Lil Buck in a backward-bent pose on one leg.
© Tim Salaz/randmvision
Dance

How Lil Buck brought Memphis Jookin from the streets to the world stage

Chicago-born, Memphis-raised, world-renowned. Lil Buck is the formidable freestyler, Jookin dancer and choreographer that you need to get to know.
Written by Tracy Kawalik
8 min readPublished on
"For people who don't know the style, Memphis Jookin consists of a lot of slides and glides and toe spins and a bounce that's very native to the city. What makes Jookin so original is how we get from one place to another and move across the floor."
After discovering Memphis Jookin at age 11, Lil Buck set his mind on making his mark within the scene. Fuelled by limitless drive and patience for his newfound passion, he spent time honing the authentic bounce while putting his own artistic aesthetic and signature moves into the genre.
Jookin was this diamond in the rough. It was raw, real and gangster
Lil Buck
"Jookin was this diamond in the rough. It was raw, real and gangster. I'd only ever seen people like Michael Jackson dancing on VHS tapes, living a superstar life that wasn't attainable. So when I saw Jookin being done in my own backyard, and being danced by people who looked like me, that blew my mind. I knew immediately: I want that so bad."
Alongside respected Memphis Jookin OGs, Lil Buck cut out a place as an integral player in the Jookin community. He then helped put the movement and Memphis hip-hop on the map, as well as uplifting inner-city youth along the way.
A portrait with Lil Buck grabbing his cap.

Lil Buck went to the performing arts school "Yo Memphis Academy"

© Tim Salaz/randmvision

Lil Buck had a strong GPA but wasn't fitting into the public school mould. Growing up poor, he credits dance as the main thing that kept him happy. Thanks to his mother tapping into that passion and the dexterity of his skill set, he got accepted into a performing arts school called Yo Memphis Academy. Lil Buck swapped hip-hop moves for ballet classes, landed a spot on the Subculture Royalty troupe and trained under some of his most powerful creative influences thus far.
"I was already Jookin at that time and good enough to wow a few people, but I was still learning the ropes." Lil Buck says. That was until he met Subculture Royalty director Terran Noir and was inspired to tap into choreography. "Terran Noir took me under her wings and saw my potential and helped mould a lot of discipline in me. My time in that company was transformative, because that's where I actually learned how to move and be in sync with other dancers. I learned how to feel what they were feeling through choreography, I gained an appreciation for it as well as wanted to do it myself."
If it sounds like Lil Buck was moving onwards and upwards to a mainstream flex and forgetting his roots, that couldn't be further from the truth. Quick to pay respect back to Memphis Jookin pioneers who paved his way, Lil Buck waxes lyrical, "OGs like Daniel Price, Dr Rico, G-Nerd, King Keviorr really inspired me creatively. Those dancers don't get talked about enough. Memphis Jookin is about tapping into your personality. You have to be practised with that so you can come up with moves and concepts on the fly. By watching my peers do precisely that, they became some of my greatest influences."
Lil Buck jumps while dancing.

At 20, Lil Buck moved to LA to work as a choreographer

© Tim Salaz/randmvision

At 20 years old, Lil Buck moved from Memphis to Los Angeles with 100 dollars in his pocket. He'd met a friend and fan of his dancing on the internet who thankfully let him stay at his place for free in exchange for teaching him Memphis Jookin every morning.
Lil Buck put his next-level creative vision and highly unique style to work and not only found fame but propelled Memphis Jookin from his hometown across the globe.
Off the back of over a decade in the Hollywood game, Lil Buck's since performed personal works alongside Spike Jonze and classical great Yo-Yo Ma. He's undulated, twisted and turned on tiptoe through world-class museums past Picasso's and Matisse paintings for performance videos for the likes of Louis Vuitton and Vogue. He even danced at the Super Bowl with Madonna.
A portrait of Lil Buck

Lil Buck's biggest inspiration comes from music

© Tim Salaz / randmvision

Still, Memphis has always been calling and one of Lil Buck's most notable gigs took place back where it all started: "A lot of people don't know, but my biggest break came from a video I choreographed for Janelle Monae. She had this song called Tightrope. It was about not being too high or too low and just having a nice balance in life. She reached out to the Memphis Jookin community to help with the choreography, and in the end, a lot of my moves ended up being the ones she wanted. One of my signature moves wound up as the actual Tightrope. Working with her in her studio was just magical and one of the most memorable moments of my life."
Lil Buck's moves got nominated for an MTV award for best choreography in a music video. Following his breakout video and a lengthy list of illustrious performances, Lil Buck became the first street dancer to lock down his own capsule collection with fashion house Versace and a limited line of Jordan Fly Knits with his name engraved on the side.
More than that, as a choreographer he worked with the likes of Ballet X, modern-dance companies like The Martha Graham Company and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He's transformed dancers from opposite backgrounds to move in ways they never thought possible.
As a choreographer, the biggest rush is still getting started. Going into uncharted space and tapping into the unknown
Lil Buck
"My biggest inspiration comes from music, and I love rap, but these dancers are not experienced with the world I come from or hip-hop at all. Luckily I've been blessed enough to have a wide range of passions that aren't limited to only that. I have a vast amount of creativity that I want to get out of my head and a lot of times I can't reach that only through hip-hop."
Speaking about what gives him the biggest rush and his experience choreographing back in his birthplace with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Lil Buck explains: "My time with them has been incredibly significant and special. For me to be able to experiment with new things and them to execute that just at the snap of a finger as well as understand where I'm coming from no matter how obscure my ideas are, then finally bring those movements to life with the music… I felt like a kid in a candy store."
Lil Buck's students aren't the only ones being pushed out of their comfort zone. Looking back, Lil Buck says there's one particular piece that stands out above the rest and is unlikely to be surpassed "The first time I got to collaborate with Yo-Yo Ma for my piece The Swan was incredible. Mostly because that was when I knew the real power of artistic collaboration and the effect it has when two worlds come together. I think just us having that real, real moment. Me being a street dancer and Yo-Yo Ma being one of the most incredible classical musicians of all time and all that captured on an iPhone by Spike Jonze that was one of the proudest moments of my life."
"As a choreographer, the biggest rush for me is still getting started, you know? Going into that uncharted space and tapping into the unknown. As for what I'm looking for in my dancers, I want them to have an open channel for inspiration and discovery. I want them to be a creative sponge like me. I don't want them to shut anything down because they don't feel comfortable doing it."
Still only warming up, Lil Buck is an unmissable artistic talent. For those who've yet to witness him at work, dancers new to the game or seasoned pros can relive his Instagram Live class for a glimpse of the experience.
The most important skill I needed to take my dance to the next level was just that willingness to go after what I really want in life
Lil Buck
In the meantime, Lil Buck leaves the next generation of rising talent with this: "For a lot of dancers coming up, everything is moving so fast. Because of social media, you have a lot of people looking for that instant gratification and being famous, fast. When I came up in Memphis I didn't have the luxury of social media that could skyrocket me too early. I was forced to take my time. That's tough because you don't make a lot of money training for as long as I did, but as a kid remember that you don't need it. Now is your time without adult responsibilities to learn, absorb and push yourself in the studio as much as you can. That way, when the time comes to step out into the world and get it, the money and fame will come."
Continually elevating all who cross his path, Lil Buck closes with this: "The most important skill I needed to take my dance to the next level was just that willingness to go after what I really want in life, no matter what the obstacles were in the way. A little luck doesn't hurt, and there were a lot of different moments where I got lucky, but if I'm honest, I feel like it was more the law of attraction working in my favour. I never dwelled on the negative, or on how it wasn't working out. What kept me going was discipline, my passion, drive, patience, persistence, work ethic and then luck. Because of all that combined, I was lucky enough to reap the benefits of it, and here I am today."