Dab (dance)

Before the term "dab" was coined, the move was performed my Martin Short while portraying his character Ed Grimley.[3] The move had also been a feature of Japanese popular culture for decades. A popular example is the 1990s anime series Dragon Ball Z, where the character Gohan (as The Great Saiyaman) occasionally performs the dab move.[4] It is known as a "Sentai move" in Japan, from its popular use in the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider tokusatsu superhero series since the 1970s (localised as Power Rangers and Masked Rider in the 1990s); the English dub of the anime series Yu-Gi-Oh! (2017) adds a joke referring to a Sentai move as "the dab".[5] In the 1990s show Detective Conan's 2000 opening "Koi wa Thrill, Shock, Suspense", the main character was shown dancing while occasionally dabbing. This opening was then remade 20 years later in Opening 51 with the same character doing a few dabs when the music starts. Other anime series where the dab move appears include the early 2010s show Love Live!, among others.[6] The K-pop group Crayon Pop also appear to have performed the dab dance in the early 2010s, and so does the American dance crew Poreotics in 2010.[7][8]

The dance had a surge in popularity throughout mid-2014.[9] In early 2014 the Migos performed at the Paramount Theater in Springfield Massachusetts. The Dab was introduced to the Migos and Quality Control by Peter Thomson (Coach K was present at the time). Musicians on the Quality Control Music label had claimed the dab was invented by rapper Skippa Da Flippa and had origins in the Atlanta hip-hop scene in the 2010s. Another rap group on that label, Migos, who released a single in 2015 titled "Look at My Dab", had claimed to have invented the move,[10] but they later agreed that Skippa Da Flippa was the inventor after criticism from a third member of that label, OG Maco.[11]

American rapper Bow Wow attempted to explain the origin of the dab dance, saying it derived from the cannabis dabbers community, which started in about 2012, before the dance move. He was met with opposition from other rappers who immediately took to Twitter to insult him and disprove his claims.[12] The rappers Peewee Longway, Jose Guapo and Rich the Kid contributed to popularizing the dab dance.[13]

A slight variation of the dance move also appears several times in the music video for Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal from 1988.[14]

This dance move also appears in the music video for Boyz II Men's "Can't Let Her Go" in 1997.[15]

As XXL magazine reported in August 2015, "What started as a regional down South adlib is quickly becoming a masterful maneuver in clubs and on street corners. It’s called dabbin’."[16] Jason Derulo taught James Corden how to dab during the November 4, 2015 edition of "Carpool Karaoke" on The Late Late Show with James Corden.[17]

The dab gained popularity in American sports following an eight-second celebratory dab by Cam Newton, football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League, during a game against the Tennessee Titans on November 15, 2015.[18][19] According to a Sports Illustrated account of the incident, "[w]hen two Titans players confronted [Newton] about the celebration, he continued to dance in their faces, even as he backed away."[1] Newton explained the incident by crediting a 16-year-old for instructing him to "Dab on them folks":

I'm a firm believer that if you don't like me to do it then don't let me in ... I just like doing it, man. It's not to be boastful, and from the crowd's response they like seeing it. ... Tell me what to do "Dab on them folks," so I tried "Dab on them folks," in that tone too. "Dab on them folks." He's only like 16, but he's got an Adam's apple out of this world.[20]

It was later confirmed that the 16-year-old was Newton's younger brother Caylin.[21] On June 9, 2016, Cam Newton announced that he would no longer perform the celebration. However, he dabbed again on November 13, 2016 after a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs, nearly a year after his initial dab against the Titans.[22]

Andrew Scheer, former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada dabbing with a university student

Dabbing has made its appearance in politics, as well. In January 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton dabbed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In October 2016, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez dabbed at the end of a Senate debate against Attorney General Kamala Harris.[23][24][25] On January 3, 2017, Cal Marshall, 17-year-old son of Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan), dabbed at his father's swearing in as a Congressman, confusing House Speaker Paul Ryan.[26] On February 22, 2017, Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson dabbed in the UK's House of Commons.[27] French presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron,[28] Benoît Hamon and François Fillon dabbed on TV in March 2017. In May 2017, Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway dabbed at the Royal Palace in Oslo during his grandparents' King Harald V and Queen Sonja's official appearance for their 80th birthday.[29] In October 2017, Australian Labor Party leader Bill Shorten dabbed as part of a "diss track" criticising members of the Liberal Party.[30] He later alluded to the dab's infamy, stating that his children had been "humiliated" by it.[31]

In January 2017, an Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja dabbed in celebration of his half-century scored in a Test match against Pakistan in Sydney. His move received mixed reactions, with some praising it while others accused him of disrespecting his opponents.[32]

In February 2017, the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, invited a dance group to State House to perform the dab dance move with him.[33] The president was doing the dab dance in a bid to appeal to the youthful population of Kenya to come out and register as voters. Some critics found this move to be in bad taste since there were other pressing issues like the doctors and lecturers strike that the president ought to have been dealing with rather than dancing.[34]

Today, the dab is both a dance move and a statement. The culture behind it has been propagated by celebrity use and memes. Many dancers incorporate the move in their repertoire as a minor addition to a set; a dab is usually used to mark a drop. In Korean pop music (K-pop) some South Koreans adopted the move,[35] along with the Whip and Nae Nae.[36]

Manchester United footballers Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard also popularised the dab by performing the dance as their goal celebration.[37] Wrestler T.J. Perkins often uses the move as a taunt or a sign of disrespect after a headstand headscissors takedown.

• Nae Nae
• Twerk

• Diaz, Angel (August 6, 2015). "Og Maco and Migos Got into It on Twitter Over the Dabbin' Dance". Complex. Retrieved January 4, 2016.