Before it was a hip-hop craze, the dab was a Japanese superhero move
We recognize the dab as a 2014 internet meme and a triumphant gesture in American sports. But long before it reached Atlanta's hip-hop scene, this specific physical pose was already a staple of Japanese pop culture, used by legendary anime heroes and tokusatsu superheroes.
While the global explosion of the dab is often linked to the 2010s Atlanta hip-hop scene—with artists like Migos and Skippa Da Flippa at the center of a debate over its true origin—the movement has much deeper roots. Before it became a viral sensation, the gesture was a feature of Japanese popular culture for decades. It was known in Japan as a 'Sentai move,' a term derived from its use in 1970s superhero series like Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.
This legacy extends into iconic anime. The character Gohan, performing as The Great Saiyaman in Dragon Ball Z, utilized the move, and it appeared in the opening theme of Detective Conan in 2000, appearing again in a remake twenty years later. Even Western-facing anime like Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS referenced the move as a 'Sentai move' in its 2017 English dub.
The transition from niche cultural gesture to global phenomenon was driven by a massive wave of celebrity adoption. In American sports, NFL quarterback Cam Newton famously used an eight-second dab during a 2015 game against the Tennessee Titans, a moment that helped propel the move into the mainstream. By 2017, the gesture had crossed into politics, appearing in the actions of figures like Hillary Clinton and UK politician Tom Watson, and even into the digital realm via Fortnite, where players could purchase various versions of the move.
The move's reach is so vast that it has faced both praise and controversy. In India, Bollywood dancers have incorporated a wingtip version, while in Saudi Arabia, the National Committee for Drug Control declared the move illegal, fearing its association with cannabis culture. Whether viewed as a playful triumph or a sign of disrespect, the dab remains a powerful, polarizing cultural marker.
Source: Dab (dance)
