Twerking, a dance characterized by rhythmic hip movements, has deep roots in African and African diaspora cultures. Its journey from traditional dances to mainstream popularity is a fascinating study of cultural evolution and influence.
A dancer demonstrating twerking moves. Image source: geograph.org.uk
Origins in African Dance
The consensus is that such dances cognate to twerk are Central African in origin, as indicated by their names and presence among Bantu-language-speaking slaves. Booty dances have threatened the status quo by emphasizing group membership, the free movement of forceful Black bodies, and Afro-Diasporic counter-narratives.
The Colombian mapalé, or baile negro, is a case in point. Mapalé recalls the fish tail dances of the North American plantation; Davila writes that 'the fish's movements after they are captured resemble [the dance's] pelvic and midriff contractions to the beat of the drum'. 'Where dance on a social level was criminalized, in Mapalé, it continues to be an indestructible force of Afro-Colombian identity within the fabric of the Atlantic Coast'.
The batuque, with its 'artificial rotations and contortions of the hip' was officially suppressed, as were candombe and the bongo. The historical record indicates that dances like twerk date to the antebellum period in the American South. Enslaved people performed sinuous snake hip and fish tail dances on plantations during festivals and special gatherings, such as celebratory dinners.
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Some of the earliest footage of such moves may be seen in clips of the legendary Joséphine Baker. Other 'serpentine' dances that presaged twerk are the Georgia crawl and 'the sensuous grind' called ballin' the jack, both with their heyday in the nineteen-teens. In the same period, 'From Florida came the Swamp Shimmy, in which vigorous undulations of body, hips, and limbs made up for lack of forward movement'.
Evolution and Recognition
Twerk emerged from earlier movement styles, like 'the up-and-back hip-swinging bowed-legged movements of a dance called the Tootsie Roll' and p[ussy]-popping. As Miller notes, 'it is likely that P-Popping constitutes an expression of what Chadwick Hansen identified in the late 1960s as "a long tradition of erotic shaking dances in America", which "have clearly been continuous within the Negro community"'.
The diffusion of the dance phenomenon began earlier via local parties and eventually strip clubs often associated with mainstream rap music and video production aired by video cable television shows that featured rap music and R&B music. Twerking first received national recognition in the United States in the early 2000s, when the song "Whistle While You Twurk" (2000), by Southern hip hop duo Ying Yang Twins, peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs component chart.
It was later referenced in their later track "Say I Yi Yi" (2002), in which the lyrics "she got her hands up on her knees and her elbows on her thighs / she like to twerk and that's for certain I can tell that she fly" are heard. R&B and pop girl group Destiny's Child was the first mainstream American girl group to use the word in a song in their song "Jumpin' Jumpin'".
Twerking in Popular Culture
In 2007, the song "Pop, Lock & Drop It", by American rapper Huey, reached number six on the US Billboard Hot 100. In November 2018, the City Girls released a song called "Twerk" featuring rapper Cardi B which peaked on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 29.
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By April 9, 2013, copies of the video had amassed over 4 million views on YouTube. The clip was shared by users over 100,000 times, becoming a trend for the community and users created their own responses and parodies featuring the song, collected under the hashtags "#dontdropthat" and "#thunthun".
The viral popularity of the Vine clips led to an unexpected increase in sales for the song; prior to the posting of the "Twerk Team" clip, only 4,000 copies of the song had been sold; in the following weeks, sales went up to 34,000, then to over 72,000. Both "Wop" and "Don't Drop That Thun Thun" have been cited as examples of how viral and user-created videos can bring renewed interest to songs; Spin writer Jordan Sargent considered "Wop" to be rap music's "Harlem Shake moment", but not a meme to the same extent as it.
In April 2013, American rapper Danny Brown released the song "Express Yourself", inspired by music producer Diplo's song of the same name. In the music video for Barbadian singer Rihanna's single "Pour It Up", which was released in May 2013, the singer can be seen twerking. In June 2013, American rapper Busta Rhymes released a Jamaican dancehall-inspired single titled "Twerk It", featuring Nicki Minaj, who has been featured on several other "twerking songs", including "Shakin' It 4 Daddy" by Robin Thicke, "Dance (A$$)" by Big Sean and "Clappers" by Wale. Minaj can be seen twerking in all four of the aforementioned songs' respective music videos.
In early September 2013, a video titled "Worst Twerk Fail EVER - Girl Catches Fire!", began circulating around online; the video went on to become viral with over 9 million views, and received media coverage. Also in September, "Twerk" from the MTV VMA show was named the Top Television Word of the Year (Teleword) of the 2012-2013 TV season by the Global Language Monitor. It became the number one "what is" Google search that year as those outside the culture questioned the popularity of the dance.
In October 2013, Valerie Dixon who was 27 years old, was arrested in Lake County, Florida, because she was twerking and speaking foul language in front of a school bus.
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