How to do the shmoney dance
Mo' shmoney, mo' problems: the curious case of Bobby Shmurda | Hip-hop
Bobby Shmurda doesn’t want you to judge him at face value. “A lot of people see me and they assume. You should never assume,” he says, moments after strolling into the Guardian US office with a six-strong entourage, dark shades and a gold chain that looks heavier than he does.
“They see me smile and dance, and they think I ain’t been through nothing. I don’t know.”
You can understand why people might think he’s laid-back. Shmurda – real name Ackquille Jean Pollard – is one of this year’s breakout hip-hop stars. He’s just been signed to Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, and his track, Hot Nigga, has more than 40m views on YouTube.
Halfway through the video, Shmurda breaks out into a juttering dance – a mix of drunken auntie dancing and street swagger. He says he made it up on the spot, a throwaway moment not meant to make the cut. Only it it did. Within a few days of the video going up, Hot Nigga had been christened “the Shmoney dance”, prompting thousands of imitators on Vine. Everyone from Beyonce and Jay Z to Rihanna and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Gibson got in on the action. It even got the Jimmy Fallon seal of approval, who invited Shmurda to perform the dance on The Tonight Show.
But Shmurda says it’s not all celebrity shoutouts and six-second viral loops. The contrast between what you see on screen and real life is evident when I ask him what was he doing this time last year. “I don’t know,” he says. “Probably selling crack.” There’s a line in Hot Nigga where Shmurda talks about selling drugs since he was in the fifth grade. I ask him if this is true. He answers by recalling the first time he was arrested. “I was selling on Wilmohr and 98th, but I got locked up … right over by the chicken store.”
There’s a gallows humour to his matter-of-fact depiction of a childhood most of us have only read about in books like Clockers, or seen on television shows like The Wire. When I ask Shmurda to describe his neighbourhood growing up, his go-to reference is New Jack City, Mario Van Peebles’s 1991 film about a sociopathic crack dealer.
When we talk about the case of Akai Gurley, who was fatally shot by a police officer in a housing block not far from where Shmurda grew up, he expresses a cynical, seen-it-all-before attitude at the fact the police officer involved got off with a mere suspension.
“Suspended for killing someone. Liteesha!” he says, using his own slang word meaning something is amazing. “Stuff like that influences a lot of people, man. When I see someone getting away with that I think, ‘Why can’t I do that?’”
Shmurda was born in Florida and moved to Brooklyn. He was disruptive at school and lost interest in it before eventually moving into music. He’d come up with his own words for hip-hop tracks, like Young Buck’s Stomp, rapping into cups and play-acting, but he only began taking it seriously a year ago. The first time he knew his music was starting to cut through was when his usually frosty neighbourhood started warming to him.
“My block is a nasty block and when I saw people coming through and screaming ‘That’s him!’ I was thinking ‘What the hell?’” he says.
“Then we started getting fans, like actual fans. It was crazy.”
On his latest EP, the gloriously named Shmurda She Wrote – though he claims to have no idea who Jessica Fletcher is – there are boasts about being asked to perform all over the world: London, Paris, Dubai. The problem is he can’t. Shmurda is dealing with a felony gun charge, which means he can’t leave the country. And, although he has another song called Wipe The Case Away, in which he talks about a seemingly magical solicitor who can make his legal woes disappear, it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon.
The disconnect between the real world and the rap world is a key tenet of hip-hop’s theatrical appeal, but a fast-moving industry means not being able to build on early success could stymie a career that’s barely even started.
Cautionary tales are everywhere in hip-hop’s recent past. Two years ago, Trinidad James had a huge hit with All Gold Everything. Everyone wanted to do a remix of it, and he eventually signed a record deal with Def Jam rumoured to be worth $2m.
Fast forward to 2014, and Trinidad James has been dropped without an album ever being released. In the same year, Chicago drill bellwether Chief Keef released I Don’t Like. It quickly spawned an official Kanye West remix, and Keef eventually signed a deal with Interscope rumoured to be worth $6m. A year later, after releasing one album, he’s also been left high and dry. The similarities between the three artists are obvious: one huge hit that goes viral, pursuit by several labels/artists and then – for James and Keef at least – a tumultuous 18 months topped off by an unceremonious divorce.
But Shmurda is defiant. He’s different, he says. Special.
“I feel like everything I’ve been doing has been the best,” he says. “When you have that type of confidence you don’t worry about anything. I never worried about anything since I was a little kid.”
But it’s not just a similar career trajectory that pairs Shmurda with Chief Keef. It’s his sound. Traditionally, New York rappers embraced boom bap.
In the genre’s golden era, between 1988-1993, groups from the east coast laid out a blueprint of slower, sample driven hip-hop that valued flow and lyrics over the faster call-and-response fare of southern styles like trap and the bellicose drill of Chicago. In the 2000s, New York artists such as Nas criticised the southern style, saying the music reinforced negative stereotypes of black people. But Shmurda’s sound has a southern tinge. Hot Nigga was produced by Jahlil Beats, whose most well-known work was for trap godfather TI and Meek Mill. Yet Shmurda isn’t buying the comparison.
“I wouldn’t say that. People say that because we’re both young, we’re both black and we’re both rapping about similar things. We’re too different. We’re two different things,” he says.
We’ll have to wait another year to see whether he’s right.
See How Shmoney Dance Changed The Meaning Of N-Word
This article has been written by a guest writer.
If you’ve been on any social media site this summer, you’ve likely seen references to the smash single ‘Hot N***a’ by Brooklyn-based rapper Bobby Shmurda.
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It features shmoney dance that by now has become a hit in itself. If you haven’t seen it – or want to see it again – check it out below:
Shmoney dance is one reason why this song became so popular almost overnight. Another reason is Twitter’s new service. People using it took to filming themselves doing the shmoney dance. The end result was that their vines have flooded the Internet.
If you have not seen any of them – or want to see them again – check out the compilation of them below:
I’m going to assume pretty much everybody on the internet under 40 is aware of Shmurda. This said, I still can’t help mentioning a few unbelievable facts about its popularity, because it introduced Drake at the Espy’s, received co-signs from Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and has led to almost every big name in the industry reaching out to him.
As a college kid myself, it seems that every event I attend is guaranteed to absolutely pop off when ‘Hot N***a’ comes on.
This poses a dilemma.
I have never used the N-word in my entire life. I honestly can’t even type it. I also live about 2 blocks from Compton. So I have a fear somebody would find out and come go ‘Gratata’ on me. Back in Indiana I might type out the name of the song but no way I’m even taking a chance out here in Hollywood.
I think I speak for many white kids when I say that loving rap music is much harder as a white person. I can sing “ball so hard muhfuckas wanna fine me” but I can’t even say the title of the song. Someone throws on some ‘My N***a’ at a banger and I’m stuck yelling “I BEEN GRINDIN ALL DAY OUTSIDE WITH MY…AND I AINT GOIN IN UNLESS IM WITH MY…. MY…MY….” It’s rough. And I will be GOD DAMNED if you hear me say “my hitta.” I’m not a child though.
It is with this in mind that I politely ask the African-American community to let white people say the N-word just this one time. I promise, I will never ever use it again. All I ask is that when some Shmurda comes on you give me 3 minutes of pure ecstasy and allow me to sing this masterpiece the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
I have already had the depressing experience of watching all the black people turn up in pure sonic elation while I’m in the corner mumbling “Hot Boy” like some kind of spineless pussy. You guys took my NBA and NFL dreams away from me. I deserve this. Imagine the unity we would display as a nation if we could all Shmoney dance TOGETHER. If we were all in that video in Brooklyn smoking weed and throwing up gang signs. Think of the message we could send to the children.
We are all “on that go dumb shit” at parties as one diverse culture. We are all ‘Hot N***as’. This is what MLK would want.
So I ask you on behalf of American white kids to consider my offer. Let me go to a party and not look around in paralyzed fear when Shmurda (a.k.a the Metropolitan Socrates) is preaching through the speakers. Think of the children. I leave you with a quote I think we can all learn from.
“I send a little thot to send the drop on him, she gon call me up and Ima sick the hots on him” – Bobby Shmurda, M.
D.
“What’s the new meaning of n-word?” You may ask. Read between the lines. Or better yet, check out the videos of Rihanna dancing shmoney dance and learn how to dance it yourself:
We publish these articles for you, so let us know your opinion: leave a comment. The writer who wrote this article would sure appreciate it.
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What is Shimano Shadow RD+
Shimano RD+ , Many have heard, many have not. One way or another, we decided to write what kind of system this is and what it is intended for.
Shimano Shadow RD+ Rear Derailleur
When you want to be an advanced rider, your bike kit needs to keep up with you and keep up with the times. To ensure your perfect day of riding doesn't end with a drivetrain failure, the Shimano has developed Shadow RD + derailleur .
With the ability to fine-tune the chain tension, the Shadow RD+ delivers the perfect shift, no matter how difficult the ride.
SHIMANO SHADOW RD + Shift Precision
Mountain biking has evolved over the years. It started when some sort of vehicle was needed to explore fire roads and hiking trails in America. But the thirst for adventure led us to more and more remote and difficult terrain, and in the pursuit of speed, we began to get involved in downhill skiing, and the more interesting the terrain, the longer the distances needed to be covered. When you're looking for variety in your routes, and pushing the limits of the terrain you ride, Shimano offers 9 technology0003 Shadow RD + derailleur . With a slim profile and adjustable chain tension, the Shadow RD+ is designed to keep you on your bike no matter how far you ride.
Driving without unpleasant stops
Difficult terrain places complex demands on the mountain bike and its equipment.
Obstacles like a broken branch or unshakable rock can damage or even destroy your switch, putting an end to your great walk away from the nearest road.
How about a chain slap? When jumping, the chain hits loudly against the rear chainstay of the bike. An untuned transmission shifts badly, the chain falls off on bumps, which will be an unpleasant stop, and a loose chain, in the worst case, can cause more serious irreparable damage, leading to the replacement of parts or even the entire transmission.
Shadow RD+ has been designed to address these two risks, allowing you to push the limits of your bike
Traditional derailleurs protrude from the bike frame, making them vulnerable to obstacles. A branch may catch on the switch cable, or the switch may hit a stone or curb. Shadow RD is a more compact derailleur that fits closer to your bike with straighter cable routing to push your cycling limits. Shadow RD has a smaller profile than a conventional switch by almost half.
In the largest gears, the width of the mechanism is reduced by a third. Thus, the switch "goes" into the profile of the frame, and becomes less vulnerable.
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