Twerking

Twerking (/ˈtwɜːrkɪŋ/) is a type of dancing in which an individual, usually a female, dances to music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low squatting stance. Though the term seems to be of uncertain origin with common assumptions suggesting it represents a contraction of "footwork" or a portmanteau of the words "twist" and "jerk", the Oxford Dictionaries blog says "the most likely theory is that it is an alteration of work, because that word has a history of being used in similar ways, with dancers being encouraged to "work it". The "t" could be a result of blending with another word such as twist or twitch." There is evidence from ethnographic interviews in New Orleans that the term began as street language in New Orleans with the rise of the local hip hop music known as bounce. Since the late 1990s, twerking was associated with bounce music of Southern hip hop and was disseminated via mainstream hip hop videos and popular video-sharing sites since the mid-2000s. In 2013, twerk was added to the Oxford Dictionary Online. According to Oxford dictionary, the word has been around for 20 years. The word was a runner-up in the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013.

Twerk It

"Twerk It" (stylized as "#Twerkit") is a song by American hip hop recording artist Busta Rhymes featuring Trinidadian born rapper Nicki Minaj. The song, produced by Pharrell Williams, is the lead single from Busta Rhymes' upcoming tenth studio album, E.L.E.2 (Extinction Level Event 2) (2015). The album is his first under Cash Money Records, which is distributed by Republic Records, a flagship recording label of Universal Music Group. The song has been said to be Jamaican-inspired and is influenced by dancehall music. A music video for the song was shot in Flatbush, New York on June 3, 2013.

Background

The original version was released on May 2, 2013, online, and later as a digital download on May 17.

On May 31, Minaj hinted the release of a new song tweeting: "surprise, surprise...recording it tomorrow, shooting it on the 3rd...". It was later revealed that the recorded song was a remix of Busta Rhymes' "Twerk It". On June 6, Busta premiered the song on radio station Hot 97 with DJ Funkmaster Flex, and later made it available online.

Twerk It Like Miley

"Twerk It Like Miley" (officially on cover as #TwerkItLikeMiley) is a 2014 song by American singer Brandon Beal featuring Danish singer Christopher. The song produced by Danish DJ Hedegaard was released on 5 May 2014 on Universal Music Denmark and Then We Take the World, reaching number one on Tracklisten, the official Danish Singles Chart on its first week of release staying there for just one week. The music video directed by Morten Winther also became popular with many references to Miley Cyrus.

Background

The title refers to American singer Miley Cyrus and her twerking incident when in March 2013, she posted a video on Facebook which featured her performing a twerking routine while wearing a unicorn suit, to the 2011 single "Wop" by J. Dash. Her "Wop" video would go to become viral and create a lot of controversy and parodies.

The song lyrics refers to this actual video as Brandon Beal asks from his girl to behave like Miley in that video: "I know, you wore them jeans so I can see that thong [repeat] / So pop it like Miley / and don't forget that tongue [repeat] / So when the beat beat beat beat drop, get your ass on the floor / Start twerking like Miley".

Brandon Beal

Brandon Eujim O'Bryant Beal (born December 16, 1983) is an American singer/songwriter/producer. He gained musical recognition through his independent album Comfortable released in 2006, (a collaboration with Danish/American producer Multiman), and to date has sold over 65,000 units. Brandon Beal has also worked with the likes of Snoop Dogg,Flo Rida, J. Lewis,Juelz Santana,Karina Pasian,Stacie Orrico, Kato, Lukas Graham and Eric Saade. Brandon says that his main musical influence is his brother, singer/songwriter Teron Beal, who has written songs for Michael Jackson and many others.

In February 2011, Brandon went to Scandinavia to work with upcoming producer/remix DJ Rasmus Hedegaard on an Urban/Dance album. Brandon and Rasmus, also known as Beal & Ras toured Denmark with Kato, Camille Jones, Ida Corr, and Infernal (Danish band). Their first single "Money" stayed on the Danish Dance charts for 14 weeks peaking at #13 They released their second single "I Like It" feat. Troo.L.S on August 18, 2011.