Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision - Nov. 1, 2023
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series about a new Hip Hop form of the Chicago Bop called the Dlow Shuffle.
This post also presents some biographical information about two self-titled "Kings of Bop"- iAmDlow and Lil Kimo.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/06/three-videos-of-chicago-boppin-with.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases three YouTube videos of the Dlow Shuffle and includes selected comments from those videos' discussion threads.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/06/book-article-excerpts-about-philly-bop.html for Part I of a pancocojams post on "the Philly Bop", another African American originated dance form that includes the word "bop". The "Philly Bop" was popularized throughout the United States because it was the dance that was performed by teens on the national television series American Bandstand.
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EXCERPT #1
From http://www.hipwiki.com/Bop-Dance
Bop-Dance; Created by admin. Last Modification: Tuesday 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. Lil Kemo has been in numerous videos boppin, and whenever he’s in a video, he always leave viewers wondering what the dance he’s doing is called.
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. Wala Williams, a talent scout and event promoter whom owns the Wala Wallah youtube channel, believes there has been some form of bop in Chicago since the 1970s, and claim he started seeing the form of boppin being done in Chicago around 4-5 years ago at parties.
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
If you’re wondering if you can bop, chances are the answer is yes; 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. Mr Cush, a Chicago rapper, has a youtube video which shows multiple moves one can do while boppin. 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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EXCERPT #2:
WARNING: Excerpt #2 below contains a record title that is a form of the word that is commonly referred to as "the n word".
From https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/49-chicagos-bopping-scene/
"The video for drill pioneer King Louie's "My Ni--az", a highlight from his late 2012 tape Drilluminati, is fairly typical as far as what you'd expect from a Chicago rap video in 2013: glimpses of Louie and friends posted up on icy corners and stoops, all fairly grim aside from Louie's charisma. What really catches your eye is the kid dancing in the background-- all elbows and knees, fluid yet precise, almost silly but enigmatically sexy. The style is called bopping, and the majority of the comments on the video (now at over a million views) are about this scene-stealing dancer, Kemo-- known in his hometown as the King of Bop...
"People send me their songs, hit me up for videos, cause when I bop to it, their song gets a buzz," Kemo says when I talk to him over the phone, confident but still a bit incredulous at his celebrity. He started uploading videos of himself bopping on his Youtube channel last summer, usually in the basement or backyard. "It used to be everyone would just do a simple move with their elbows and call it the bop. We started to get creative with it, and everyone's doing it that way now. We don't really practice moves, we just do it. It's just turning up."
Aesthetically bopping tends toward business on the bottom, party on top—quick and loose butterfly knees and steps, a weird hybrid of footwork's freneticism smoothed out with a touch of stepping (as popularized by Chicago's own Pied Piper of R&B), coupled with freestyle arm moves often reminiscent of Lil B's cooking dance on steroids. In essence it's a physical representation of Chicago music in 2013: the warped yet indelible imprint of house, mutating under hip-hop's influence into juke, growing more combative and experimental and shifting the focus from ass to feet via footwork, with rap ultimately reigning supreme. Bopping, like most of the music and dance incubated in the south and west sides of Chicago over the last few decades, strikes a fine balance between approachability and experimentation. Heavy doses of weirdness are mitigated by the democracy of the pure, undeniable turn-up."
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From my online reading, it appears that Chicago Boppin was a popular trending Hip Hop dance from around 2013 to around 2015.
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EXCERPT #3
From https://kollegekidd.com/news/chicago-dancer-lil-kemo-talks-history-of-boppin/
"Chicago teen Lil’ Kemo’s popularity is growing due to his talented dancing skills. Known for his superb “Boppin” skills, Lil’ Kemo has lent his talent in a slew of music videos.
Lil’ Kemo revealed in a recent interview he was immediately drawn to the “Bop” dance.
“Bopping is a Chicago dance,” he said. “It started back in the late 50s and 60s. It was a dance I seen out west. It was raw as hell to me. I really liked the dance.”
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.
Lil’ Kemo described “Boppin” as a unique culture for Chicago.
“It’s really a culture and many don’t know that. It’s a thing that can keep going,” he said.
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.
Boppin, Lil’ Kemo said, has a meaning to it.
“If you have haters out here, Bop harder, dance harder,” he said. “Just go hard, turn up. Every time you think about that song that come on and you start Boppin, you just block everybody out and Bop on all your haters.”"
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INFORMATION ABOUT iAmDLOW; THE DLOW SHUFFLE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DLow
"Daryon Martice Simmons (born August 15, 1995),[1] better known by his stage name, iAmDLOW,[a] is an American hip-hop dancer, rapper, and choreographer from Chicago, Illinois. "DLOW" is an acronym that stands for "Determined, Loyal, Optimistic, and Willing to Learn".[2] He became known through his bopping, a type of dance. He has been a regular collaborator of fellow hip-hop dancer and rapper, Lil Kemo (also known as "King Kemo"[3]), since 2013 when they made their first video together. His single, "Bet You Can't Do It Like Me" charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015.
Career
iAmDLOW noticed a dance called "bop" that was becoming popular in Chicago. He then started doing it with his own style.[2] He met Travon Biggs, better known as Lil Kemo, around 2013 and they started dancing together. The first video they made together is called "DLOW and Kemo (Episode 1)", published in May 2013.[4] They gained local popularity and received offers to dance at school functions, parties, and in music videos.[5] DLOW was previously signed by Atlantic Records. DLOW is managed by Manticore Music.[6][7]
He released the music video for his single, "The Dlow Shuffle", in December 2013, which is also a dance that features bopping.[9] He and Lil Kemo got to perform it with Steve Harvey on his talk show and with the anchors of Fox 32's "Good Day Chicago" in January 2014.[5][10] "The DLow Shuffle part 2" was released in September 2014.[11] He released the music video for his single, "Bet You Can't Do It Like Me" in September 2015. Its accompanying challenge received many renditions online and it charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in November.[12]
[...]
"I'm not happy that it's ["The Dlow Shuffle"] blown up, I'm happy that it's given people something to do. Instead of ...a set of kids [getting] together in a group talking about what they're going to do to this guy or how they're going to do this to this guy, they get together in a group and say, 'let's do The Dlow Shuffle, let's bop.' I'm glad I can turn my city around in a positive way, and that's my whole mindset."
—DLOW, 2014 interview with iGrind[8]"...
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INFORMATION ABOUT LIL KEMO
From http://www.hipwiki.com/Lil+Kemo
"Lil Kemo Lil Kemo whose real name is Travon Biggs is a professional bop dancer and rapper from Chicago, Illinois. As drill music started becoming popular around the country, drill rappers started incorporating bopping into their videos, and Lil Kemo has long been considered as one of the best boppers around.... Lil Kemo along with Dlow have both proclaim themselves the kings of bop, a claim which is hard for anyone to challenge.
In 2014, Lil Kemo and Dlow were invited to numerous TV shows to demonstrate their bopping abilities, such as the Steve Harvey show and Fox 32 in Chicago. Kemo has released a song and video titled ‘Kemo Step’ in which Kemo demonstrates a customized bop dance he named ‘Kemo Step’. Apart from making guest appearances on TV shows, Lil Kemo also make appearance at parties for money."...
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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams post.
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