Nicholas Sapp Southern Kinetics 5.26.2026 *I wrote this for the Rennie Harris Street Dance Archive.* Yeek is Atlanta, GA's original hip-hop dance style, created in 1984. Initially comprised of several dances done by rollerskating groups in Atlanta's roller rinks, Yeek comes into being as these groups would practice their routines off-skates. The name "Yeek," retroactively defined to mean "Your Energetic Explosive Klimax," comes from audience chants: as early Yeekers would execute a specific party dance known as "the Smurf," a grapevine variation, and as Yeekers would finish their routines with a powerful thrust or shake, the crowd would shout "YEEK!" Yeek develops simultaneously as the music genre known as Atlanta Bass. An offshoot of Miami Bass, Atlanta Bass music increasingly serves as the background for Atlanta Yeek; by the 90s, Yeeking is done near exclusively to Atlanta Bass, Miami Bass, freestyle, and electro records. Yeek develops in roughly three stages, the first being the Founder's era, or the roller rink era. Anthony Lamar Francis is widely considered the "Godfather of Yeek," and he and his group FDC (Fresh Dancing Crew) set forth the foundation of the dance at this time by combining local party dances, skate grooves, and movements from local marching bands and Black Greek organizations. The second is the Prime Era, or the talent show era. It is in this era that Yeek explodes in popularity, as dance groups across Atlanta travel to compete in high school talent shows. Additionally, Yeekers battle each other heavily in both group and non-group settings during this time. The final era of Yeek is known as the Cranking era, or the FreakNik era. Cranking is the term used to describe the evolution of Yeek leading from the late 80s into the 90s, as Chris Chapman, leader of the group The Untouchables, infuses the dance with martial arts and military influence. In this era, Yeek begins to be seen more in the national landscape, via the group 9-1-1's performance on Showtime At The Apollo, music videos by Atlanta artists such as TLC, and the picnic-turned-festival known as FreakNik that served as a congregation for Black partygoers across the US until the mid-90s. Yeek faded out of the mainstream Atlanta landscape by the end of the 90s as the music turned to the newly popular genres of Crunk, Snap, Trap, and the music of Southern hip hop artists like OutKast, Goodie Mob, and Ludacris. It maintained occasional relevance as "Cranking" via choreography in videos of Ciara, OutKast, and Lloyd, and via the crew Jungle Boogie on Season 5 of "America's Best Dance Crew." Furthermore, Nate Dodson is responsible for another wave of Yeek resurgence during the late 2000s via his dance company Atlanta Bomb Squad. Outside of the annual Yeek Fest organized by Yeek! ATL, however, it can be quite difficult to organically find Yeek in Atlanta. Predominantly the dance of Gen X and elder Millennials, many younger Atlantans do not know of Yeek, despite aspects of its presence in later Atlanta social dances. Additionally, Yeek has been fairly poorly documented, living largely via oral histories. Academics such as Kevin C. Holt and organizations such as Southern Kinetics seek to change this, so that Yeek can be properly represented as Atlanta's original hip hop dance style.