Entry · catalog no. 1080
footwork
/ /ˈfʊtwɜːrk/ /FOOT-wurk
noun · Chicago · 1990s
✓ Verified
1.
The Chicago dance of fast, complex foot patterns, and the electronic music made for it — an offshoot of ghetto house and juke played at high tempo. Danced in battle circles across the South and West Sides.
“The circle opened up and he hit some footwork nobody could follow.”
Origin & Attribution
Made on Chicago's South and West Sides in the late 1990s, when DJs and dancers pushed ghetto house to a faster, more complex feel. Producers like RP Boo, DJ Rashad, and DJ Clent built the sound. Sometimes filed simply as "EDM"; it is a Black Chicago dance culture first.
mid-1990s
Ghetto house sped up on the South and West Sides
1997
RP Boo's 'Baby Come On' cited as a founding track
1998
Beatdown House crew forms around the sound
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The Midwest
Chicago · 1990s
Spoken by
Black Chicago dancers and producers
$FOOTWOThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady31 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
68/100
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
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
@chitown
Chicago, IL
@detlex
Detroit, MI
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
RP Boo, 'Baby Come On,' Dance Mania — 1997
track · documented
■
+ Cite a sourceRed Bull Music, history of Chicago footwork
reference
See also