On the count of 3...Go! Rapper Common surprises fans with dance solo at Seattle breaking competition
Hundreds of spectators gathered at WAMU Theater Saturday for the Red Bull Lords of the Floor breakdance competition, back in Seattle for the first time since 2002. Sixteen international duos — one from as far away as Kazakhstan — went toe-to-toe in a series of high-energy dance battles until a winning crew was crowned.
Hip-hop legend Common performed some of his most popular songs, including "Go!" and "The Light" ahead of the final showdown. Amid his performance of "Universal Mind Control," which samples the 1982 electro hit "Planet Rock" — widely considered an old-school breakdance anthem — Common surprised fans when he erupted into an impromptu breakdance number of his own.
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The crowd roared as the rapper broke out into top-rock, the upright footwork that typically marks the start of a breakdance solo.
"Go, Common! Go, Common!" the crowd chanted as the rapper shifted his moves to the floor, in what's called down-rock, before going into a series of windmills— one of the most recognizable breakdance moves, executed by rolling around on a circular axis with one's legs in a v-shape.
While Common's dance break lasted all of 15 seconds, the moment is sure to live on in fans' hearts for years to come.