80s and 90s Hip Hop Dance Fads

Hip hop dance fads have evolved. Instead of representing a time or a place in history as they used to, nowadays they tend to represent the latest attempt of random groups of skinny jean clad losers trying to get rich from a sloppy beat and spastic movements. I could talk about the ever increasingly painful disentangling of hip hop forever, but since this blog is about dance, I won’t. Instead, I’ll write about some good hip-hop dance fads of the 80s and 90s because a good throwback never hurt anyone.

My few of my personal favorites are:

The Cabbage Patch – Gucci Crew II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTRrpoCQDmk&feature=related

Apache (Jump on It) – Sugar Hill Gang http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCFRJEjM3fc&feature=related (as performed by Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro

The Urkel – Steve Urkel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnXEPXdB3-w

The Thizzle Dance – Mac Dre http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH230drNLVs

The trend for hip hop dance fad makers in the 80s and 90s was to instruct their dancers on what to do. For example, “Tootsee Roll,” by the 69 Boyz gives dancers clear instructions. “To the left… to the right… to the front, to the back… now slide, slide baby slide.” In the same way, “Cha Cha Slide” by DJ Casper is basically a five minute dance class.

Now I’m not going to argue that songs like these are intellectual in any way, and I’m not suggesting we add a section into history books about the “Thizzle Dance” in-between the lindy hop and the jive; I just believe that the dance fads of 80s and 90s hip hop were better than recent dance fads because the dancing wasn’t about money or popularity, it was about moving to good music – just watch the music videos. There isn’t any standing around or hype. Everyone’s having a good time, dancing, and getting funky.

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6 comments

  1. I get a kick out of these dance fads. I see the 80s and 90s as a time during which people simply just wanted to have a good time dancing, and the dances gave off a fun vibe and were very inclusive since they were so easy to follow. I would love to go back to this era.

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