Beats pound through veins as bodies move to the rhythm thumping its way through them. Energy pulses through the cipher as the crowd encircles alternating dancers. The man in the center is windmilling on the floor, breaking to the beat as his audience cheers him on – adding to the sheer amount of charisma this one body puts forth.
This man would be Eric Lima, or the artist known as Lima-Limon. Lima-Limon is no stranger to the hip hop community, both in his native Chicago and current Madison. A triple threat, Lima-Limon is not just a dancer (as he enjoys more forms than just b- boying) but a growing spoken word artist and MC – and a knowledgeable one at that.
Already well-established as a b-boy, Lima-Limon has a hard time remembering just when he took an interest in dancing, as stated in a recent interview with The Badger Herald.
“I like to think I came out of the womb dancing. Like there was a boom box in the operation room, and I just did a pop and lock move out of my mom’s womb and was like, ‘Bam!'” Lima-Limon said with excitement, “But no, that’s not what happened.”
This statement perfectly characterizes Lima-Limon, as he seems to be followed by laughter. An entertainer at heart, Lima-Limon’s style of dance is known to incorporate elements of humor, such as in making faces at opportune moments while performing. Lima-Limon’s style is hard to describe, as he is one of the more flexible and energetic breakers, evidenced through his usage of the lotus position as well as how much he hops around.
“I feel like I’m more of a performer than a battler because I like entertaining a crowd and the preparation of choosing the music for the performance, so it plays into my musicality,” Lima-Limon highlighted.
This personality certainly proved no obstacle when Lima-Limon entered the field of breaking. Visiting battles and becoming a part of the local community benefited him. This emphasis on the community is commonplace to hip-hop culture and adds to the rather accepting scene newbies often find themselves immersed in.
“Breaking is a community… [and] it just keeps continuing when you practice with friends. You keep developing with what you learn from them and them from you,” Lima-Limon said.
This sentiment has stayed with Lima-Limon as he transferred from Chicago’s Saint Xavier College to UW-Madison in fall 2009 on a First Wave scholarship. First Wave is a recent competitive program at the UW which has a strong spoken word emphasis, though all members in the group have strengths in outside mediums.
Being introduced to this program on his first visit to the campus, Lima-Limon began to realize what he could be doing with his poetry here as compared to at the smaller college campus he originated from. Lima-Limon credits a lot of his success as a spoken word artist to his involvement in this program.
“Being in First Wave accelerated the process [of learning how to perform spoken word] by putting me within a creative environment with other dope artists,” Lima-Limon said. “That really helped nurture that [artistic expression] so I was able to advance to at least this point.”
“I know I’m still not done developing,” Lima-Limon added, “because I admit that I, like everyone, am progressing as a person and an artist.”
This humbleness befits Lima-Limon, though his stage presence is pure confidence. Bringing his self-mentioned “dorkiness” into his work, Lima-Limon’s style is full of wordplay, multisyllabic lines and metaphors/similes. Lima-Limon also has a tendency to incorporate an emphasis on the self in his work.
These attributes would all be present in the poem, “Limonology,” as it goes: “(I was) Cultivated to have this thick outer shell that no one could cut into/ El Machismo taught me that I couldn’t let tears leak when I’m squeezed.”
This also highlights the usefulness of Lima-Limon’s artist name, which has transcended to encompass all fields of his artistic expression. Breakers have to come up with their own nicknames, which can be a difficult process; however, the name ‘Lima-Limon’ accurately fits.
“‘Lima-Limon’ translates to ‘lemon-lime.’ It’s kind of goofy – you know – like who names himself after a soda flavor? So it went with my goofy style when I dance [as well as] provid[ing] plenty of options for metaphors in my songs or poetry.”
His artist name is not the only thing that transferred across fields, as did Lima-Limon’s mantra, “empty pockets, open mind.” The idea stems from when Lima-Limon would practice breaking with friends. If one did not empty their pockets beforehand, whatever objects kept in them would fall when flipping upside down. Even to this day, this habit has followed Lima-Limon as he empties his pockets before going onstage and opens himself to the audience’s reactions.
While acknowledging Madison’s hip-hop scene is not as large as Chicago’s, Lima-Limon is still surprised at how much is occurring, especially with the artists continually brought to campus. He also is amazed with Jarius King’s coordinated event, “Breaking the Law,” which brings break dancers from around the world to Madison to compete.
As far as future plans are concerned, Lima-Limon will be adding a performance at Madison’s First Annual Hip Hop Awards Nov. 5 to his already impressive resume before traveling to perform at UW-La Crosse Nov. 6. An active member in such on-campus organizations as MEChA, FASO, First Wave and his crew, Rhythm per Second – Lima-Limon performs a juggling act between these responsibilities and his two projects in the making: a chapbook entitled, “Shedding Self,” and a mix-tape.
Lima-Limon ended by talking about the importance of audience and the hardships in trying to bring Madison’s hip-hop community to people who may not be familiar with this culture.
“Some people don’t realize that everyone in the room is a part of the performance, whether on stage or in the audience,” Lima-Limon said. “Audiences have the power to respond, to give feedback and create a cycle of energy to flow through the room.”
