A History of Hip-Hop Dances

The genre has been a huge proponent of dance crazes for decades. We look at back at the standout moves.

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Despite all the gangster posturing, there are few things hip-hop loves more than a good party, and dancing is a crucial component of a successful one. We’ve complied a list of the hottest dances, with a focus on ones spawned directly from a song. Some of the records are more known than others, and not every song represents the first time the dance was done, but they do pinpoint when the dance gained national recognition and popularity. Loosen up that tie or blouse and travel with us down memory lane.

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Da Butt

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Da Butt

Song: Experience Unlimited "Da Butt" (1988)

There are numerous classic moments in Spike Lee's 1988 film School Daze, but perhaps the most memorable was watching Experienced Unlimited, a DC go-go band, perform their biggest hit to date: "Da Butt." Shot at Morehouse College in Atlanta, "Da Butt" video came at a time when things like Freaknik were still popping. The dance captured the moment: bending over and shaking your butt. The dance couldn't get any simpler, and the fanfare any bigger.

Running Man

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Running Man

Song: MC Hammer "U Can't Touch This" (1990)

When it comes to hip-hop dance videos, this one is the granddaddy. Before Puffy, MC Hammer was the dancing king of rap, who took the game to another level when he dropped this 1990 record off his third album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. Though there were a lot of popular dances featured in the music video, one of the biggest was the Running Man, a move that consists of running in place.

The dance itself wasn't anything new (just like the Moonwalk, which was being done before MJ got put on), but the dance received street cred when Hammer did it. Hammer not only did this dance in some parachute pants and church shoes, but he had people all over the world doing it, too. The album went on to sell more than 10 million copies.

Humpty Hump

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Humpty Hump

Song: Digital Underground "The Humpty Dance" (1990)

Before 2Pac was "ridin' on his enemies," he was humping on some mannequins while doing a backstroke move in front of a crowd full of people, to this song. If that doesn't show you the eminence of the Humpty Hump, then we don't know what to tell you. A brainchild of Digital Underground's frontman Shock G. (to be precise, his big-nosed alter-ego Humpty Hump), the 1990 song, accompanied by a "performance" video, was one of the biggest jams of that year.

Tootsie Roll

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Tootsee Roll

Song: 69 Boyz "Tootsee Roll" (1994)

1994 was the year of major musical breakthroughs: Nas dropped Illmatic, Kurt Cobain was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Aaliyah, Brandy, and Usher all dropped their debut albums, and a crew from Florida dropped one of the biggest summertime hits of all time, coined after a popular piece of candy.

Pre-90s babies can still remember the magnitude of the Tootsee Roll, which appeared on the group's platinum-selling debut album 199Quad. The Miami bass jam was the brainchild of the young crew of eight who had offensive names like "Quick Skeet" and "Busta Nut." Though people mainly consider the dance to be the leg-rolling move, they forget it's an entire line dance too, equipped with commands, making it a former favorite for college parties.

The opening rap of the song starts off with, "I don't know what you've been told, it ain't the butterfly it's the tootsee roll," so no one got the dances twisted (even though they're pretty much the same thing). 199Quad was re-released in 2006, and to this day "Tootsee Roll" is hailed as a '90s cult favorite.

Cha Cha Slide

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Cha Cha Slide

Song: DJ Casper (Mr. C) "Cha Cha Slide" (2000)

After the "urbanized" version of the Hustle dropped, there came a dark age in the late '90s where all there was left was a couple of booty-popping dances. That is until a DJ out of Chicago name Casper (also known as Mr. C) decided to create a line dance for local aerobic classes.

Mr. C took the song called the "Cha Cha Slide" to some clubs in Chicago and it wound up becoming a hit in 1998, shutting down every BBQ and high school prom around America, as well as gaining the attention of popular comedians like Martin Lawrence who coined it "the ghetto hokey-pokey." The Cha Cha Slide kept it simple thanks to Mr. C focusing only on hops, stomps, and handclaps.

After gaining iconic status with the timeless hit, Mr. C went on to create the line dances for other popular songs such as the "Chicago Juke Slide" by DJ Chip, the "Cupid Shuffle" by Cupid, and several other crazes.

Harlem Shake

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Harlem Shake

Song: G. Dep f/ Diddy & Black Rob "Let's Get It" (2001)

Bad Boy entered the new millennium with sheer force, and oddly enough, it was anchored by the ubiquity of the then insanely popular dance craze: the Harlem Shake. It involved nothing more than wildly flailing about with "style," and though it could be executed on an advanced level, it was still relatively easy to pull off for most.

The Rockaway

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The Rockaway

Song: Fat Joe "Lean Back" (2004)

For big guys who could never get their "Heavy D on" at the club, there was always this alternative. The Rockaway dance popularized by Fat Joe's 2004 banger "Lean Back" only requires swag...literally. The song (which was also nominated for a Grammy and topped Billboard's Hot 100 chart) became a staple for any club DJ, and whenever the single dropped everyone from the bartender to the janitor knew to break out into The Rockaway, which later was featured in Usher's "Yeah!" video.

Flap Your Wings

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Flap Your Wings

Song: Nelly "Flap Your Wings" (2004)

In the opening line to 1994's "Tootsie Roll" by the 69 Boyz, Thrill Da Playa raps, "The butterfly, uh-uh that's old! Let me see ya tootsie roll!" Fast-forward to 2004 and you have Nelly who can now pretty much throw that same shade to the Tootsie Roll, thanks to his reinvention of the dance called Flap Your Wings. The dance move serves as another cousin of the Butterfly, where you basically drop and roll your legs together. Besides being a club favorite, the single became the No. 1 record in the UK the same year it came out.

Footwork / Jit

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Footwork / Jit

Song: Missy Elliot "Lose Control" (2005)

Anybody who was in Detroit in the early '90s might recall "The New Dance Show" that use to come on the local stations late at night and inspire folks doing this dance. "Jitting" (sometimes called "Footwork," mostly in Chicago) is a move that involves intricate, breakneck movements of the legs that must be executed perfectly in order to avoid looking ridiculous.

Though the dance was a favorite in the Midwest (along with other speed-driven dances like the "Percolator"), Jitting wound up catching nationwide attention when Missy Elliott and her dancers broke out in the move in her 2005 video "Lose Control" (see move at the 27 second mark of the video). The chorus to the song, which repeats the words "step," indirectly pays homage to the timeless move.

Snap Dance

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Snap Dance

Song: Dem Franchize Boyz "Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It" (2006)

Atlanta is used to being a major player when it comes to party hits and dance crazes, but when a group of four former high school buddies from the west side of the city dropped "Lean Wit It Rock Wit It," the game changed. Though the Snap Dance was already popular in Bankhead, Atlanta, and other groups like D4L had popularity with the dance prior to "Lean" with the hit song "Laffy Taffy" (which caused beef between both crews over who started the phenomenon first) there's no question that "Lean" brought the simple but swagtastic dance move to the mainstream.

The dance took on a life of it's own when Dem Franchize Boyz incorporated the dance in videos for songs like "I Think They Like Me" which featured Bow Wow, Da Brat, and ATL dance guru Jermaine Dupri, who also appeared in the "Lean Wit It" video. Like most simple dances, the entertainment of it all is in adding your own moves, personality and finales to it. If you were stiff, this wasn't the dance for you.

Walk It Out

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Walk It Out

Song: DJ Unk "Walk It Out" (2006)

"Walk It Out" was always a hot dance song, but when the general population found out Andre 3000 was a fan (i.e. his hopping on the remix), people who didn't believe became believers. The song came to prominence in 2006, kicking off DJ Unk's debut album Beat'n Down Yo Block!

The Atlanta dance that came out of it somewhat resembles Footwork, but at a much slower pace, and the song made the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 list. Unk went on to gain even more success with his second dance single "2 Step," which garnered over 16 million views on YouTube.

Shoulder Lean

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Shoulder Lean

Song: Young Dro "Shoulder Lean" (2006)

You ever notice that dance T.I. does all the time (like, in every show), where he's bopping his shoulders side to side, and then looking like he's dusting some dirt off his shoulder? Well, when this song dropped in 2006, we were finally able to put a name to it: Shoulder Lean.

"Shoulder Lean" was released as the first single by Grand Hustle's Young Dro, and it became a surprise hit, thanks to the smooth and simple dance that went with it. The song not only went double platinum, but it also hit Billboard's top 10.

Chicken Noodle Soup

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Chicken Noodle Soup

Song: DJ Webstar / Young B "Chicken Noodle Soup" (2006)

When this song came out, you couldn't walk down 125th street, 145th street, 118th, (or any other street) in Harlem without hearing this contagious song blaring outside some bodega. Most of the song is a simple siren over a drum pattern, but the clincher was the dance itself, which resembles shuffling movements done in the earlier part of the 20th century.

Though this made the dance entertaining, it also made it controversial due to older people decrying the dance for it's similarity to moves done in minstrel shows. Nevertheless, it became a Harlem favorite, right behind the Harlem Shake.

Crank

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Crank

Song: Yung Joc "It's Goin Down" (2006)

In 2006, it was nearly impossible to show up without hearing Yung Joc's "It's Goin Down" on the DJ's playlist. Produced by Nitti Beatz, the Atlanta jam spawned a dance called the Crank where you lean back and motion your arms like your cranking up a motorcycle. During this time, Joc was signed to Bad Boy Records, which took the song to ridiculous heights thanks to Puff pulling the young rapper on stage at live shows to perform the popular dance. In 2007, the song was nominated for a Grammy.

Cupid Shuffle

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Cupid Shuffle

Song: Cupid "Cupid Shuffle" (2007)

Louisiana is primarily known for its bounce scene, which has popularized "pounching" (an ecstatic style of booty popping), but in 2007 a local R&B singer name Cupid dropped a song called the "Cupid Shuffle," a song that is accompanied by a clean, family-friendly line dance of the same name.

The Cupid Shuffle dance was originally created by DJ Casper (a.k.a. Mr. C) from "Cha Cha Slide" fame, and it has since become another electric slide-style favorite similar to the Wobble. Apart from wounding up on the Billboard charts, the Cupid Shuffle has also gotten attention from NFL players like Miami Dolphin's Vernon Carey, Ikechuku Ndukwe, and Ronnie Brown, who were all fined $10,000 by the NFL in 2008 for doing the dance after scoring a touchdown at a game against the San Diego Chargers.

Superman

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Superman

Song: Soulja Boy "Crank That" (2007)

Before this song and dance, Soulja Boy was still flipping burgers at a Burger King in Mississippi. To say that "Crank That" and its accompanying Superman move wasn't one of the biggest dance songs in rap history would be straight up denail. The Superman dance is nothing short of goofiness mixed with Yung Joc's "Crank" dance, a couple of foot stomps, and a couple of hop moves before the fly away thing at the end.

The single reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Song of the Year. This song literally took Soulja Boy from being a kid with a dream to a multi-millionaire. The video featured cameos from Bow Wow and Omarion doing the Superman dance and the viral feedback on YouTube reached legendary cult status.

Stanky Legg

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Stanky Legg

Song: GS Boyz "Stanky Legg" (2008)

Out of every song on our list, this one might have the best name. A favorite amongst soccer stars, the "Stanky Legg" was a hit single that involves tutor and command-style lyrics incorporating dances like the Booty Dew and Snap Dance before the main dance is done.

The dance itself consists of a Dougie-style head rubbing before dipping a bit and motioning with one leg. We have no clue where the "stanky" part came in, but according to legend, Soufside (the group's front man) wrote the song on the chimney of his mother's house in Forth Worth, Texas.

Bird Walk

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Bird Walk

Song: Soulja Boy "Bird Walk" (2008)

After the success of the Superman dance, Soulja Boy popped back up in 2008 with the Bird Walk dance. "Bird Walk" dropped as the first single off the rapper's sophomore album iSouljaBoyTellem, and though it didn't generate the same amount of buzz and sells as "Crank That," it did generate as many laughs thanks to further goofiness of the dance itself. The Bird Walk makes Mick Jagger's signature "wing flap" move look like professional salsa.

Wobble

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Wobble

Song: VIC "Wobble" (2008)

Coming from the hustle and electric slide lineage is the Wobble, a line dance that has become the "Cha Cha Slide" for the new millennium. Though it's unclear how much the rapper VIC had to do with the actual line dance, it is clear that the Wobble requires a decent memory to recall the various steps involved.

In 2010, the dance reached new heights thanks to fan Beyoncé who was caught on video at a New Jersey block party doing the dance out on the street with a bunch of neighborhood kids while visiting her mother-in-law.

Head, Shoulders, Knees N Toes

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Head, Shoulders, Knees N Toes

Song: K.I.G Family "Head, Shoulders, Knees N Toes" (2008)

Once upon a time, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" was a nursery rhyme preschoolers would move to in order to learn to identify certain body parts. But when a grime group out of East London used the title for a club banger, it became a hit. The energetic 2008 video puts the unabashedly effortless dance on display: a bunch of British people simply touching their head, shoulders, knees, and toes.

Migraine Skank

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Migraine Skank

Song: Gracious K "Migraine Skank" (2009)

What the Macarena was to America, the Migraine Skank is to the UK. This dance takes being literal to a whole 'nother level—the dance is actually designed to make it appear like you have a migraine. The main move is to rock side to side while wiping your head, sort of like the Dougie. In London, the song has a who's who of local Britain stars co-signing the hit, which is played regularly in the clubs.

Jerk

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Jerk

Song: New Boyz "Jerk" (2009)

There have been several variations of dances on different coasts called "The Jerk" that have dropped over the years, but for '90s babies, this one is IT. The new school Jerk to L.A. is like what the Snap Dance is for Atlanta: a scene. Its popularity has become a literal subculture which recently soared to new heights when two West Coast high school buddies (the New Boyz) dropped a single called "You're A Jerk," bringing the dance to nationwide attention. In the video, a bunch of kids skinny jeans-wearing kids bust the move, which is basically jerking and wobbling your legs with a bit of other dances like the Dip and Pindrop thrown in.

Swag Surfin

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Swag Surfin

Song: F.L.Y "Swag Surfin" (2009)

Produced by K.E. on tha Track, "Swag Surfin" was one of the biggest hood dance records of 2009. The song's video debuts the dance, which is also a literal one: all you have to do is just move like you're surfing...with some "swag." The song was remade that same year by Lil Wayne as the opener to his critically acclaimed mixtape No Ceilings, and the remix to the original song featured Maino, Fabolous, Red Caf̩ and Juelz Santana.

Cat Daddy

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Cat Daddy

Song: Rej3ctz "Cat Daddy" (2010)

If Chris Brown shows up in your dance video, you better believe you have a new craze on your hands. This happened to be the case with Cat Daddy, a dance that seems to be the beans to the Dougie's rice. Created by the group Rej3ctz (specifically the group's member Reject Sam), the Cat Daddy first appeared on the group's mixtape TheFUNKtion vs theKICKback.

The dance itself, which resembles someone pushing the wheels of a wheelchair while dipping, became another viral breakthrough, with much fanfare spawning from Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton releasing a video doing the dance in a bikini.

Ride Dat Wave

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Ride Dat Wave

Song: DJ Frosty "Ride Dat Wave" (2010)

This song and dance seemed to go as soon as it came, but in spite of it being a flash hit it became a viral favorite. The heavy bass jam was created by DJ Frosty and it basically evokes a move where you face left then right, stick an arm up, and gyrate with a wave motion. Though there are other commands involved, it's not your typical line dance—more like line dancing for horny people.

WOP

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WOP

Song: J. Dash Wop "WOP" (2010)

Let's be honest: No one had a clue who Jameyel Johnson (a.k.a. J. Dash) was until a dance song he created hit YouTube and wound up gaining national press. The song, simply called "WOP," started the dance that consists of at least nine commands that includes "strike a pose" and "play dead."

Recorded in Florida, the song wound up making the rounds rapidly on YouTube with innumerable videos of all races of people doing their version of the high-tempo, high-energy dance. Dash (a gifted pianist and University of Florida alum) grabbed Flo Rida for the official video for the "WOP" which to date has gained over five million views.

Dougie

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Dougie

Song: Cali Swag District "Teach Me How To Dougie" (2010)

At this point, every race, nationality and creed has learned how to do the Dougie. Everyone from Michelle Obama, to Ellen DeGeneres, to CNN's Wolf Blitzer have drank the Kool-Aid, and the dance has become a show-stopping favorite amongst pop and R&B stars like Justin Bieber and Chris Brown (who is hands-down the Dougie's king).

Unlike most dances, this one has a shelf life that beats out most dances on this list, with numerous remakes of the dance becoming bonafide hits. Created and named after old school rapper Doug E. Fresh, who popularized the move during live shows in the 80s with his "go Doug E.!" freestyle dance routines, the Dougie was picked up by the four member (formally five) Inglewood rap crew Cali Swag District after the members heard about the 2007 Lil Wil song "My Dougie."

It has since taken on a life of its own and we can assume there will be a million more Dougies before the rapture comes.

Beef It Up

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Beef It Up

Song: Charlie Boy Gang "Beef It Up" (2011)

When it comes to countrified hood songs, you can't get more backwoods than Charlie Boy Gang's "Beef It Up." The Georgia dance staple falls in the category of your typical swag-focused sway, which sometimes mimics shoveling. Though the dance never became a national sensation, it definitely made an impact in the South.

Booty Wurk

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Booty Wurk

Song: T-Pain "Booty Wurk (One Cheek at a Time)" (2011)

Just about every line dance is used in (or was created for) exercise classes, and "Booty Wurk" by T-Pain is no exception. The 2011 hit was the second single released off the Auto-Tune king's fourth album, Revolver, and the video featured a cameo appearance by star comedian Kevin Hart.

The line dance that manifested from it consists of several left and right moves (that most people customize), with the cherry on top being the actual booty pop to the chorus. The song wound up becoming a YouTube viral hit, with zumba classes all around the nation using it to tone glutes.

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