One of the most popular forms of dancing right now is krumping, which is said to have originated from urban street dancers in South Central Los Angeles. This form of dancing is characterized by expressive and free-form movements involving the arms and chest and is believed by most to be a faith-based form of dancing. According to some of the krumping pioneers spell krump as an acronym which stands for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise.
Krumping is often performed to hiphop music because the beats of that genre fit with the highly energetic moves and steps involved in krumping. Hiphop songs by rap legends such as Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Eazy-E, Big Pun, etc. are just some of the examples of beats that krumping is usually performed to.
There’s no definite date and process as to how krumping was created and popularized, but some dancers credit Big Mijo, Tight Eyez, and Tha J-Squad for being the first ones in South Central Los Angeles to perform krumping. A lot of “krumpers” also acknowledge Thomas Johnson (a.k.a. Tommy the Clown) as an influence in the creation of krumping because he was the one who developed clowning back in 1992. Clowning is another form of street dance which has certain similarities with krumping.
In the eyes of outsiders, or those unfamiliar with krumping as a dance form, performers may look like they’re fighting because of krumping’s emotional and aggressive nature. Tight Eyez, one of the krumping pioneers who now teaches Krump dance, says there are three levels of krump-dancing: bucking, amping, and spirit dancing. These three levels are differentiated by the body movements, as well as the emotions and intentions involved in performing.
Bucking involves “aggressive” movements of the arms and legs, and is said to be the level of krumping where negative energy and angst is channeled into creative expression. Amping can be seen as the most expressive level of krumping, because it involves letting your emotions take over your dancing and choreography. Another level is “spirit” dancing, and is called as such because it involves free-form dancing, moving beyond the bounds of choreography, and makes the dancer appear like s/he is doing a religious, spiritual dance.