Dancing Fads in Hip Hop

Hip Hop is a music genre where dance fads are not uncommon. Throughout the decades many different dance fads have come and gone, and now we will take a look at a few.

One of the first dance fads was the Twist, which was a product of Rock & Roll music. Evidence of the twist can be seen in so many different places, including American Bandstand with Dick Clark and even Soul Train. The Twist was applicable to any type of music.

With dance fads, it does not matter where the dance originated from and usually the performers of the dance do it to any song, whether its wrong or not. This creates an interesting dynamic between the social interactions of dance and the music industry.

Specifically in Hip Hop culture, dancing was a large part of it. With dance crews emerging, competitions were also emerging. With competitions, each crew, even each person needed to have particular moves. Artists were even trying to write music in which a dance could correspond to.

Some of the more popular ones that people is Hammertime which emerged from MC Hammer's music video of "U Can't Touch This." With the emergence of music videos, artists could now communicate to their audiences in a new way. MC Hammer and Hammertime became a cultural phenomenon, people were even buying the pants that he wore, and this the fashion industry recieved a surge.

Another popular dance fad in earlier hip hop was the "Humpty Dance." This was brought to the forefront through the music video for Digital Underground. The video for this song actually lost to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" for the MTV VMA for Best Rap Video in 1990.

Although the songs came out around the same time, the dance fads were very different. But now something new emerged. Artists, specifically hip hop artists, were now able to connect with their audience and fans in a new way that no other genre has succeed in.

Check out the MTV VMA winner for Best Rap Video in 1990 below. I am sure you will be able to spot the Hammertime.

Reference: Goldschmitt, Kariann. "Doing the Bossa Nova: The Curious Life of a Social Dance in 1960s North America." Luso-Brazilian Review 48.1 (2011): 61-78.

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