James Brown is commonly referred to as the godfather of break dancing. His music had strong influence on break dance style because of its frequent breaks (instrumental sections often with much percussion and rhythm), which were required if the break dancers were to show off their tricks during a number.

Of course, Brown is most known to the break dance world for "Get On the Good Foot". The dance craze that followed this song was called the "good foot", and later on changed into simply the "b-boy".

Today, we associate tricks such as headspins, halos and flares with break dancing. However, during James Brown's popular years, battles between b-boys and crews involved no such acrobatics. The focus was floorwork, and thus the footwork became more and more intricate. Today we refer to breaking style in James Brown's time as "old-school" or "old-style" breaking.

Though street crews battle against each other, over time a group formed called "(Bambaataa's Universal) Zulu Nation". DJ Afrika Bambaataa (aka. Bam) kept breaking alive, in two ways: the first being his abilities at the turn tables, and the second being his encouragement of breaking, especially in the late 70's.

Initially, it was common practice for breakers to dance during the "breaks" of a song. DJ Bam not only realized this, but acknowledged it by being one of the first to purposely extend the breaks in the music he mixed, which supported breaking and brought it needed attention.

But break dancing wasn't always in style. In 1977, there was a new dance called the "Freak", based on the hit "Freak Out" by the Shieks. Because there was a new style of dance available to the public, people began booing Rock Steady Crew, labelling them as old fashioned. DJ Bam encouraged the discouraged, telling them if they keeped dancing, breaking would pull through again ... and it did.

With their newly-formatted albums and fresh beats, Run DMC can be credited for bringing much of hip-hop, especially rap, to the public's eye. Since their very first hit, "It's Like That" (which is still very popular today!) in 1983, Run DMC continued to race up the charts with their innovative lyrics and funky style.

Because hip-hop began as a street dance in various areas all over America, Run DMC's chart-topping songs inspired people to realize that hip-hop could be something that was performed at concerts and shows, and not just something that had to be practiced in crews and battle out on the streets.

What Run DMC really did was launch the funk era. At this point, breaking lost a little bit of its popularity to popping, locking and other funk styles. Being the first rappers to hit #1 on the R&B charts, to earn RIAA gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums and to triumph with the appeal of rock and hip-hop fans, it comes as no surprise that it was Run DMC who brought the funk to the 80's.

These lyrics will spark some memories for many people: "Dun, dun dun dun - Can't touch this!". MC Hammer's influence on hip-hop dance, especially funk, happened not only through his funk-classified music but also by his amazing dancing abilities. Not every singing artist can or has been able to dance to their own dance music, but Hammer's moves turned hip-hop dance in new directions.

However, some of Hammer's hit songs, including "U Can't Touch This", came out as late as 1990, when dance styles such as breaking had already be developing for at least 25 years. It was the music video for "U Can't Touch This" that created the hip-hop funk trademark move of the 90's.

It was in his music video that Hammer featured himself dancing to the Hammer Dance, a dance featuring quick footwork and jumping from side to side. Hammer's outfit in the video of very baggy pants (now known as Hammer pants) and other sparkly clothing also had their own moments in hip-hop fashion.