Have a look at the meaning and origin of the Crip Walk dance
Serena Williams’ recent performance of the infamous ‘Crip Walk’ dance at Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show has left people curious about the dance, find out more about it below.
Serena’s unexpected cameo turned out to be one of the main highlights of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show.
‘Crip Walk’ dance meaning and origin, why did Serena Williams perform it at Super Bowl 2025 and her relationship history with ex-boyfriend rapper Drake
kendrick getting serena williams to crip walk while performing not like us is nasty work pic.twitter.com/sEGYgkvZcW
— kira 👾 (@kirawontmiss) February 10, 2025
“Man I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon, I would’ve been fined!”
— Serena Williams following her appearance at Kendrick Lamar’s #SuperBowl halftime show.
— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 10, 2025
Kendrick Lamar has recently been going viral following his Super Bowl halftime show performance, which featured all kinds of surprises.
‘Crip Walk’ dance origins
The crip walk, also called the C-walk, is a popular dance move that was originally created in the 1970s. A first-generation Crip member called Robert “Sugar Bear” Jackson created the dance, which comprises quick and intricate footwork. This dance involves the dancer moving their feet classically to spell out the word C-R-I-P.
The dance originated during the time of peak rivalry between the Crips and the Bloods gang. The rivalry between the two gangs influenced the entertainment industry, with various rappers on the West Coast of the United States adopting gang dances, including the Crip Walk. Notably, the Crips used the dance at parties to display affiliation and also used it as a Crip signature after killing someone.
Back during its peak, MTV even declined to broadcast any music videos that contained the infamous dance. The Super Bowl has previously paid homage to the dance, with Snoop Dogg leading the Crip Walk dance during a 2022 halftime show.
Serena Williams Crip Walk dance performance
Serena Williams recently made a surprise cameo at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show, where she performed the ‘Crip Walk’. Following the performance, she took to social media to share her reaction, stating:
Man, I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon. Oh, I would have been fined!. Let’s go Super Bowl halftime??! I died a little!”
Both Kendrick Lamar and Serena Williams grew up in Compton, California; as such, the dance bears extra significance for them. Serena Williams also most famously did the crip walk during her 2012 Olympic victory. However, she received a lot of criticism, with many stating how it glamorized gang violence. She made a reference to the backlash by joking about it in her tweet.
Williams reportedly dated Drake before Williams married her now-husband, Alexis Ohanian and she and Drake reportedly dated on and off between 2011 and 2015.
“Serena briefly dated Drake around 2011 and even though it didn’t end that well, they have remained friends since,” an insider told Page Six in August 2024 and their romance may have only been a few months-long fling but the two were in each other’s lives for several years.
Their allegedly on-off romance seemed to heat up significantly in 2015 when Drake was spotted showing support to Williams at several events and in August, TMZ obtained photos of the pair allegedly kissing during an intimate dinner. The following month, the rapper attended the US Open, sitting courtside during Williams’ semifinals loss and Williams was seen leaving the game in Drake’s car.