Entry · catalog no. 7032
bankhead bounce
/ /ˈbæŋkhɛd baʊns/ /BANK-hed-BOWNSS
n. · Bankhead, Atlanta · 1990s
✓ Verified
1.
An Atlanta dance done by bouncing the shoulders up and down with the arms bent toward the chest; named for the Bankhead neighborhood.
“Soon as the beat dropped, everybody hit the Bankhead Bounce.”
Origin & Attribution
Born in the Bankhead neighborhood on Atlanta's west side and named for it, the dance broke out in 1995 behind the A-Town Players record "Wassup Wassup" (rapper Diamond featuring D-Roc). OutKast's "Benz or Beamer" video the same year and Michael Jackson's turn at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards carried it nationwide — an early sign of Atlanta's coming hold on hip-hop.
1995
A-Town Players' 'Wassup Wassup' popularizes the dance
1995
OutKast's 'Benz or Beamer' video features D-Roc doing it
1995
Michael Jackson does the Bankhead Bounce at the MTV VMAs
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Bankhead, Atlanta · 1990s
Spoken by
Atlanta; Black South
$BANKHEThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Faded0 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
50/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1995
in the culture
Mainstream crossover
1995
search interest spikes
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
A-Town Players (Diamond feat. D-Roc), 'Wassup Wassup'
1995
■
+ Cite a sourceOutKast, 'Benz or Beamer' (music video)
1995
See also