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The dab is a dance move in which the dancer simultaneously drops the head while raising an arm and the elbow in a gesture that has been noted to resemble sneezing. As a November 2015 Sports Illustrated article described the dab, "The dance is pretty simple; one leans in to their elbow like they’re sneezing."
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Rich the Kid is featured in a YouTube video tutorial on dabbing. As of November 29, 2016, the video has been viewed more than two million times.
Origins
The dab has its origins in the Atlanta hip-hop scene, but there was initially disagreement about who originated the dance. Artists initially mentioned as possible originators include Migos (as in "Look at My Dab"), Skippa Da Flippa, Peewee Longway, Jose Guapo and Rich The Kid. The controversy was cleared up when fellow QC labelmate OG Maco called out Migos for saying they were the creators when it was actually Skippa da Flippa. Though Migos later confirmed Skippa as the originator of the dance, they were unhappy with the way Maco handled the situation.
American rapper Bow Wow attempted to explain the origin of the dab dance, saying it derived from the cannabis dabbers community started long before the dance move in 2012. He was met with opposition from other rappers who immediately took to Twitter to insult and disprove his claims.
Popularity
In 2015, the dab rose to national prominence in the U.S. As XXL magazine reported in August 2015, "What started as a regional down South adlib is quickly becoming a masterful maneuver in clubs and on street corners. It’s called dabbin’."
The dab gained popularity in U.S. sports following an eight-second celebratory dab by Cam Newton, football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League, during a game against the Tennessee Titans on November 15, 2015. According to a Sports Illustrated account of the incident, "[w]hen two Titans players confronted [Newton] about the celebration, he continued to dance in their faces, even as he backed away."
After his famous dab against the Titans, Newton explained at a press conference why he had dabbed. He credited a 16-year-old for instructing him to "dab on them folks":
I'm a firm believer that if you don't like me to do it then don't let me in ... I just like doing it, man. It's not to be boastful, and from the crowd's response they like seeing it. ... Tell me what to do "Dab on them folks," so I tried "Dab on them folks," in that tone too. "Dab on them folks." He's only like 16, but he's got an Adam's apple out of this world.
It was later confirmed that the 16-year-old was Newton's younger brother Caylin.
On June 9, 2016, Cam Newton announced that he would no longer perform the celebration. However, he dabbed again on November 13, 2016 after a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs, nearly a year after his initial dab against the Titans.
Dabbing has made its appearance in politics, as well. In January 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton dabbed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In October, Representative Loretta Sanchez dabbed at the end of a Senate debate. On January 3, 2017, Cal Marshall, 17-year-old son of Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan), dabbed at his father's swearing in as a Congressman, confusing House Speaker Paul Ryan. On February 22, 2017 Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson dabbed in the UK's House of Commons.
In February 2017, the president of the republic of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta invited a dance group to state house to perform the dab dance move together with him. The president was doing the dab dance in a bid to appeal to the youthful population of Kenya to come out and register as voters. Some critics found this move to be in bad taste since there were other pressing issues like the doctors and lecturers strike that the president ought to have been dealing with rather than dancing.
Jason Derulo taught James Corden how to dab during a November 4, 2015 edition of "Carpool Karaoke" on The Late Late Show with James Corden.