Posse On Trendwatch: Jerkin’ On
The latest trend is trendwatching with no binoculars. While all of us were fighting about Charles Hamilton, Los Angeles and other bubbling parts of California[1] have been blowing up a dance/fashion/music meme known as Jerkin’[2] in recent months. The dance speaks for itself,[3] let’s talk music. I wanted to put together a proper zip file for a second, but finding CDQs on this sort of stuff is a particularly difficult undertaking. Fortunately I can just let some sixteen year old on Imeem do my job for me.
Admittedly this stuff is really not all that different than any number of loved and loathed local movements of recent years – poorly mixed, sloppily rapped and constructed Windows XP rap. But it’s interesting in its national synergy, informed heavily by both snap and late hyphy [4], with additional nods to every other major rap trend of recent years – Lil Wayne gurgles, Ron Browz style trash autotunes, Chicken Noodle Soups, etc. The Pack in particular seem to be the primary inspiration for this movement in both sound and fashion. Which makes sense. They were absolutely prescient in predicting the hipster rap trends [5] and were also one of the first groups to really freak social networking. That approach builds a slow burn buzz that doesn’t really die.
Consider another major predictor[6] of this movement – D4L’s “Scotty”. It’s the greatest harmonizing rap song of the decade and the biggest of about a half dozen street hits produced by a so called one hit wonder. It spent four years crawling to a national reputation through hand to hand CDr burns, Imeem playlists and youtube scores. So now well after Fabo probably blew his “Laffy Taffy” royalties straight up his nose and Lo became a walking shit stain TI punchline, some kids on the other side of the country are running with their sound. Call it the quiet meme. Think “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” rather than Tay Zonday. And then apply that phenomenon to music that is genuinely great. Suddenly the internet doesn’t seem so fast. These kids are explicit in their homage too, which is great for dot connectors like us. The tail end of New Boyz “Your [sp] A Jerk”, for example, repurposes “Scotty”’s “geeked up” refrain as, oh yes, “jerked up.” That record is shaping up to be the crossover record of the movement, gaining some significant Power 106 play and supposedly landing New Boyz a deal with Warner. Starting to see spaceships on Crenshaw?[7]
All my rap feminists (Deej?) can also breathe a sigh of relief: there are many prominent girl rappers – Vixen Ent., Pink Dollaz – coming out of the scene as well as lots of songs by dudes about passionately eating pussy.
[1] There seems to be some discrepancy as to whether it originated in the Bay or LA. Bay records like D-Lo’s “No Hoe” loom apparent on the scene and it obviously bears some similarities to turf dancing and all that, but it seems like LA was the first to actually brand it as, ahem, a movement.
[2] An admittedly cringe inducing name, just check some of the roflable responses to this Yahoo Answers “Good Songs To Jerk To” inquiry.
[3] Thanks for the syllable salvaging, Web 2.0!
[4] Contrary to popular belief, hyphy basically took over not just the Bay but all of the west coast and surrounding parts when it was in its prime a few years back.
[5] Their more polished successors/biters – Cool Kids for example – have proven less successful with the youth market because kids don’t want to buy well groomed music they want to buy music that their peers are making.
[6] Word to Cellski.
[7] Or wherever, I don’t know anything about LA geography other than where Leimert Park is.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:09 am
Also major pause @ “I jerk ’til my side bones hurt”.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:35 am
i need to stay in the streets more. never saw this shit at blowed (the one and a half times i been there) or anywhere in LA. though i think blowedians would beat the crap out of these rappers
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:46 am
all of d-lo’s songs have that lo-fi quality to them…
one thing ive come to find out about people like D-Lo or Sleepy D is that they have a real strong female fanbase…i mean like LL Cool J strong…lol
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:16 am
make a post about krautrock instead of this nozz
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:18 am
that is one of the better pussy eatin songs ive heard tho
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:17 am
yo dis L.A. jerkin be the equilivant of some euro hipster ass fahg chit mayne…..example….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYaZYmTwOxA
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:34 am
dude PLEASE do a downloadable zip of this…..it will be much appreciated…this coming someone who still cranks dat roadrunner on a near daily basis
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:46 am
“i need to stay in the streets more. never saw this shit at blowed (the one and a half times i been there) or anywhere in LA. though i think blowedians would beat the crap out of these rappers”
I can’t tell if you’re joking, but I was. This is my one LA rap post of the year that has nothing to do with the blowed.
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:29 am
waiting on the fader’s article
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:04 am
“Kids don’t want to buy well groomed music they want to buy music that their peers are making.”
Yes. And the fact that this is possible is the single best argument that the internet is good for music that I can think of.
There are so many (legit) arguments that the internet is bad for music, but watching that video makes me forget all of them. If you listen to any of Numero’s recent reissues, you can hear a time when a handful of kids could throw in a few dollars and get access to a crappy recording studio and walk out with a (sometimes great) record. Whether it’s a pair of tape decks or freeware and filesharing, I’m all for it.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:11 pm
see i think more of Pack spin-offs like Go Dav and Team Knoc when I heard this shit. it’s virtually identical to what they refer to as “Based” music, but it seems to have less of a sense of humor about itself. also, i think a lot of this is from San Bernadino and Hesperia, which is HELLA weak. not even LA.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:26 pm
“see i think more of Pack spin-offs like Go Dav and Team Knoc when I heard this shit. it’s virtually identical to what they refer to as “Based” music, but it seems to have less of a sense of humor about itself. ”
Yeah that shit is no fun.
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
frankly I have no idea if this is a real trend, Fader fodder or a mix of the two – not my territory – but one interesting thing (to me at least)…
“jerkin” has echoes of “jackin’”, the original Chicago House meme (as in “jack your body”), which was also hypersexual…as well early Chi house was very much about black kids (maybe more like early 20s but still) getting their hands on cheap synths/drum machines & making great raw records for their peers…see also Juke if any CB readers are familiar…
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:22 pm
smokers been doin that dance for years, 1st and 15th, this kinda fruity,the music does it better than the video
April 4th, 2009 at 7:12 am
This that shit! Reminds me of Sublime RObbin THe Hood.
Yo , time for re-up#4 of DJ Jimi Bounce mixtape? let em have it
April 4th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Padraig- right on the $$$!
April 4th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
“also, i think a lot of this is from San Bernadino and Hesperia, which is HELLA weak. not even LA.”
co-signal. this looks more like something coming out of the inland empire, with rancho cucamonga kids compensating for their suburban upbringing.
April 4th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
“kids don’t want to buy well groomed music they want to buy music that their peers are making”
Kids don’t buy music.
April 4th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
“Kids don’t buy music.”
Sure they do.
April 5th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
this is real jerkin’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuehzRG8H3I
And jerkin’ is in LA. I live in Lemiert Park and they jerk here and on Crenshaw, Slauson, even Latino’s jerk in South Central. That’s all they do at the functions. It’s a movement come see bout it!
April 5th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
this is real jerkin’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuehzRG8H3I
And jerkin’ is in LA. I live in Lemiert Park and they jerk here and on Crenshaw, Slauson, even Latino’s jerk in South Central. That’s all they do at the functions. It’s a movement come see bout it!
April 5th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
we got a word for deez niggas, hoodfags
April 6th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Are these people for real with this shit? Hey California, are you for real right now or you playing a joke on the rest of the country? WTF 2.0
April 6th, 2009 at 11:58 am
reminds me of that techtonik-trend that the kids go crazy for in France. Theres a documentary about it, “Generation Electro”, but I guess it leans more towards some kind of metrosex-breakdance than the clearly retarded qualities of this californian “jerkin”-stuff…
April 7th, 2009 at 12:14 am
l.a. got the jerk and australia got the shuffle – what the hell is really going on here? shit looks a little craze to me.
April 7th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
This is very hypocritcal for me to say but this dance is gay…there’s no way around it. No straight male of any age should do this dance ever in life and not expect to raise some eyebrows.
April 9th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Seriously we’ve been killing this shit in Dorset for hundreds of years already. Did some cali kid come here on holiday and take the dance back with them or something:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/boagworld/2468213254/
April 16th, 2009 at 2:23 am
Dawg fuck all yall hatin ass niggas its a reason whyy this shit is only in cali cuz the rest of the countr is fags bluhhh fuck them stupid ass niggas hating we fux wit that and if you need that hmu bluhh/
Cali is a beast and u better respect it this music is juss some shit for functions and parties n shit it aint for u fags everywhere else 2 listen 2 this music is universal but if u dnt like then bitch its not for you
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Old Niggas gotta realize the youth are alwayz gonna be fresh. We can’t dictate what they fuck wit’. Personally I think this shit is GREAT. This shit could unite the Cali music scene and expand far beyond the west. The Bay has been keeping Cali’ rap alive for years and this is a testament. L.A. fuckin’ with the Bay, the Bay Fuckin’ with L.A.!!! GLORIOUS
April 30th, 2009 at 1:43 am
these the type of niggas we rob on the street Fuck JeRkin
May 8th, 2009 at 2:10 am
Damn! You the first nigga to get robbed too. 380 in the small of the back
May 8th, 2009 at 2:33 am
On second thought…Sike just playin’ (Algamega niuhh) YOu ain’t robbin’ nuthin’ round here yung…Bes believe dat, Huh!
May 28th, 2009 at 11:04 am
I actually think this is one of the better dances to come. I think people have the wrong impression however about hiphop dance trends. Hip Hop and every other genre of music has and needs trendy dance moves.
I mean we have has the Biz Markie, The Cabage Patch, The Reebok, etc. So dont see how hiphop dances are bad. Now bad trendy dances are bad so I only fucks with the good ones. This being one of them. I also like th Roy, and the Pull Palace. They are good dances.
So it is hipocritical to say they are bas when hip hop pioneers actually rocked the crowd doing trendy dance moves. (Big Daddy Kane, MC Hammer)
May 29th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
[...] reminiscent of the almost minimal beats from the Pack or The Cataracs or even the Cool Kids. Cocaine Blunts was all over this in April. After the jump it’s the girls’ turn with The Bangz – We [...]
May 29th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Quit playing yall, this shit is wack as fuck (and I don’t even curse).
May 31st, 2009 at 9:21 pm
This dance is cool… but bay area turfing/gigging is the coldest shit other than b-boying that has ever come out of hip hop.
June 21st, 2009 at 3:20 am
turfing is sooooo damn effeminate tho!
like, it IS awesome, no doubt, quite fresh. but that shit is really really really effeminate. & I don’t understand how that has become the new-new shit for ALL these youngsters.
but whatever, — fresh is fresh, & youngsters being creative by themselves should always be applauded!
July 5th, 2009 at 1:46 am
Whole different thing—–Jerkin is world wide huge, kids in Brooklyn and Iceland Jerkin this month.
Million hit young krews like the POWER RANGERS (Julian, CJ), UCLA JERK KINGS ( BB the Jerk), etc. are the champions no doubt.
Go back to the 50’s to dance craze the TWIST and Chubby Checkers and you will find a screamin huge thing happening like Jerkinnnnnn. YouTube just replaces Dick Clark and American Bandstand as the only true venue.
And these boys go hard, they can dance, cranky haters cryin whinein whatever, it is all over now, they came, they saw, they conquered.
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September 15th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
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December 7th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
check out LA’s own YG at http://www.myspace.com/yg400