Let The X Stand: Short Film (French Subtitles)
This film is about my experience of dance, graffiti and music in Philadelphia and it will debut at the Cold Sweat jam in Marseille in February 2025. It is as much an expression of who I am today as it is of who I was 25 years ago. Truth is what is felt and what is shared, and it is the common thread that runs through the three mediums of dance, visual art and music. The context of these for me 25 years ago was hip hop, but naming it this makes it seem somehow less free. At the same time however, to not name it this would be to disregard all those who came before and left me something beautiful to build from. This is Black music, dance and art, and beginning from that truth, all are welcome. Entering the cypher, we give ourselves and our friends new names, shedding limitations and aspiring to be more, lifting ourselves up to lift up those around us. The way Malcolm put an X to represent the name he could never reclaim is the way Native Americans signed an X to the false treaties of their colonisers is the way The Bronx is self-proclaimed “The X”. We let the X stand with toes growing into the earth and hands stretching to the sun, with ideas floating on the wind and the soul swimming in the sea. Whether we realise it or not, I think we are trying to find a much older truth through this art. As Thes One said, "With soul in our ears, we hear loops they can’t, and free the lost rhythms of indigenous chants."
Peace, Downroc
The Gathering: Raw Footage
Of the dozens of times I went to The Gathering back in the day, I brought a camera twice, which we passed around, filming each other. Most of the historical footage from the above film is from those two nights in 2004 and 2005. Apologies to the many dancers from then who influenced me yet do not show up in the footage. I included some of you with later clips thanks to Moll Media Vision, Hannibal, Macca, Second Sundae and Mach Phive. My personal footage from The Gathering has been archived from the original two MiniDV tapes and is available for download below. If you are the artist in the clip, it’s yours to use as you like, but if not, please ask me permission before using. If you need uncompresed files please send me a request. If you have footage of your own from this time and place that you would like to share, please let me know, as I hope to expand on this film in the future if it becomes possible.