Krumping

One of my favorite dance styles, ever, Krumping. Not because I am a hip-hop dancer and I have bias, but because to do it well you need so much heart and energy that it is probably one of the most mentally demanding out of the hip-hop styles. Weirdly enough, it is also one of the most made fun of due to YouTube videos circulating around of many people who claim to Krump dance, but instead just flail their arms around.

Krumping is a street dance that became an idea sometime in the 1990’s. It is actually backronym for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise. It was created by Caesar “Tight Eyez” Willis and Jo’Artis “Big Mijo” Ratti by the early 2000’s in Southern LA and that’s when it got its popularization. Krumping is an extremely energetic dance that involves all parts of the body moving in very rapid ways. It is definitely one of the most cardiovascular demanding dance styles I can think of. Originally, it was used as a way to relieve anger, which is why it looks and feels like such an aggressive dance. It became very popular in urban and underdeveloped areas because many people sought to krumping as a way to connect with their community and relieve themselves of the anger they felt over the bad conditions. It is also used as a way to escape gang violence and to “release anger, aggression, and frustration positively, in a non-violent way”.

There are no specific set moves per-say for Krump style dancing. Much of the style is created from off the top of the head, which is why it was so popular, literally anyone could do it. Christopher “Lil C” Toler describes it as taking a ball of energy and holding it in a certain position, and then throwing to another part of your body and holding it again. Many people seem to think Krump is just flailing your body in hopes of looking half-decent, meanwhile although it doesn’t have a certain moveset, there is an etiquette to it.

Here are some examples of real krump dancing:

Lil C and Miss Prissy Krumping

Tight Eyez Krumping

Rebel Vs. Jigsaw

A documentary about the history of krump and everyone involved in it is Rize. It is a very good documentary and I highly suggest you watch it if you more interested about the topic of Krump.

15 thoughts on “Krumping

  1. Jingyi Jiang

    To be honest, the only time I’ve seen krumping was on Youtube videos, and I’ve always thought it looked strange and confusing. After reading your blog though, it makes much more sense. I didn’t know that people can use dancing as a way to “vent” or express what they’re feeling at the moment! Do you think that a lot of dance or music styles are made fun of because people don’t know their history?

  2. Andrea Frank

    I have heard of krumping before, but it was in a joke movie (I think it was Dance Flick) and it was all made to be a joke. I admittedly have made fun of it myself because I thought I looked funny trying to do it. However, I respect the style greatly because I cannot do it. Everyone moves their body in a different way, even among dancers. I think it is interesting that this can be so easy for some (as in the videos) but so impossibly difficult of others (aka me). Do you think this means anyone can create their own dance style?

  3. Rohan Basu

    I like the idea that krumping largely comes from emotion and feeling, rather than a predetermined set of moves. Just a couple questions: What is the meaning of “kingdom radically uplifted mighty praise” and who used it to relieve anger? I never really saw dance as a way to relieve emotional stress, as I am not a dancer myself. I can definitely see how it would do the trick, though. I have seen krumping before and thought it was kind of cool, but I also did not realize what it meant. Why do you think people make fun of it? I guess there’s always going to be ‘haters’ for everything good. Do you krump? If so, how did you get into it?

  4. Shweta Sen

    I had heard of Krumping before, but I never knew too much about it. Honestly, I feel like I had a stereotypical image of the what the dance looked like, which really turned out to be wrong. I never realized that Krumping had such a powerful and strong history. I saw the videos and as you said, it really does seem to take a lot of heart and energy. I really loved the free nature of it and admire how dancers could come up with all the dances as they go.

  5. Patrick Thornton

    I had no idea that Krumping was actually a style of dance. I watched the videos without sound which made them seem odd. How do you tell the different hip-hop dace styles apart if they don’ have set moves? I never knew how much thought went into these different dance styles.

  6. Jack Swab

    I never knew that this every existed. I’m not a dance person by any stretch of the imagination (my most out their dance move is probably the robot), however even I can see the skill that this takes. While some people my not think that skill is required for this dance, it clearly is. We don’t move our bodies in the way that Krumping happens. Thus, I would assume, that an extensive amount of energy is spent on learning and practicing how this dance works. I would say that perhaps next time I’m dancing that I would try to krump, but I don’t think that would work out well at all….

  7. Joe

    Does it become more difficult to separate dance styles from one another as time goes on and they draw influence from one another? Are there any specific songs related to krumping? Since krumping is so impromptu, is it seen very often, or do only very experienced dancers successfully perform the moves? Dance as exercise has become very popular with things like Zumba. Do you think there might be exercise regimens incorporating krumping anytime soon?

  8. Selina Roman-White

    I had no idea Krumping had such an interesting history. I can definitely understand why it is so demanding. I think there’s something really great about dance styles that completely envelope and express the emotions of the dancers. Are there many styles of dance out there that don’t have a set of moves, or is this unique to krumping? I think that this is an interesting “stress reliver”, and maybe more unorthodox techniques like this could be used to help children deal with anger instead of going towards violence. Either way, it’s a very interesting dance style, that appears to take a lot of skill.

  9. Kokila Shankar

    I’m really glad to see that you posted about krumping. I feel that a lot of people, myself included, only really have a basic stereotypical ideal of what the dance looks like, and it probably has nothing to do with the actual dance or the motivations behind it. It is cool to see how it was started to escape gang violence. Since hip-hop is really so much about the energy and flow of the dance, how do these different moves get developed and accepted as a real dance move? It’s definitely not like ballet or other dance styles where there are specific moves designed for certain aesthetic and functional aspects.

  10. Nettie Baugher

    I have never heard of krumping, but I am seriously impressed with how smoothly they can move their body. It’s such a fluid motion, like that’s their arms and legs are meant to move. I am basically the most uncoordinated person ever, so I think that that is so cool. I really enjoy dancing, and it is awesome that people see this type of dance as a way to release anger. They say that dancing makes you happy, so I am sure that this activity is a great way to relieve them from the stresses of daily life. So the big question is… Can you krump?

  11. Andrew Pany

    Krumping actually sounds like something very interesting. I have seen the youtube videos where people make fun of the style of dance and I did think they were humorous. However, I did not know how serious the dance was and how much it meant to people. So thank you for bringing that to my attention. I think that it is great that people in impoverished areas can turn to something as simple as dance to make their lives just a bit better.

  12. Karla DiPietro

    I never knew that Krumping was actually an acronym for anything. It is very interesting to read about where these different types of dance come from. Most forms of dance seem to come from a need to release a certain emotion. I believe that this is why dancing is so closely tied to passion; the emotion is in need of being expressed. If Krumping is such a free form of dance, how does one then separate it from other forms? Is defining the exact dance you are doing even that important? The ball of energy idea is extremely helpful in imagine what this dance would look like. I really enjoyed that detail and you post in general. Have you continued in the dance club here at Penn State? Do they Krump?

  13. Mike J. Bacior

    I honestly had no idea what Krumping was at all. I had heard of it, but that was about it. It is interesting to note that dance styles such as this actually have historical beginnings and can be traced back to a few individuals. I think it is good to have these kind of activities, though, especially for kids in impoverished areas. Whether it is a sport, dance, or art, kids need something to reduce their amount of free time, as a correlation between free time and crime does exist.

  14. ahc5110

    I remember the first time I watched a krumping video with my friends and wondering what exactly was going into that. It’s so easy to underestimate the amount of exercise and energy that the dancers are doing that we often imitated the video in our free time. I’m not a dancer by any means, but krumping definitely made its way into my life and is actually one of the few dance styles you spoke of that I’m aware of. Can you krump? How do you learn the actual technique?

  15. myk5437

    All these different dance styles are so interesting to me. I was just wondering if you can tell the difference between these styles if you see someone performing? I am new to hiphop and breakdance, and I have a hard time distinguishing between krump, lock and popping. What are the things you look for to tell the difference between these styles?

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