Entry · catalog no. 8401
Milly Rock
/ /ˈmɪli ɹɑk/ /MIL-ee rock
noun / verb · Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York · 2010s
✓ Verified
1.
A New York hip-hop dance built on a left-right bounce with a swiping flick of the arm and a spin of the hand; also the name of rapper 2 Milly's 2014 song, and as a verb, to do the dance.
“They put the beat on and the whole cookout started Milly Rocking.”
Origin & Attribution
The Milly Rock is the signature dance of 2 Milly (Terrence Ferguson), a rapper from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, who says he created it in 2011. It reached a wide audience through his 2014 video, first posted to YouTube on August 31, 2014, and the single released in 2015, and it became a fixture of New York rap and then of sports celebrations and cookouts. In December 2018 he sued Epic Games over the Fortnite emote Swipe It, which reproduced the move; after being told he would first have to register the dance, and after the U.S. Copyright Office denied his application twice, he dropped the suit. The archive records the Milly Rock as a Black New York dance, not as a generic game emote or viral trend.
2014
The Milly Rock video is posted to YouTube on Aug. 31, 2014 and the dance spreads through New York rap
2018
2 Milly sues Epic Games over the Fortnite emote Swipe It; the suit is later dropped after the Copyright Office denies registration
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The Northeast
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York · 2010s
Spoken by
Black New York rappers and dancers; later athletes, children and the general public
$MILLYRThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Fading15 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
55/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
2011
in the culture
Recorded here
2026
point of first record
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
@bxgriot
The Bronx, NY
@phillyanne
Philadelphia, PA
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
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NPR, 'Rapper Sues Video Game Maker Over Fortnite Dance Move,' Dec. 6, 2018
news
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Atlanta Black Star, 'Rapper 2 Milly, Creator of Milly Rock Dance, Sues Makers of Video Game Fortnite,' Dec. 6, 2018
news
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+ Cite a sourceWikipedia, 'Milly Rock' (for single release, lawsuit outcome; secondary)
reference
See also