Jerkin'

Jerkin' or Jerk is a street dance culture and hip hop subgenre originating in urban California in the late 2000s. It gained mainstream popularity outside of California by Inland Empire-based groups New Boyz and Audio Push,^[1] and has origins in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.^[2] Since breaking into the mainstream in 2009, jerkin' gained fans along the West Coast, East Coast, and in Europe, notably France and Germany, although it was heavily derided in the Southern United States.^[3]

According to Oktane of Audio Push, jerkin' culture came from gang members dancing at parties, stating: "Jerking actually came from gang-banging. Like, it was a dance that gang members did. Like, the anti-dance. If you were in the party and everyone was dancing, [the gang members] would be doing the jerk."^[1] 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".^[4]