About

Thot Walk is a style of dance marked by bouncy stepping in slow, rhythmic motion popularized by a 2014 hip hop song with the same name by Atlanta-based rappers Kayleb, Yung Cyph and John Boy. Since its debut in June 2014, both the song and the dance has spawned a series of audio-dubbed parodies and tribute performances on the video-sharing platform Vine.

Origin

The earliest known video recording of a dance referred to as a "thot walk" was uploaded by Viner Fymb on April 4th, 2014, which has garnered over 13,300 loops and 500 revines in just a few months over a year. Two days later, on April 6th, the Vine was re-uploaded as a YouTube video with the same title, accumulating over 138,000 views (shown below).

"Thot Walk" Music Video

On June 10th, 2014, a remix of the video was made by rapper Kayleb, John Boy & Yung Cyph which became a viral hit. On August 5th, 2014 a music video of the song was uploaded, which consists of the 3 rappers performing the thot walk on a basketball court while showcasing vines that used the song in the past.

Etymology: Thot

The name of the dance stems from the slang acronym thot, short for "that ho over there," which has been used as a derogatory slut-shaming term among Chicago teenagers since as early as mid-2012, according to Urban Dictionary.^[1] As the name suggests, the dance is meant to convey one's reaction upon seeing someone who may be perceived as a "thot." According to Hip Hop Wiki's description^[4], the dance closely resembles another style of dance originating from Chicago known as "Bopping" or the "Diddy Bop."

Spread

On June 12th, 2014, a step-by-step tutorial video on how to do the "Thot Walk" was uploaded by YouTuber MarQuis Trill.

On July 15th, Viner Anwar Jibawi uploaded a video of himself dressed as a "thot" while walking on a treadmill using the song, which garnered more than 19 million loops and 3.2 million revines (shown below).

On July 2nd, a compilation video of Vines featuring multiple girls dancing to the song was uploaded to YouTube (shown below, left), followed by another compilation of Vines wherein people perform odd walks to the song uploaded to YouTube on July 13th. (shown below, right)

Search Interest

External References