Competitively, the winner of the first Olympic breaking competition Friday night was Ami Yuasa of Japan, who outlasted the silver medalist Dominika Banevic of Lithuania over three rapid rounds of acrobatic, technically intricate dancing.
Just as intricate was the music selected for the battles, played by DJ Fleg and DJ Plash One, who loomed over the circular outdoor stage with turntables underneath a large facade in the shape of a boombox with Olympic rings.
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It was clear from the first song, “Dor E Dor” by Tom Zé, and an early jam of “What’s up Doc (Can We Rock)” by Shaquille O’Neal that we would need to collect as many songs as we could.
A major note: This list is far from all the song snippets that were played. There were many deep cuts here, with tunes easily spanning 60 years and touching hip-hop, funk, jazz and other clear influences from all over the world. Olympic officials say more than 300 songs were selected for the men’s and women’s competitions.
So while we wait to see what the b-boy competition brings Saturday, here are the beats we recognized from Friday’s b-girl competition, with plenty of help from the music recognition app Soundhound.
- Tom Zé – “Dor E Dor”
- Shaquille O’Neal – “What’s up Doc (Can we Rock)”
- DJ Fleg – “Break Woman”
- Ray Barretto – “Together”
- Eric B. and Rakim – “Don’t Sweat the Technique”
- Nico Gomez & His Afro Percussion Inc. – “Lupita”
- Fusik – “Clutch”
- Fred Wesley & the J.B.’s – “Blow Your Head”
- Soho – “Hot Music”
- Nas – “Hip Hop Is Dead”
- Ill Boogs – “Gypsy Rock”
- Sapo – “Been Had”
- Mongo Santamaria – “Cloud Nine”
- TV Theme Players – “Police Woman”
- The Bamboos “Pussy Footin’”
- Nina Simone – “Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter”
- Brownout – “Laredo 77”
- The Ogyatanaa Show Band – “Disco Africa”
- Maker – “Angel Hair”
- The Rift Valley Brothers – “Mu Africa”
- DJ The Viper – “Hardcore Ganster (DJ Promo Remix)”
- The Soul Searchers – “We the People”
- Homeboy Sandman – “The Carpenter”
- Dennis Coffey – “7th Galaxy”
- Alice Russell – “All Over Now”
- The Roots – “BOOM! Interlude/BOOM!”
- Junkdna – “Free Your Mind”
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(Photos in top image of Dominika Banevic of Lithuania, at left, and Ami Yuasa of Japan, at right / Odd Andersen / AFP / Getty Images)
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