Ever since music has had the ability to go viral, dance crazes have followed. "(Watch Me) Whip and Nae Nae" may have been the first to exploit this in the YouTube age, but many others like "Crank Dat" by Soulja Boy and even "The Twist" by Chubby Checker came before to blaze the path. Now more than ever, dances blow up overnight thanks to social media, and "The Woah" is no stranger.
TikTok, formerly Musical.ly, is a controversial app circulating with the ability to snag sound bytes to songs and videos that can then be turned into new creations. This app has taken a place in the internet landscape still reeling from the loss of Vine, which met its end in 2016. The app is in the weird part of social media that comes across as just goofy enough to be seen as immature and just addicting enough to convince people that the trends it produces are worthy of fame, such as Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road".
Lil Nas X "Old Town Road" Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified www.youtube.com
The "Woah" is said to have its origins in Dallas, Texas, the home of the "Dougie", as it was first explained by DJ Dangerous on 2017 to be a "bounce" move that ends in a "lock", almost like putting your car in park. Two artists that had an integral role in spreading "The Woah" were Lil Uzi Vert and Ski Mask the Slump God. Both being very unorthodox and boundary-pushing artists from the SoundCloud rap wave, they take part in ransom social media posting to the tee. Uzi is notorious for dancing on Instagram stories where he first hit the "Woah" in the Summer of 2018.
Lil Uzi Vert Hits The Woah Dance www.youtube.com
Ski Mask, however, didn't hit the "Woah" until later in the year, but an in-studio video of his song "Foot Fungus" made waves on Twitter, having an infectious bassline that begged for a dance to be attached. The song comes off of his second 2018 project "Stokeley", titled after his first name. The album also features another smash-hit in "Faucet Failure" that has a viral beat snippet in its first verse.
Ski Mask The Slump God - Faucet Failure (Dir. by @_ColeBennett_) www.youtube.com
The "Woah" has now evolved into a meme, being captured by many Twitter users and dancers, alike. Some to do it wrong include Jacob Sartorius, who is already not the favorite media presence to surface in the past few years, but the simplicity of the dance also makes it very marketable.
It is hard to say if the dance has the chops to be a mainstay in pop culture, but it has definitely seen its fair share of popularity in 2019.
