Why Do People Dab?
Today, we will take a look at the meaning and the origin of your favorite meme and why people still engage in it despite its long-ago origin: the dab. So many readers requested this topic; so many that it would be impossible to show all the comments. But regardless, thank you all for the suggestion. You wanted it, now you have it! When I first saw all the requests for the dab in my comment sections, I was a bit confused because I didn’t think the dab would be considered a meme. After some research, I discovered I was very wrong.
What Is The Dab?
The dab is a style of hip-hop dance that is done when the dancer drops his/her head into the inside of the elbow of one arm while raising the opposite arm into the air at the same time. It’s kind of hard to explain the dance, but the way a lot of people seem to describe it is a gesture that is similar to a polite attempt at muffling a sneeze. Although the identity of the original inventor of the dance is largely disputed, what is agreed upon is that it originated from the Atlanta hip hop music scene sometime in 2013. Its controversial origin is another reason why people engage in the dance style.
To add further confusion to the origin of the dab, the creation of the name itself is disputed and unknown. Many have believed it was named after the practice of dabbing in marijuana culture. This use of dabbing refers to the consumption of highly concentrated THC, which is the compound within weed that makes people high. This, in itself, has spawned a whole group of humorous memes.
The claim that the name of the dab originated from marijuana culture was most famously made by American rapper Bow Wow. He said, “The whole world dabbin’,” and they don’t even understand or even know what the dab is. Firstly, dab is an intense way to smoke marijuana. In fact, it’s the purest kind of the drug (marijuana), and it’s extremely strong. Therefore, the dance ensues when you smoke and cough. The first thing you do is dab.” The video received heavy backlash from people within the hip hop community after he posted it on his Facebook page. Many people disputed his claims, but regardless of who created the dance or why it’s named the dab, it began to spread beyond the hip hop scene of Atlanta during 2015 when local rappers started to reference the dab in their music videos.
The Rapid Rise In Popularity
During 2015, the dab was featured on various YouTube tutorial videos that taught people how to execute the popular dance. These videos all received large amounts of views, helping to spread the dance’s popularity. Eventually, various media outlets started to pick up on the craze and publish articles on the topic. The popularity of the dance would reach its highest level when it was adopted by celebrities, the most popular of which was Carolina Panthers starting quarterback Cam Newton, who had a breakout year in the NFL and would celebrate every touchdown he scored with the dab.
With all the widespread attention the dance received, it was safe to say it had officially crossed into the mainstream. Everybody and their mother (and sometimes even grandmother) were partaking in the dance craze, which brings us to its use as a meme. With it being so popular and such an easy thing to execute, many began to participate and share themselves doing so online. It quickly became a humorous joke to see those you typically wouldn’t associate with a hip hop dance doing one.
So, there we have it. The dab has gone from the underground Atlanta hip hop scene to the farthest corners of the world and eventually became a meme that people enjoy sharing, all in the course of a few years. It’s pretty impressive, but hey, that’s the Internet for you. On the Internet, memes are king.
Thank you all so very much for reading this short article. Make sure you comment with your opinion as to why people engage so much in this dance style. You can catch my other article on why people dance and stay up to date. Who knows, you might learn a lot about various reasons behind people actions.
