Crip Walk
Dance move
title: "Crip Walk" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["crips", "dance-moves", "hip-hop-dance", "street-dance", "west-coast-hip-hop"] description: "Dance move" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crip_Walk" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Dance move ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox dance"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| title | Crip Walk |
| image | Cwalk Vietnam.webm |
| caption | Demonstration of the crip walk |
| genre | Hip-hop dance |
| year | Early 1970s |
| origin | Compton, California, U.S. |
| :: |
|title = Crip Walk |image = Cwalk Vietnam.webm |imagesize = |alt = |caption = Demonstration of the crip walk |genre = Hip-hop dance |signature = |inventor = |year = Early 1970s |origin = Compton, California, U.S.
The Crip Walk, also known as the C-Walk, is a dance move that was created in the 1970s by first generation Crip members as a method of expression and communication, and has since spread worldwide without its linguistic aspects.
Overview
The dance is primarily an act of performing quick and intricate footwork. The rivalry between the Crips and the Bloods spilled over into the world of entertainment, with the adoption of the gang dance by various rappers on the West Coast of the United States, who gave it its name, the Crip Walk. This dance involves the movement of one's feet, often to the spelling of C-R-I-P. It was used by Crips at parties to display affiliation, particularly vis-a-vis rival gang the Bloods. MTV declined to broadcast any music videos that contained the Crip Walk.
Examples
- Media pundits accused tennis player Serena Williams of intentionally performing the walk at the 2012 Summer Olympic tennis tournament after defeating Maria Sharapova in the gold-medal match at Centre Court, Wimbledon, although she denied it: "it was just a dance. I didn't know that's what it was called."
- The Super Bowl LVI halftime show in 2022 had a synchronized Crip Walk led by Snoop Dogg.
- The Super Bowl LIX halftime show in 2025 headlined by Kendrick Lamar featured Serena Williams briefly doing the Crip Walk as a reference to the media attacks on her in 2012.
Documentary
American rapper CJ Mac released a documentary focused on the beginnings of Crip Walk and its rise in popularity entitled "Cwalk: It's a Way of Livin'". It features rappers such as Snoop Dogg, WC and Ice-T along with original members of the Crips.
References
References
- (23 January 2012). "Speaking American: A History of English in the United States". Oxford University Press, USA.
- Richard Thomas. "A new dialogue". Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity.
- (February 20, 2025). "Serena Williams’ crip walk is more than a Drake dis. What it means to LA and Black culture".
- Michael Newton. (2007). "Gangsters Encyclopedia". Chrysalis Books.
- Mitchell, Kevin. (August 26, 2012). "Serena Williams lets fly with volley at 'crip walk' critics at US Open".
- Vanderhoof, Erin. (2022-02-14). "In the Super Bowl 2022 Halftime Show, the NFL Couldn't Boss Dr. Dre Around".
- Jones, Abby. (2025-02-10). "Watch Kendrick Lamar Play The 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show".
- "C-Walk: It's a Way of Livin' (Video 2003) - IMDb". imdb.com.
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