A Partial Timeline For "Bop" As A Referent For Music (with information & comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - December 10, 2023
 
This pancocojams post presents a time line for the English word "bop" as a referent for music.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and linguistic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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A PARTIAL TIMELINE FOR "BOP" AS A REFERENT FOR MUSIC
(Additions & corrections are welcome.)

1940s: Bebop (Bop)
From https://www.allmusic.com/style/bop-ma0000002457
"Also known as bebop, Bop was a radical new music that developed gradually in the early '40s and exploded in 1945. The main difference between bop and swing is that the soloists engaged in chordal (rather than melodic) improvisation, often discarding the melody altogether after the first chorus and using the chords as the basis for the solo. Ensembles tended to be unisons, most jazz groups were under seven pieces, and the soloist was free to get as adventurous as possible as long as the overall improvisation fit into the chord structure. Since the virtuoso musicians were getting away from using the melodies as the basis for their solos (leading some listeners to ask "Where's the melody?") and some of the tempos were very fast, bop divorced itself from popular music and a dancing audience, uplifting jazz to an art music but cutting deeply into its potential commercial success. Ironically the once-radical bebop style has become the foundation for all of the innovations that followed and now can be almost thought of as establishment music. Among its key innovators were altoist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Bud Powell, drummer Max Roach, and pianist/composer Thelonious Monk."

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1940s 
From https://goodblacknews.org/2022/04/26/black-lexicon-the-origins-of-bop-listen/ "Black Lexicon: The Origins of “Bop” by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, April 22, 2022
" “Bop” is a slang term most currently used to mean a really good song, but originally used to reference the jazz genre “bebop,” “rebop” or “hard bop.”

Invented in the 1940s and 1950s by musicians like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Christian, Max Roach, Miles Davis, Mary Lou Williams and Thelonious Monk – right now you’re listening to the song called “Be-Bop” by Dizzy Gillespie, originally written, recorded and released by him in 1945.

The “bop” style of playing consisted of intricate phrasings and harmonic improvisations over chord melodies of standards as well as original compositions. Dizzy Gillespie even titled his 1979 autobiography To Be or Not to Bop."...

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1940s
From https://www.etymonline.com/word/rebop
"bebop(noun)

1944, from bebop, rebop, bop, nonsense words in jazz lyrics, attested from at least 1928. The style is associated with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie."
-snip-
"Nonsense words in jazz lyrics" refer to "scatting"

bop (n.)

1948, shortening of bebop or rebop. The musical movement had its own lingo, which was in vogue in U.S. early 1950s. "Life" magazine [Sept. 29, 1952] listed examples of bop talk: crazy "new, wonderful, wildly exciting;" gone (adj.) "the tops—superlative of crazy;" cool (adj.) "tasty, pretty;" goof "to blow a wrong note or make a mistake;" hipster "modern version of hepcat;" dig "to understand, appreciate the subtleties of;" stoned "drunk, captivated, ecstatic, sent out of this world;" flip (v.) "to react"
 enthusiastically."
-snip-
The word "Rebop" was used first but was later replaced by the word "Bebop".

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1940s: songs that have the word "bop" in their titles
From https://www.streetswing.com/music_archive/m1bop.htm 
The earliest songs listed by Swingstreet are "Wham Re-bop-boom-bam" -Four Modernaires (1940) and "Swing To Bop"- Charlie Christian (1941).

These are Jazz songs.

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1945/1946: "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" Rhythm & Blues records
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey!_Ba-Ba-Re-Bop

 "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" is a 1946 song by Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra. The song's lead vocals were performed by Lionel Hampton himself and the recording featured Herbie Fields on alto sax. The song went to number one on the R&B Juke Box chart for sixteen non-consecutive weeks and reached number nine on the national pop charts.[1]

Although the writing of "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" was credited to Hampton and his drummer Curley Hamner, it was essentially a partial rewriting of Helen Humes' 1945 R&B hit "Be-Baba-Leba", which in turn was closely related to "Ee-Bobaliba" by Jim Wynn."...

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1950s: Hard Bop / 1960s: Post Bop [Jazz music references]
From https://us.napster.com/genre/jazz/bop
Built on a rhythmic foundation of walking bass and a steady cymbal, Bop features extended soloing over a series of chord changes. In the early 1940s, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie revolutionized jazz with their stripped-down aesthetic, fast tempos, and harmonic innovations. By the '50s, post-war atomic fear led the music into the anxious and tough sounds of Hard Bop. Outfits such as Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, who incorporated elements of Gospel and blues into slightly slower tempos. Post Bop groups, such as the Bill Evans Trio and mid-'60s Miles Davis Quintet, reshaped the basic elements of Bebop and Hard Bop."...
-snip-
Click that link for a list of top Bebop recordings.

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2000?: The word "Bop" began to be used in the United States as a general referent for Pop (popular, non-religious) music. "Pop" used here refers to some R&B records and records in other genres that are popular with the United States general public.   

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2000/2001: "Kidz Bop"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidz_Bop
" “Kidz Bop is a brand of compilation albums performing contemporary popular songs. The series was developed by Razor & Tie co-founders Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam[1] on September 10, 2001.[2] The albums are composed of popular songs that chart high on the Billboard Hot 100 and/or receive heavy airplay from contemporary hit radio stations several months ahead of each album's release. The songs are performed by the Kidz Bop Kids, often with lyrics deemed too explicit or suggestive for younger audiences altered to be more "kid-friendly".[3]"....

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From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidz_Bop_(album)
"Kidz Bop (occasionally known as Kidz Bop 1) is the first album in the Kidz Bop series in which children sing popular songs of the time. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA. Nicholas Scala of New York was involved with the production of the album. The album contains 30 newly recorded songs from the late 1990s and 2000.

[...]

Released: October 9, 2001
Recorded: 2000
-snip-
The use of the word "bop" in this group name/brand name suggests the prior use of the word "bop" as a general referent for popular non-religious records.

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around 2016 -The first use of "Issa bop (colloquial expression meaning "It's a really good (usually danceable) record,

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SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT THE WORD "BOP" USED FOR AS A REFERENT FOR RECORDS THAT SOMEONE CONSIDERS TO BE GOOD

From https://gagadaily.com/forums/topic/180447-its-a-bop-i-cant-take-it/ BOP: "It's a bop" I can't take it
Started March 17, 2016 by Bonkers in Gaga Thoughts

(Pancocojams Editor: This is the earliest online discussion that I've found for the latest contemporary music meaning of the word "bop". I've added numbers for these comments for referencing purposes only.)

1. Bonkers, Posted March 17, 2016
"I'm sorry to inform you that no one sounds good calling a good song "a bop". :gaycat: It sounds like something that would be vocal fried by one of the Kardashians. "

[...]

2. Dorothy Gale, Posted March 17, 2016
"I love bops. To me, bops are the kinds of songs you can play on loop, and are usually pop."

[...]

3. Bonkers, Posted March 17, 2016
"Maybe call it "great song" or "jam" maybe? But here's the deal, record yourself saying it, or ask one of your friends to say it."

[...]

4. CustomGiuseppe, Posted March 17, 2016
"A bop is a song that is not necissarily of good quality or deep substance but you'd bop and move your body to it if it was playing in a mall or a grocery store"

[...]

5. StrawberryBlond, Posted March 17, 2016
"I'm totally with you on that one! The word "bop" used to refer to an upbeat song you could dance too, usually pop. But now it seems to have become a gay slang term that simply means "a good song." And it's annoyingly inaccurate. Even ballads get called bops now. What part of a slow song could possibly make you associate it with the word "bop?" Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is a bop. Hello is not. It's not hard to work out why."
-snip-
I added italics to highlight these sentences.

[...]

6. CyanLights
"This, its not the* awful of a word but its beyond over used and extremely incorrectly. Its annoying when i see reviews of albums on here and other sites and everyone claims that the songs are bops and i listen to the album, and there are no "bops" to be heard. Its not that heard** of a concept."
-snip-
*I think “the” in the first sentence of that comment is a typo for “that”.
**I think the second use of the word “heard” in the last sentence of that comment is a typo for “hard”.

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June 19, 2016 - Earliest [?] urbandictionary.com entry for the latest contemporary music meaning of "bop"
From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bop
"bopmusic
used to reference a good song; to say that a song is really good
Situation 1: SHINee's 'View' is such a bop
Situation 2: EXO's song 'Artificial Love' from their new album EX'ACT is a bop!
#music#shinee#exo#kpop#k-pop"
by exothekings June 19, 2016
-snip-
The wording "a bop" appears to be used a lot.

These words appear to me to be a shortened form of a positive opinion of a song (for instance: "That's a good bop" or some other complimentary adjective that is implied before the noun "bop".

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August 13, 2017: another early entry for "bop" from urbandictionary.com
TOP DEFINITION
"issa bop
Slang for it's a really great song.
The kind that makes you want to dance or makes you really happy.
Can be used sarcastically.
You should listen to Strip that down by Liam Payne cause Issa bop.
(Ironically) Lol, just heard Friday by Rebecca Black, issa bop."

by Rubik' Cube August 13, 2017"
-snip-
"Issa" - African American Vernacular English originated word meaning "it's a".

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December 14, 2017: another early entry for "bop" from urbandictionary.com
From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=A%20bop
1. "A bop
A song that will always be good, legendary
"Yo man have you ever heard 'get low' by the ying yang twins?"
"Yeah man that will always be a bop"
by Maple syrup69 December 14, 2017"

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Added March 2019 : Selected comments that include the word "bop" from Samm Henshaw - Church (Lyric Video) ft. EARTHGANG; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHIN2JRSMuU

[Numbers added for referencing purposes only]
1. Bruhh Brahh
"Finally found my bop song for lazy Sunday morning ☀ ☁⛪"

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2. allyssa figueroa
"this is such a bop AHHHHHHH ON REPEAT"

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3. Jimhawking OutlawStar
"I needed this! Thanks for another bop."

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4. Shep
"20 seconds in and it's already a bop"

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5. Titus
"This was such a fun little bop! 🔥😂 I was jammin bro!"

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6. Destiny Lourenco
"Keep making music! I need bops to look forward to, you just made my day:)"

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7. spicy lamb sauce
"This is one AWESOME BOP!!! The vibes throughout the whole song are so good and wholesome. 😊🌻

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8. Earl Muñoz
"soulful bop"
-snip-
This discussion thread also include a few comments that used the word "bop" as a verb (probably meaning "to dance"). For example:
Lennon Drake, March 2019
"Thank you for making music that is so much fun to bop to!! ❤️"

In addition, this discussion thread included comments that also refer to this song as a "banger", "track", or "jam". Here are three examples:
a) RK
"STARTING MY YEAR WITH THIS BANGER"

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b) Mark Plunkett #JVLOGS
"This right here is a bangger i love it so much good morning wake up wake"

and
c) Fosa
"traaaacccckkkkkk!!!!!!!!!"
-snip-
I believe the words "banger" and "track" [written in an elongated form" are synonyms for "bop".  

For another viewpoint on this, click https://junkee.com/banger-bops-slaps-definition/177204 "A Very Serious Investigation Into The Difference Between ‘Bops’, ‘Bangers’, And What ‘Slaps’ by JARED RICHARDS 9 OCTOBER 2018.

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Hip Hop Bop - information, comments, & videos

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part series on African American originated dances with the name "bop".

Part II provides information, commens, and videos of (Hip Hop) bop.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/05/old-school-boppin-couples-dancing.html for Part I of this post. Part I provides information, comments, and videos about the "Bop" (Steppin) in Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD "BOP" FOR THESE HIP HOP DANCES
This is an adapted version of a larger section that is included in Part I of this series.

Several of the quotes below indicate that what I'm referring to as "Hip Hop bop" started in Chicago, Illinois and is an updated form of the old school Chicago Bop. This may be the case, but those two bop styles of dancing are quite different.

A number of commenters in the discussion thread for the video given as Example #4 in Part I of this series indicates that a lot of Chicago steppers "back in the day" were "gangstas". The slang term diddyboppin' fits the cool persona of young Black men walking down the street in a cool, swaggering manner. The term "diddyboppin" has been used to refer to the Hip Hop dance also known as "Gangsta Walk". "Diddy Bop" has also been used as a name for a form of the Hip Hop Bop dances which are the focus of this post. Notice a video of the dance that is called "diddy bop" that is given in Example #1 below.

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INFORMATION ABOUT "HIP HOP BOP"
From http://www.hipwiki.com/Bop-Dance "Bop-Dance", created by admin, November 11, 2014
"Bop, also known as boppin, is a dance which originated from the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. The dance is fairly new and vastly unknown to those outside of Chicago, unless they keep up with the numerous types of music coming out of Chicago. Boppin is a very simple dance, it involves the dancer crouching down and doing some knee and arm movements. The dance is similar to break dancing, due to the fact that the dancer can incorporate whatever movement they like into the routine. Though the dance is fairly new, it has already seen its first star, Travon ‘Lil Kemo’ Biggs. Lil Kemo has proclaimed himself the Bop King and at the moment it’s hard to challenge that statement...

History
Bopping was born on the West Side of Chicago and is currently spreading across the country. This form of bopping is considered Chicago Bop because there have been numerous other bop dances before from different areas. The exact date that bopping was started is unknown and everyone have a different answer...

Fiesta
As bopping grows, it’s steadily surging through clubs and parties. Any party that’s dedicated to boppin is called a fiesta; Fiesta is also often referred to as ‘Fe Fe’.

Rap Music
Bop is huge on the rap scene; drill music, a sub-genre of Hip Hop has started incorporating the bop dance into their lyrics and videos. One of the most prominent rappers in the rap scene is a rap group known as ‘Sicko Mobb’. Sicko Mobb’s lyrics contain numerous lines referencing the bop dance and things related to boppin. Sicko Mobb said in an interview that their songs didn’t start getting popular until they started making bop songs.

Rappers whose lyrics don’t contain much bop references have started adding individuals boppin in their videos."...

How to Bop
...boppin is a very easy form of dancing, which is why it’s gaining traction at such a fast pace. To bop, bend your knees down a little to a butterfly-like stance and move your feet left to right without changing positions, while you’re doing that repeatedly cross and uncross your arms... It’s also important to keep in mind, other than the basic movements, individuals are free to add their own style to the dance."...

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From http://kollegekidd.com/news/chicago-teens-perform-bop-dance-in-dgainz-video/
"Chicago Teens Perform ‘Bop’ Dance in DGainz" Posted on January 8, 2013 by KollegeKidd Staff
"DGainz provides the world a look at Chicago’s dance culture. The dance teens are performing in the video below is called the “BOP,” a form of ‘steppin.’ The “Bop” has undergone many transformations throughout several generations. Originally performed in the late 50s and early 60s, the “Bop” was a smooth, calm dance of striding, gliding, dipping and dabbing, according to steppersexpress.com. In today’s generation amongst a younger, hip demographic, the “Bop” now is performed to Hip Hop music. It incorporates a “bounce” with slick footwork and various body movements. Check out teens perform the “Bop” below." [The video featured in that article is posted as Example #2 below]
-snip-
The earliest YouTube videos that refer to this form of boppin that I've come across are from 2012.
Warning: Many of Hip Hop Bop videos contain profanity and/or what is commonly known now as "the n word" and often have risque sexual content. However, the featured examples below are largely family friendly.

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FEATURED VIDEOS
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their publishing date on YouTube with the oldest video given first.

Example #1: The Real Harlem Shake (Diddy Bop Dance) Boogie Black



Nueadontia, Uploaded on Jan 14, 2012

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Example #2: A Night Out w/ M.I.C | Shot by @DGainzBeats



DGaines1234 Published on Sep 1, 2012

Song Title: Future "Double Cups & Molly"
Chicago, IL

Big shouts out to Cermak x Kolin

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Example #3: Dlow Lil Kemo Bopping To 'Clout Like Us'



Iwantmore, Published on Jan 20, 2014

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Example #4: Best Father Daughter Dance Ever - BOPPIN



mrcush Tub, Published on May 25, 2014

Best father daughter dance ever!! S/o to my homie T Wayne(@twaynebsm) for the song and support I made a routine n taught it to my daughter BOPQUEEN BABY BOP. And this was my birthday and I was having a bad day n she said "Come daddy lets turn up" so I put the song on and we got it in. Some of are fans know if us some people saw other videos of us but nothin like this 1! ...s/o to Dlow shuffle doin his thing kemo and every body else from Chicago BOPPIN! WE ARE THE TRENDSETTERS OF BOPPIN #TeamCushandBabybop
-snip-
devilbaby121693, December 2014
"I remember when she was just starting to learn how to bop gosh she done grew I would always watch the videos on fb.big fan"
-snip-
The earliest video of this girl dancing that I've found is 2013.

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Example #5: Bop King DLOW - DLOW'S Bop Challenge - EXCLUSIVE prod by @NunMajorBeats



Dlow Bopking Published on Apr 27, 2015

Video footage of @BopKingDLOW @aintchuleek @SpiffyDo3 @ChiefClout showing the WORLD the #FunAndFitness of Bop King DLOW'S latest dance "DLOW'S Challenge"

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