image that pops up is me. What? You see that's awesome. Congratulations though. This was another special edition episode of the Global Latin Factor podcast covering hip hop and Latinos there. Been there since the beginning, the DNA, the inception of hip-hop. We always been there and we continue to innovate the sound itself. Not only again hip-hop four elements, you got your DJing, you got your MC and rapping, you got your graffiti, and you got your break dancing. All those things will being in there innovating and creating and making it even bigger than what it is with the most respect and be able to show that we are part of that part of the the the history of hip-hop whether we want it or not. It is what it is. And without a shadow of a doubt once again we are just like you. We are people. We'll add the spice and flavor in this melting pot that it is the world. Till next time.