Crip Walk

The dance is primarily an act of performing quick and intricate footwork. The rivalry between the Crips and the Bloods spilled over into the world of entertainment, with the adoption of the gang dance by various rappers on the West Coast of the United States, who gave it its name, the Crip Walk. This dance involves the movement of one's feet, classically to the spelling of C-R-I-P (refer C Walk). It was used by Crips at parties to display affiliation, particularly vis-a-vis rival gang the Bloods. It was also used after killing someone to give the kill a Crip signature. MTV declined to broadcast any music videos that contained the Crip Walk.[2]

The Crip Walk started in the 1970s in Compton, which is a suburb of Los Angeles, California. It is often referred to throughout many rap songs. This includes Xzibit tracks, for example, "Get Your Walk On" and J-Kwon's "Hood Hop". In the early 1980s, the Crip Walk was originally a symbolic dance strictly for Crip gang members in South Central Los Angeles. However, by the early 1990s, the dance became a popular hip-hop dance. Crip members originally used this dance to spell out their names and other Crip symbols. Gang members would often spell out the word "Bloods", which is the name of their rival gang. It is believed that the Crip Walk was used as a signal to initiate robberies – a lookout would scout out a location while other Crip members watched and waited for the C-Walk to signal that the coast is clear. It is also believed that the Crip Walk was performed after the slaying of a rival gang member.[3]

• Tennis player Serena Williams performed the walk at the 2012 Summer Olympic tennis tournament after defeating Maria Sharapova in the gold-medal match at Centre Court, Wimbledon.[4]
• The Super Bowl LVI halftime show had a synchronized Crip Walk led by Snoop Dogg.[5]

There are many variations of the standard Crip Walk,[6] including the Modern Crip Walk,[7] Clown Walk[8] Killwaukee Walk[9] and Crown Walk.[10] The chief differences are in the way moves are executed, from elements such as speed, energy, flow, variations, arm control, and bounce.

• American rapper CJ Mac released a documentary focused on the beginnings of Crip Walk and its rise in popularity entitled "Cwalk: It's a Way of Livin'". It features such rappers as Snoop Dogg, WC and Ice-T along with original members of the Crips.[11]

• Gangsta Walking

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crip Walk.

• Erika Hayasaki (June 4, 2002). "Some Principals Ban Dance With Gang Ties". Los Angeles Times.
• Jacob Thompson (May 15, 2007). "how to cwalk the v move". Dance Origin.