Jerkin'

A male rejecting for a crowd

Jerkin' or Jerk is a street dance from Los Angeles.^[1] Since 2009, jerkin' has gained fans along the West Coast and, as of 2009, was gaining popularity on the East Coast.^[2]

The dance itself consists of moving your legs in and out called the "jerk", and doing other moves such as the "reject", "dip", and "pindrop".^[3]

Music

The rap group New Boyz wrote and recorded a hit in Los Angeles entitled "You're a Jerk",^[4] while Audio Push wrote and recorded "Teach Me How To Jerk". As the jerk culture continues to flourish, several new groups specializing in the Jerk style are being courted and signed by major labels. Arista has signed the group The Rej3ctz, and the label is looking seriously at many other jerk groups that are flourishing on the Internet.^[5]

Dance crews

As Jerkin' mainstreams, new dance crews and artists are competing and performing at events not only in Southern California, but spreading to other parts of the world. The Ranger$ crew not only competes in dance contests, winning numerous awards, but have recorded several songs and have been signed to a major label.^[6] Other notable crews in the Southern California area are Action Figure$, U.C.L.A. Jerk Kings, and the LOL Kid$z.^[5]

Fashion

People who jerk usually wear skinny jeans (varying from the unusual to the usual colors and washes), considered a rejection of the baggy pants style. Many elements of scene and the raver are used in the jerkin' movement, such as bright colored clothing, tight pants, or novelty graphic tees. Also people who dance the jerk wear hightop or retro shoes, including Chuck Taylor and Nike hightop shoes. Shoes may or may not be multi-colored.^[3]

References