Songs suitable for twerking and hip-shaking dances
The hip-shaking dance you often see in overseas music videos is called twerk or twerking.
It became established in local clubs in New Orleans, and it’s said that musicians who took notice started incorporating it into music videos in the 2000s.
Here in Japan, it’s been getting attention since around 2018, with TV features and trend-savvy teens adopting it as a dance style.
From cute, girlish twerk routines to more provocative moves, more and more high school and college girls have been casually uploading their videos to social media lately.
So, what songs are they dancing to?
We did some research.
We’ll also introduce the anthems that sparked the trend.
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Songs suitable for twerking and hip-shaking dance (1–10)
We Can’t StopMiley Cyrus
It’s not a song you’d twerk to the whole way through, but they still slip it into the MV right away.
Since the track was released in 2013, they were pretty early to it, I think.
In the opening, they’re wearing gold grills—the go-to for advanced hip-hop fashionistas.
Back in the day, Madonna, Rihanna, Johnny Depp, and in Japan Koki Tanaka, among others, caused a stir with them.
As an aside, wearers say the upkeep is a real hassle.
Shake Dat Ass feat. AISHAAnarchy
You can tell what it means once it’s translated into Japanese, right? The lyrics are really fun, too.
ANARCHY, AISHA, and HABANERO POSSE, who produced the track, all feel like true pros, and I think that’s what really seals the deal.
I want people to dance casually to this song.
In the latter half, you hear horns and a lead called a hoover, but normally you’d never fire them off that rapidly.
Just like Diplo’s “Express Yourself,” it totally blew my mind and also made me chuckle.
#TWERKITBusta Rhymes
You could say Busta Rhymes is also a key figure in this scene.
Since the word “twerk” is right there in the title, it’s definitely made for that—in fact, that’s the theme! If you’re going to dance, switching up how you catch the rhythm between 1/1 and 1/2 could add dynamics and make it look cool, don’t you think?
Songs suitable for twerking and hip-shaking dance (11–20)
#KETSUFUREYayoi Daimon
This is a clear, straightforward title! Now that’s a hip-shaking dance.
Isn’t this perhaps the first time in Japan that twerking has been expressed this directly? The music video is a must-see.
Yayoi Daimon is a singer-songwriter from Osaka, an artist who came up as a street dancer influenced by Black music.
Run The World (Girls)Beyoncé
Boldly sampling Major Lazer’s hard-hitting sound “Pon De Floor.” Once Beyoncé’s vocals are laid over it, the track suddenly comes across as evoking a dignified, powerful female image.
I said “sampling,” but it’s basically a straight lift—the instrumental is pretty much intact, with her vocals placed right on top.
Super BassNicki Minaj
A relatively early-career hit by Nicki Minaj, notable for its sparkling, diamond-like synth melody and a lead synth more commonly used in trance and progressive house—unusual for this kind of genre.
Her visuals are completely different from how they are now, aren’t they? The beat of this track also has a tempo that suits it well.
Twerk ft. Ben CristovaoDJ Wich
It’s straight-up a twerk-ready track.
This song had a moment on TikTok and other social media.
The surging, dirty lead is emblematic of big-room EDM.
The drop gives off the vibe of something you’d hear at a massive festival.
I’d love to see you take on the challenge like the female dancers in the music video.