Project X Paris partner of the Hip Hop H Quality event
Summary
Dance is probably the most spectacular discipline of Hip Hop culture. And at the beginning of 2023, one of the biggest events in the discipline took place: the H Quality, which was held at the end of January, featuring several high-level battles in various categories. And since we couldn’t miss it, Project X Paris was obviously part of it as an official partner!
Dance, a pillar of hip hop
Hip hop culture, which has become a massively widespread culture across the globe, is based on five pillars since its creation. Rap, obviously, but also graffiti, DJing, beatbox, and breakdance. Like the other pillars, breakdance, which can also simply be called break, was born in the early 70s at parties organized by the great DJ Kool Herc in New York and it was an immediate revolution. Seeing all these young people spinning on their heads, performing highly risky acrobatic moves at ever-increasing speeds gave incredible energy to the hip hop movement. Even in France, hip hop culture was imported through dance long before people started rapping. Because dance is a true international language and the emotions it conveys travel better than any word. And the American dancers who came to introduce all this to us in the 80s returned home shocked by the enthusiasm with which the event had been received. Since then, the movement has only progressed.
Obviously, dance is a bit less popular in the media than rap. It must be said that break is a very vast discipline, but also very technical (so naturally less “mainstream”) and requires optimal physical condition, especially when you want to practice it at a high level. Because as in all hip hop disciplines, competition is at the heart of the concept, and dance battles have become a true cultural phenomenon, which has even inspired several films, especially in the 2000s, such as StreetDance, Sexy Dance, Honey and many others. Over the years, the level has increased, techniques have been perfected, and several major schools have emerged, as well as different categories of moves. Even in France, there are some legends of the discipline, like Karim Barouche (unfortunately deceased) and his crew Aktuel Force, who paved the way in the Hexagon.
H Quality, the unmissable break event
We were talking about the importance of competition in hip hop dance, and it’s perfect timing: at the beginning of 2023, a very important contest for the discipline took place, the H Quality, held on January 21 and 22. A contest in several parts, held every year for 9 editions now. With a rather simple concept: 3 categories for the contest, 1v1 dance battles, group choreography battles, and a choreography contest. The mission was therefore to perform the best choreography in front of a jury made up of experts in the discipline, with, for example, for the choreography contest, the presence of the M’Passi brothers, whose elder Richard is one of the pioneers of the discipline in France. A bit of extra pressure for the participants, but judging by the level of performances, they handled it perfectly.
Several musical styles were honored, especially for the 1v1 Battles, where we had three categories: Hip Hop, Pop, and House. The Hip Hop 1v1 final was won by Deyvron, whom you may know if you follow the scene news. The Poppin’ final was won by Noah and the House final by Candyman. We also salute Crazy D for their victory in the Bronze category of the Choreography Contest, as well as Coal Squad, Upside Down, and Rise, who all delivered strong performances in their categories. The hip hop warriors entered the arena and delivered a great show to the audience, who came in large numbers for the occasion. The kind of event that really boosts the movement.
Project X official partner of H Quality 9
It was therefore obviously a pleasure for PXP to become an official partner for the entire contest. A partnership that was materialized in several ways, notably by a nice 600 euro gift voucher at Project X Paris awarded to the winners. Enough to refresh a nice outfit for the next contest! We also deployed some nice communication tools to let people know that we fully support the event, with, for example, our logo present at the end of each teaser video posted by the organization. We were also present on flyers distributed all over the Ile de France for the occasion, as well as on the many posters promoting the contest. We did communication for the event on our social networks, and H Quality on its side played the game well, with the brand’s advertising banner displayed in the venue, as well as a luminous logo projected on the walls of the venue during the contest.
We are therefore delighted with how this collaboration went, but also, more generally, to be a partner of such a major hip hop event. Because as you know, Hip Hop culture is the central source of inspiration for streetwear today, and so we remain perfectly in a universe that suits us. You could see it, notably during the runway show for the Magasin Ocelot, where Project X Paris was well represented, and where the choreographies of the models/dancers left a strong impression. Dance, and especially break, is really spectacular and conveys emotions better than any word, so we hope to continue partnerships with this kind of event. While waiting for the next collaboration, we want to thank the H Quality organization, top-notch, but also the people who came in large numbers to see the performances and bring strength to the dancers. Not to forget, of course, the performers, dancers halfway between high-level athletes and artists, who amazed us all!