a lifestyle :
gene gonzalez
Expressing through the creative
artistry of L I F E
At 11, was my first insight into breaking. Only a select few where bboys going to the 18 and over clubs getting down around our community. It was just a bunch of kids getting down for fun trying to get us girls attention. Coming from a small town where Filipinos and cholos resided on "The Rez." Some of whom my cousin's were affiliated with Hip Hop wasn't a scene where I came from. Back then, it was nothing but cholos and was considered one of the highest rating towns for drug trafficking in the nation. Listening to my heart and intuition, I knew Hip Hop, music, art and seeing the world would be my happiness and my escape from this small town ghetto and mentality.
I moved up to Seattle in 2005, a little big city where artist lived and music was alive. I continued to grow into the culture and became influenced by the Hip Hop and Housing scene in 2007. Watching the friends and Fam of Circle of Fire out at War Room on Monday nights for "Soul City," this was my first time seeing girls get down in the cyphers. Then as time progressed, it was a pivotal point in my life where I took a soul search journey onto the islands of Hawaii for 2 yrs. I became a part of the underground Hip Hop and the Housing scene out there. Being shown into this new culture of pride and sacred lands, immersing myself into this lifestyle. The journey continued onward and it was time I represented the culture and stop "hiding talent" as one of the big brothers Aaron "Angry Woebots" Martin would call me out on. I Moved back to Seattle in 2010 and started breaking in 2012.
" I found my heart and soul in San Francisco "
Taking the step to becoming reborn again for the first time in my life, Love, luck, synchronicity and the universal cosmic energy aligned me to cross paths and connected with the friends and family of Floor Gangz Crew and Knuckle Neck Tribe. I was able to discover and build with this crew of Hip hoppers in the Bay of whom, to this day have helped my growth in the dance scene. Not knowing anything about the breaking or dance scene in the Bay Area and even outside of the West Coast. I was just a girl following her heart pursuing her happiness and dreams, doing what she loves, using the tools she had in her backpack. I found my heart and soul in San Francisco and continued to opened up to my talents, gifts and abilities, my higher self, my life's purpose.
Today, I continue to grow inside and out as a women, lover, friend and an artist, a healer. But most importantly, as a human being. Life events, people, places and things, past lives, relationships, give us the lessons to move forward into our presnet journies. Everyday we have the resources and opportunities to expand into our life's purpose. Understanding and questioning the things we've been afraid to question about ourselves, about our society, about people before and about this whole life experience, this journey we live in today. It's up to our own selves to emerge into our own emotional strengths, higher consciousness, our higher learning and awareness and simply our gifts. Learning who we deeply are as human beings. How to accept who we are, where we come from. Understand we have no control of the outcome to things and see everything as lessons to get to know ourselves. But to understand that Humbling ourselves will always keep us grounded in every outcome to life situations.We have the keys to unlock these conflicting choices and desires hidden deep within all the trash that has been put into our bags. The trash that we have been conditioned to accept. In order for us to unlock and expand our minds to remembering where we came from, who we are and where we truly come from and why we're here today. We have to pay close attention and go beyond these words to begin to be better human beings. Understand these conditioned, delusional belief systems that we live in today, we don't have to be them. And truly understand how it has stopped us from becoming our true authentic selves and allow yourself to explore what that really is. Have compassion, be accepting and patience in our existence to see the beauty of our own nature and everything and everyone around us. At this point we can then live in our true selves.
There is something higher then ourselves that we have forgotten what that is. We are in a new age of consciousness giving us the green light to take control of our own lives again. It's time to unlock these doors, to understand, to become aware, to not be afraid, to unveil our strengths and weaknesses to the world but most importantly to ourselves. Tune into our senses, our intuitions, and our pure selves to be present in every moment in time. Forgiveness is where we can begin again. Love is the highest of vibration unlocking and matching all energy around us in our day to day life and is the answer to all hard questions about life. Patience is what we need to help us free our minds from fear. There isn't any better place to be then where I am today as I continue to learn, expand, and take flight into my soul’s journey. Pushing to share this love and light into this world amongst all others sharing light here today. There is this thing of evolution and to being better then ourselves. Have we found what that is?
Peace and SO MUCH L O V E
gene gonzalez
Seattle/FRISCO Made Artist, a part of the Hip Hop community since 2007 coming from a small town, Native American reservation called Wapato Washington. Fell into tagging in my younger days as a kid, looking up to my older sister in her drawings, hand styles and sketches. Became even more influenced by the tags and cholo scripts that were around our neighborhood growing up. Singing in school choirs as a soprano all the way into my 1st year in community college. Was raised in a mixed family background being exposed to dance, musicians in my family and artisits. I continued dancing for fun as a social aspect into my teens. Making Sunday nights our rituals of going out to these nights in town playing cumbia and banda music. I was always looking up to my older cousins and friends that were around me who took me under their wings at the time. I would always put myself around these people because I knew I could learn life lessons from them.
My first taste of Hip Hop was on TV for the first time in the early 90's. I was 7 years old watching YO MTV Raps, Soul Train on the late nights during school nights. Watching The Grind seeing people dance and groove to the music and always loved catching The Fly Girls get down on In Living Color. "J-Lo" was one of my influneces alongside Paula Abdul who influenced a lot of the dance choreography in the industry back in the 80's and to now. Rosie Perez, Janet Jackson, MC Lyt, Mary J. just to name a few of the women I loved watching as performers growing up as a young girl. Not to mention, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
I was also influenced by the 90's Hip Hop Era and through singing, I appreciated all genres of music. From country, gospel, pop, r&b, house, trance, disco, soul any and everything Latin or Afro sounds. I was always seraching and looking for music, new cd's to cop and download online when the internet first came about in the 90's. I was hooked and in love with music, dance and Hip Hop since.