Drop That NaeNae

"Drop That NaeNae"
Single by We Are Toonz
Released November 29, 2013
Format Digital download
Genre Pop-rap[1]
Length 3:57
Label VPP,[2] Epic
Writer(s)
  • Gregory Solomon
  • Tavin Gardner
  • Kavin Gardner
  • Calvin Glass
  • Vincent Phillips
  • DeAndre Johnson
Producer(s) G-Cutz

"Drop That NaeNae" (stylized as "Drop That #NaeNae") is a song by American hip hop group We Are Toonz. Released on November 29, 2013, the song gained popularity in early 2014 thanks to its accompanying dance, created by the group and based on the Martin character Sheneneh Jenkins.[3]

The NaeNae dance

The song's eponymous dance was created by We Are Toonz, who took inspiration from the Martin character Sheneneh Jenkins' erratic dancing and named it after her.[1][3] Speaking of the dance, group member CalLamar stated: "It's really just based on a ratchet girl in the club dancing kind of funny and the best girl to describe it is Sheneneh from Martin."[3] The group invented the dance in their basement practice space while preparing for a show, and uploaded an instructive YouTube video on how to do the dance on October 8, 2013.[4]

Rise in popularity

The NaeNae dance became a viral hit, gaining traction on social media sites such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Vine.[3] Washington Wizards player John Wall broke into the dance after winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest on February 15, 2014, leading to a 311% increase in Twitter mentions of the #NaeNae hashtag that day.[5] Other sports personalities, including Lance Moore of the New Orleans Saints, Dwight Howard of the Houston Rockets, and the Michigan State Spartans college football team, were also filmed dancing to the song.[5][6] Howard later met with We Are Toonz and recorded a video of himself dancing with the group.[7] It was also incorporated into a dance medley during Pharrell Williams' performance of "Happy" at the 86th Academy Awards.[6] The dance garnered further national attention when Kevin Canevari of the Mercer University men's basketball team performed it at the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, following his team's upset victory over third-seed Duke.[8]

Commercial performance

The popularity of the NaeNae dance led to radio and sales traction of "Drop That NaeNae",[9] and the song later debuted at numbers 20 and 38 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, respectively.[5]

Remixes

The official remix of "Drop That NaeNae" was released on May 24, 2014, and features American R&B singer T-Pain and rappers Lil Jon and French Montana.[10]

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders Urban)[11] 48
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[12] 18
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[13] 36
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[14] 20

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "We Are Toonz – Biography". AllMusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ Rauly Ramirez (January 27, 2014). "New Hip-Hop Dance Craze:'Drop That #NaeNae'". http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/5885484/new-hip-hop-dance-craze-drop-that-naenae?mobile_redirection=false''. Billboard Magazine.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ramirez, Rauly (January 27, 2014). "New Hip-Hop Dance Craze: 'Drop That #NaeNae'". Billboard (New York). Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ Zeichner, Naomi (March 24, 2014). "Everything You Need To Know About The Nae Nae". BuzzFeed. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ramirez, Rauly (February 27, 2014). "We Are Toonz' 'Drop That #NaeNae' Dances onto Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard (New York). Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Caramanica, Jon (March 21, 2014). "A Dance Spreads Joy for Mercer". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  7. ↑ Ortiz, Edwin (February 11, 2014). "We Are Toonz Lay Claim to the #NaeNae Dance and Talk About Meeting Dwight Howard". Complex (Complex Media). Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/kevin-canevari-naenae_n_5010026.html
  9. ↑ Sargent, Jordan (January 29, 2014). "#NaeNae is 2014's First Rap Dance Craze". Complex (Complex Media). Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  10. ↑ Nigel D. (May 24, 2014). "We Are Toonz ft. Lil Jon, French Montana & T-Pain – Drop That Nae Nae Remix". Real Talk NY. Uproxx. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Ultratop.be – We Are Toonz – Drop That #NaeNae" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  12. ↑ "We Are Toonz Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 for We Are Toonz. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  13. ↑ "We Are Toonz Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for We Are Toonz. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  14. ↑ "We Are Toonz Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot Rap Songs for We Are Toonz. Retrieved June 8, 2014.