Dance
Try out 10 of the most iconic party dances to hit the masses
Party dances built the foundations of today's hip-hop dance. We present 10 of them that hit the mainstream.
The history of the party dances runs deep. The '60s gave us 'The Twist' and 'The Watusi,' before Michael Jackson showed us the backslide and made it famous as the ‘Moonwalk’. However, it was 1986’s breakout hit Candy by Cameo that catapulted the electric slide to the masses. Bringing family functions, weddings, block parties and the dancefloors of even the hardest hip-hop parties to new heights of hype, paving the way for fancy footwork and viral dance sensations to sweep nations.
For the first in our two-part series, we're going way back. From the 1980s to the 2000s, including the 'Cha Cha Slide' and the 'Humpty Dance', all the way to the 'Rockaway'. Lean back and get ready to bust a move.
1. Candy (1986)
Few can hide the soulful urge to grapevine and step touch their way past a dance floor packed out with people getting down to the pure funkified vibes that Cameo’s Candy continues to bring – nearly five decades after its release.
2. Humpty Dance (1990)
Digital Underground’s frontman Shock G (or to be precise, his alter-ego Humpty Hump) dropped one of the biggest jams of the '90s and a backstroking dance craze that even had Tupac doing the ‘Humpty Hump’ on Arsenio Hall! Tupac even stamped his ‘first ever verse’ on the follow up single Same Song.
3. Hammer Time/Running Man (1990)
If you’re looking for documentation of the dance steps that summed up the vibe of the '90s then no other video or track can surpass MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This (outside of a Rosie Perez montage of booty popping on the Soul Train). You still can’t touch Hammer! There’s the 'Running Man', 'Hammer Shuffle,' and every single party dance that banged in the '90s.
4. Kick 'n' Step (1995)
New York rap duo Kid 'n' Play blasted their way onto '90s boomboxes and layed down a portfolio of party moves to go with them. Such as their signature ‘Kick 'n' Step’ that had everyone joining hands and tapping toes from Will Smith to Steve Harvey. If you know, you know!
5. Harlem Shake (1990s to 2000s)
Contrary to the viral meme madness caused by the bass thumping (and horrifying) 2012 remix (thankfully put to rest by the real Harlem Shakers who stepped in and showed them how it’s down) the original 'Harlem Shake' existed from the '80s. Created in the streets by Harlem O.G.'s and the Original Harlem Shakers – and all the way back to the true legends 'Go Crazy Boyz.'
6. Cha Cha Slide (2000)
Who can forget (despite loads of effort) the epic imprint Mr. C aka Mr. Slide made on party dance history. Releasing his instruction heavy hit Cha Cha Slide that ignited a craze so huge it worked its way from high school proms to barbeques and into material of comedians like Martin Lawrence, who coined it 'the ghetto hokey-pokey.' With Mr. C lending a hand on 2007’s Cupid Shuffle by Cupid. A dance track that became so popular it wound up in the Billboard charts and also got three NFL players from the Miami Dolphins fined $10,000 [€8,617] by the NFL in 2008 for doing the dance after scoring a touchdown at a game against the San Diego Chargers.
7. Dirt Off Your Shoulder (2003)
Fewer finer words have been said then when Jay-Z came in and told us: ‘You gotta get, that, dirt off your shoulder,' fuelling the beginnings of shoulder-dusting and shoulder-leaning far and wide that would even go on to form rapper T.I’s smooth signature move.
8. Lean Back/Rockaway (2004)
The dancefloors of 2004 belonged to Fat Joe, Remy Ma and Little John when Lean Back dropped and with it the infamous Rockaway. Raking in 46 million YouTube hits and cameos from fans from a young DJ Khaled and Kevin Kart to Lil Bow Wow and pretty much every club in South Beach to across the globe.
9. Flap Your Wings/Tootsee Roll/Butterfly Creep (2004)
You weren’t a boss in the noughties unless you 'Tootsee Rolled' your way through the decade with the 69 Boyz and knew how to 'butterfly' like T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli, or 'dropped down and got your eagle on' with Neptunes and Nelly on banger Flap Your Wings.
10. Footwork (2005)
‘Music makes you lose control!’ When Missy Elliot teamed up with Ciara and Fatman Scoop in 2005 that’s exactly what happened. Her track Lose Control caught nationwide attention. Putting footwork on the map and paying homage to the Chicago genre when her dancers struck the screen in the 2005 video (see the move at the 27 second mark) the chorus to the song even repeats the word 'step,' as an indirect nod to the timeless move.
Honourable mention: Crank (2006)
Last but not least, a rundown of hip-hop party dances of the '90s and Noughties can’t be complete without a mention to the motorcycle cranking brought forth onto the floor, courtesy of Bad Boy Records and Puffy who spotted Yung Joc where else, but at the mall.
