Breakin’ Redemption

Redemption /rɪˈdɛm(p)ʃ(ə)n/

• the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil: God's plans for the redemption of his world
• a thing that saves someone from error or evil: his marginalization from the Hollywood jungle proved to be his redemption
• the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.
• (archaic) the action of buying one's freedom.

Today, I have experienced redemption!  How, you ask?  Well, I’ll get to that in a moment but first, I'm curious to know...have you ever been redeemed?  Isn’t it a wonderful feeling?  Whether it’s because the losing team you’ve been playing on or rooting for while others made fun of you, finally wins a game, or when the man/woman everyone doubted you could get, finally asks you out, or you’ve been playing the lottery every week for 20 years while others made fun of you, and you finally win the jackpot, or you’ve been trying to solve the Rubik’s Cube for 15 years while others made fun of you , and you finally solve it, or you’ve invested billions of dollars on building a spaceship, while others make fun of you, then you finally put a man on the moon, or you've believed in evolution for thousands of years while creationists others made fun of you, then Charles Darwin comes along, and you are redeemed.  Can you relate?

For me, well, I've been puting myself out there, more specifically, I have made my love very public and have remained faithful while others made fun of me or thought I was crazy for being so committed to and in awe of….wait for it…a movie…. wait for it …the movie…. wait for it …Breakin’… wait for it …and… wait for it …the sequel… wait for it …Breakin’2… wait for it …Electric Boogaloo!  That’s right; the focus of this blog post is to share with you the feelings of redemption I have experienced today after finally hearing someone, other than myself, acknowledge these masterpieces (so just out of curiousity...how many readers did I just lose?). 

For so many years, I have felt so alone in my devotion to Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.  I wondered how it was possible to be the only person who not only heard of the movies but was truly obsessed wild about these unadulterated works of art.  

But finally, TODAY = REDEMPTION!

So what exactly happened to make today such a LEGEN {pause} DARY day (sorry, I'm channeling my inner Barney from How I Met Your Mother again!)?  Well, here's the story...

Okay, I'll get right to the point...on my way to visit my parents and my brother, I was listening to the car radio when the following words were heard in a song:

“it’s like I’m stuck in a trance and I’d better take advantage.
Who knows when I’ll get another chance?
I feel like Breakin’ 2
Electric Boogaloo
You play Kelly, I’ll be Ozone
Travie Laz and Taio Cruz”

What the fuck frig was that?!? Yes, I actually dropped the “F” bomb while in the car today but I did apologize to myself for uttering those profanities after hearing those awesome, awesome, awesome words “I feel like Breakin’ 2 Electric Boogaloo.  You play Kelly, I’ll be Ozone” on the radio!  Someone get me the defibrillator because I’ve gone into cardiac arrest (okay, that was somewhat dramatic but I was exhilarated!).  I must say that this was most definitely divine intervention because normally, when I’m in the car, I’m listening to CBC Radio (aka food for the brain!) or I’m listening to music on my iPhone but for whatever reason (ahem...divine intervention!), today, the radio was on a music station.  As quickly as possible, I hit the Shazam app on my iPhone and “prayed” that it would recognize the song.  The “prayer” went something like this “Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!”.  Of course, the “prayer” was said in my head because my iPhone was “listening” to the song in order to recognize the name of the song and the artist, and I didn’t want to fuck (sorry but this is serious business!) screw that up.  For those of you who have been living under a rock aren’t familiar with Shazam, it’s an application on iPhone that “listens” to a song then provides you with the name of the song, the artist and the album.  It’s pretty damn darn cool (and yes, I'm so uncool for saying that!). Before I go any further, for those of you who are freaking out about the fact that I was playing with an app on my phone while driving, please note that I had pulled over onto the side of the road (please read my blog post “True Lies & Confessions” for an updated confession!).   I’m so thrilled, excited, delighted, titillated and flushed with redemption to present you with, what may be, the first song (EVER!) to have “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo” in the lyrics:  

Redemption!  What a feeling!!! (Yes, I just broke out singing the theme song from Flashdance!)

Before I continue, I’d like to clarify a little something now that the world has been introduced to movie greatness through song.  In the song "Higher", Travie McCoy refers to “Kelly and Ozone” who are two characters in the movies but you should know that my favourite character is Turbo, and I wanted to be his Lucia (stupid. ugly. bitch. I’m so much better for him!).  Since each of the characters have their own breakdancing names (Turbo, Ozone and Special K!), I decided to call myself…wait for it...Tangy T (in private, of course!).  It's important to note that the powdered orange juice "Tang" (ew!) was very popular back then, hence the name!  Since I’ve now opened myself up to ridicule (for the first time EVER!), I may as well mention that in high school, shortly after we got our drivers’ licences, my two best friends and I named our (parents’) cars “Turbo, Nelly and Betsy” and we even had a little rap song that went along with the car names but sadly, I don’t remember the song (I know, I know, you are thoroughly disappointed!).  Excuse me?  How dare you assume we were drunk at the time?  I’ve never had a sip of alcohol in my life (please read my blog post “True Lies & Confessions” for an updated confession!).  

Of course, I can’t resist filling this blog post with video clips from Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.  That’s right…it’s your lucky day!

First up, a clip of Ozone and Turbo teaching Special K some moves to one of my favourite Chaka Khan songs, “Ain’t Nobody”. 

P.S. I learned some of my best moves from this very segment of the movie.  What was that?  Yes, of course I could breakdance back in the day!

The next one is the Turbo Broom Dance…need I say more?  Oh Turbo is just so cute :)

P.S. Don’t pay attention to the strings attached to the broom…it might distract you!

Wow…I just noticed that this You Tube video has been viewed 1,348,509 times so I guess I’m not alone in my fanaticism!  Oh happy day :)

There’s just no stopping us now!  By “us”, I mean Breakin’ fans and “Street People”…just watch the video!  I forgot how much of a bad ass Ozone was back in the day :)

And the grand finale…Turbo dancing on the ceiling…ENJOY!!! (P.S. This movie came out in 1985!)

So do you believe that I’m worthy of redemption now that “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo” has been referenced  in Taio Cruz and Travie McCoy’s song “Higher”?  Are you going to go out and watch Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo now?  If you're not yet convinced that you should spend 3+ hours watching these magnum opuses, maybe this will help…Ice-T raps in both movies!

P.S. To all of my fellow Breakin' fans who have remained silent for so many years, it's time to rejoice and bust a move :)