Entry · catalog no. 1079
jookin
/ /ˈdʒuːkɪn/ /JOO-kin
verb · Memphis · 1990s
✓ Verified
1.
To dance in the Memphis style — a smooth, gravity-defying form built on intricate footwork, glides, and balance on the tips of the toes. Grew out of the gangsta walk and buckin' of the 1980s roller-rink scene. Also spelled jukin.
“He was jookin across the floor like the ground wasn't even there.”
Origin & Attribution
Born in Black Memphis in the late 1980s and early 1990s, out of the gangsta walk danced at the Crystal Palace roller rink. As Memphis rap smoothed and slowed, the walk became jookin. Often flattened online into a generic "street dance"; it is a named Memphis tradition with its own lineage.
1980s
Gangsta walk and buckin' take shape at the Crystal Palace
1990s
Smoother Memphis rap gives rise to jookin
2011
Lil Buck's performance with Yo-Yo Ma goes viral
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
Memphis · 1990s
Spoken by
Black Memphis dancers; carried worldwide by artists like Lil Buck
$JOOKINThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Rising36 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
72/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1990
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
@nolakid
New Orleans, LA
@htxdri
Houston, TX
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Lil Buck jookin to Yo-Yo Ma's 'The Swan,' filmed by Spike Jonze — 2011
video · documented
■
+ Cite a sourceOxford American, 'From Gangsta Walkin' at the Palace to Jookin' Online' — 2024
reference
See also