The C-Walk is ubiquitous in pop culture, an allusion to West Coast gang culture. In the bottomless well of dance videos on the internet, the c-walk eventually makes an appearance in any dance-related feed. The trajectory of the c-walk, also known as the crip walk, demonstrates how the seriousness of gang lifestyles is romanticized with elements hijacked for enjoyment by the mainstream. How does a dance evolve from displaying gang affiliation to being featured in dance tutorials on YouTube?
Robert “Sugar Bear” Jackson, an original member of the Crips created the dance in the 1970s in Compton, California. As more members shared the dance, it became a symbol of affiliation. Today's steps are a bit more complicated, but the initial dance was characterized by swift shuffling and v-stepping. In the early days, the crip walk was prominent at parties, but it later spilled out onto the street, eventually garnering the “crip walk” label.
Evolving from a signature dance into a communication device, the crip walk became a tool to communicate on the street, much like gangs’ hand signs. Members and rivals alike could spot a shuffling gangster and immediately understand the message. The crip walk applied to many contexts, including celebration, declaration, and intimidation.
Every person had their own style of doing the dance, and even rival gangs created their own versions. Take the Bloods’ B-Walk, for example. In the ‘90s, it became customary to drag and position your feet to spell out your gang, your neighborhood, or the opps’ gang and cross or stomp it out. The older variation uses a lot less energy and space than the newer version's hopping, spinning, and coordination.
As West Coast gangsta rap became a global phenomenon in the ‘90s, it gave a firm platform for crip-associated acts like Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, WC, and many more to signify their affiliation by depicting crip walking in videos and live performances. The dance had enough of a reputation for MTV to refuse to broadcast any music video containing the crip walk, though this did nothing to quell the growing popularity of the dance.
Crip walking is referenced in songs like Kurupt’s “C-Walk” and Xzibit’s “Get Your Walk On,” among many more. Snoop has made his own references to the dance and is not shy to break into an OG shuffle in concert, at home, or in the iconic “Drop It Like It’s Hot” video.
By the early 2000s, the Crip Walk grew popular among people outside the gang, which sparked controversy about who was allowed to do the dance. To distance the c-walk from its violent past, it became widely referred to as the Clown Walk, but the separation wasn’t convincing.
High school principals in Los Angeles banned the dance, and gang members warned civilians against participation. Even Snoop issues such a warning in his song “The Streets.” Arguments against civilian participation ranged from fear of civilians being mistaken for gang members to the idea that a civilian doing the walk was mocking a lifestyle they didn’t embody. This is a topic covered in depth by WC’s friend, CJ Mac, in the documentary “C-Walk: It’s a Way of Livin.”
The dance proved too alluring for regular folk to avoid. The internet age grew under an influx of gangsters uploading videos of their own. A viral clip of WC doing the walk became the prototype for young g’s across the internet then. Brent Barry busted out his rendition of the dance in the 2003 NBA 3-Point Contest. Then the movie “You Got Served” featured a c-walk dance battle. Serena Williams, a Compton native, even hit a brief C-Walk after beating Maria Sharapova in the 2012 Olympics. Today, the likes of OT Genasis and Blueface continue to Crip Walk legacy in their own distinctive styles.