‘I don’t even understand the physics of this’: The Jubi Slide challenges TikTok

This week, we have a TikTok sound and a dance to get into. The latter has existed in some form on TikTok since early 2022, but now it’s inspired a flood of tutorials, which attempt to break down the illusion. 

So how exactly do you Jubi Slide? And should you even attempt it if you’re over a certain age?

The sound

The popular sound on TikTok is LAKIM’s “A Pimp Named Slickback,” which is made up of a sample from The Boondocks and a sped-up snippet of Crystal Waters’ 1991 hit “Gypsy Woman.” 

It’s been used in more than 111,000 TikToks since being posted by the account @beaneetv in late 2018, which might make it one of the longest-running sounds I’ve covered so far. Model Winnie Harlow used it to soundtrack her amazing Katt Williams Halloween costume. Williams voices the character A Pimp Named Slickback on The Boondocks. 

But this summer the song started being used in a new(ish) trend: The Jubi Slide. 

Some of the earliest Jubi Slide/”A Pimp Named Slickback'' videos came from @kiingjojo.inc, who performed the dance in various locales. One of his TikToks from September, captioned  “Who needs a car to drift when you could just jubislide,” has more than 20 million views, and shows him appearing to glide down the sidewalk on the tips of his shoes. 

“I don’t even understand the physics of this,” said one commenter. 

People have also done it at the beach, on grass, and in a bear suit. When they do it right, it really does appear like they’re floating. 

Because the dance looks so impossible, there have been plenty of Jubi Slide tutorials breaking down the sideways step-and-slide motion, with an emphasis on the tips of your feet. As @kiingjojo.inc instructed in his tutorial, “gotta stay light on your feet.”

Where’s it from?

The track, from DJ and producer LAKIM, was officially released in 2019, and takes its Boondocks sample from the 2005 episode “Guess Hoe’s Coming to Dinner,” which introduced A Pimp Named Slickback. 

But the Jubi Slide has gone viral before, thanks to its originator, Jouberson Joseph. 

In February 2022, TikTok account @jubi2fye posted a video of a group doing what would become known as the Jubi Slide at the mall, set to “Aye Bay Bay.” That led to a TikTok challenge in early 2022, where people showed off their slides. But this new iteration is a little more complex. 

Joseph, a dancer and influencer, posted a couple TikToks of him doing the dance to “A Pimp Named Slickback,” as well as one from New York Fashion Week. In a 2022 interview with Good Day Sacramento, he said the dance was inspired by a “drum-major move” and Florida’s Bethune-Cookman University marching band. 

Sound off 

The Jubi Slide definitely takes some practice, and you’ve got to do it at your own pace. You could, as one commenter said, go “From slipback to slipdisc real quick.” 

The dance joins many others that got popular on TikTok, but viral dances are often only viral for so long. It’s interesting that the Jubi Slide has not only been revived, but evolved as well. 

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