How tha West Was Won Review

Tags: 2009, How tha West Was Won

Freestyle Sessions twelve in conjunction with How Tha West Was Won took place this August 22nd and 23rd in Hollywood at Club Circus. Over two thousand Bboys, Poppers, and Lockers came to compete for over $25,000 in cash and prizes. How The West is Won is run by Hugo aka Mr. Smooth, marking this the sixth year of the event. As usual the funkstylers had their own room for cyphers and battles.  

Seventy two poppers representing Taiwan, Korea, Japan, France, and the United States came to battle for bragging rights and $2,000 cash.  Hugo, Sweepy, and Flattop took the challenging task of judging, with Popin’ Pete as this years MC.  Prominent popping battle djs, Dj Rod (Long Beach) and Dj Batsu (Osaka, Japan) came with it on the ones and twos.

Day one consisted of prelims which narrowed it down to the top sixteen. The top sixteen, final four, semi finals, and finals took place on day two.

*Winners in bold

Top Sixteen:

Dizzy vs. Frantick

Farrah (France) vs. Poppin J (Korea)

Kid Boogie vs. Non Stop

Slim Boogie vs. Poppin Tronik

Wei(Taiwan) vs. Jsmooth

Crazy Kyo (Korea) vs. Krazy Bonez (Taiwan)

BoogTom vs. Cathy (France)

Ronsstopable vs. Keumsae

Final Four:

Frantick vs. Poppin J

Kid Boogie vs. Slim Boogie

Jsmooth vs. Crazy Kyo (Korea)

Cathy (France) vs. Keumsae

Semi Finals:

Poppin J (Korea) vs. Slim Boogie

Jsmooth vs. Keumsae

Finals:

Jsmooth vs. Poppin J

With the current financial climate, the turnout was lower than previous years, especially from the international crowd. Each day was forty dollars at the door, however Hugo made an adjustment at the door for day two to be thirty dollars. The lower attendance of a larger international mix seemed to effect the overall vibes of the battles, there was less aggressiveness, leaving the battles feeling a bit campy and talent show like. However, the main issues that affected the event were the event speakers shorting in and out throughout both days. From the spectators point a view it was hard to hear what beat the dancers were following, and I can only imagine the effect it took on participators, not to mention some unfair disadvantages. The two battles that seemed to stir the most discussion was Frantick vs. Poppin Jay and Keumsae vs. Jsmooth, Ultimately it was Jsmooth (Machine Gawn Funk), who took home the title for the second time, winning previously in 2006.

I missed the locking finals (my apologies!), but the well known Flowmaster took home to the title again, having previously won in 2006 (déjà vu anyone?).

Semi Finals:

Win vs. BoogTom

Flomaster vs Baby L

Finals:

Win vs Flomaster

Locking Prelims:

Three hundred and sixty five days left until the next one, so start practicing!

Article by Lux

Editors Note: Andrea Ball aka Lux is a member of Foreign Exchange (How Tha West Was Won 2008 Crew Winners), a Red Bull Beatriders (2006), and director of the short film Beats Per Minute.

Photos Taken by Andre Recinto

Below are some of the pictures taken by Orange County photographer, Andre Recinto. For those who would like to schedule some photo shoots, please feel free to contact him. © Andre Recinto Photography – Images below may not be used w/out Andre Recinto’s permission. Please contact him if you have questions regarding using these images for commercial use.