People often ask and wonder what type of music you should be locking to. After all if you go into a music shop and ask for 'locking music' they're unlikely to know what the hell you're talking about unless they happen to be a locker by night.
The answer is actually very easy - you need funk music. This is not exactly the same as breakbeat. Funk music often has a break but you're not specifically looking for a break (though you can lock to it).
The person that funk music comes from is James Brown, no doubt you would have heard a lot of his music in locking performances and battles.
There are some songs which have become popularly associated with locking for example Michael Jackson's "Ease On Down The Road" and "Express" by BT Express.
James Brown is always a good place to start because if it's James Brown it's almost definitely going to be funk, whereas other artists may do other styles.
Don't limit yourself to just James Brown by any means though, this is a just a starter.
There's plenty of good funk music out there and even electronic music today that is funky. Like The Lockers used the music of their generation drawing from funk music, don't be afraid to draw from music from the 21st century if it's funky.
At the end of the day, if it makes you wanna dance, then dance to it!
This last point is very important when you begin to learn locking especially because when you have music that you like it makes you want to dance. So it keeps you motivated to keep on dancing, to keep on practising.
There are 'Locking CDs' out there if you look hard enough which may be useful when starting out but they are by no means essential or a definitive guide to funk music.
Go with the artists you like, for example if you like Michael Jackson you will find that he actually made a lot of funky tracks that aren't as well known as his big hits.
So there you have it, it's funk that you're looking for, or whatever music makes you want to get down and lock.
On the next page: How To Learn Locking