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Back in the good old days of 2005, I used to laugh at Snap and Hyphy music and think to myself that my peoples in the northeast would never come up with something as ridiculous as the Laffy Taffy or snapping or going dumb (though I have to admit I'm somewhat amused by what's going on here). Sure, we had the rockaway in the clubs up here a couple of years ago, but that was more of a statement against actual dancing than anything else.
This summer has seen not one, but two dance "crazes" hit the clubs from Philly to New York, and I can't say that either of them is a good look. The first one, which you've no doubt heard of thanks to the song by the Harlem duo DJ Webstar and Young B, is the Chicken Noodle Soup. The song itself, which sounds like it was put together in less than an hour in Webstar's bedroom, is bad enough, but check out the dance that goes along with it. Not surprisingly, it has been criticized as being an updated version of the cakewalk, a dance often seen in minstrel shows (you can see an old video of the cakewalk here). The fact that the dance has been spotlighted on a B.E.T. show does little to combat the accusations of minstrelsy. I personally think any similarities to the cakewalk are just coincidental, but that doesn't make people look any less ridiculous when they do the Chicken Noodle.
A more recent dance has been popping up in South Jersey and Philly, the Wutang. Check out this video of some dude wutanging, then go listen to this song from the Trilladelphians which seems to be the semi-official anthem for the dance. The best I can say about wutanging is that at least it doesn't have the potentially offensive racial undertones of Chicken Noodle Soup. I suspect Ghostface may have something to say about his group's name being attached to the dance.
(Props to Notes from a Different Kitchen, who was the first to put me onto wutanging)
For those of you who haven't heard it yet, you can listen to Chicken Noodle Soup here.
8/22/2006 9:45:24 AM posted by Fresh