Entry · catalog no. 1337
the Gumby
/ /ðə ˈɡʌmbi/ /thuh GUM-bee
noun phrase · Black barbershops nationwide; New York and Boston hip-hop and new jack swing · 1980s
✓ Verified
1.
A hi-top fade cut on a slant so the flat top leans to one side, named for the tilted head of the clay cartoon character Gumby.
“He had a Gumby, a Starter jacket and no coat under it, and he was warm off pride alone.”
Origin & Attribution
A Black barbershop cut of the late 1980s and early 1990s, one branch of the hi-top fade that defined the golden-era hip-hop and new jack swing years — common among young Black men roughly 1986 to 1992, and visible throughout Lean on Me (1989) and Do the Right Thing (1989). Bobby Brown wore it as a signature through the My Prerogative and Every Little Step videos; he has since said the slant began as a barbershop mistake when he turned his head at the wrong moment. Kid 'n Play, Big Daddy Kane, Kwamé and the group Guy carried the broader fade worldwide. The name comes from the cartoon; the cut came from Black barbers.
1986
The hi-top fade becomes the standard young Black men's cut; slanted variants appear
1988
Bobby Brown's My Prerogative puts the slanted cut in heavy video rotation
1989
Gumby-shaped fades are all over Lean on Me and Do the Right Thing
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
Black barbershops nationwide; New York and Boston hip-hop and new jack swing · 1980s
Spoken by
Young Black men and Black barbers, roughly 1986 to 1992; revived in period styling since
$THEGUMThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady40 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
36/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1986
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
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Bobby Brown, My Prerogative, MCA Records
single and music video · 1988
■
Spike Lee, dir., Do the Right Thing, Universal Pictures
film · 1989
■
+ Cite a sourceJohn G. Avildsen, dir., Lean on Me, Warner Bros.
film · 1989
See also