Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire. Think of Jerry Lee Lewis lighting his piano fire. The Sex Pistols example is interesting but I suspect Lyndon's mic drop really came out of the great rock and roll tradition of destroying everything in sight. And it's the exact setting which would give rise to the mic drop as a way to indicate "I just won, get out." It's also notable that mic drops entered US culture via Erik B and Rakim, Eddie Murray and Dave Chappelle (two comedians who collaborated with and celebrated African American music), and Obama (who regularly found ways to tap into hip-hop language and symbols). But rap, more than most other forms of vocal performance, is built around vocalists trading lines and has a competitive, "let me see you top that" quality to it. All vocal music values performers who have exceptional lyrical dexterity and inventiveness. We tend to use it to refer to situations in which someone verbally slays the competition and then drops the mic both as punctuation and to indicate that "this competition/debate/battle is over." That practice, I suspect, probably has roots in rap/hip hop. It's more than just opening one's hand and letting the microphone fall to the floor. I think it would be useful to determine what we understand a mic drop to be. So the mystery is: was this the first documented mic drop?Įdit: I realise that this might be better placed in another sub like r/musichistory, but Unresolved Mysteries is my absolute favourite sub, you're all great, and this is an unresolved mystery to me, so you’re stuck with it, sorry. Rolling Stone article on the end of the Sex Pistols: Slate article on the history of the mic drop: But Johnny Rotten first did it a few years earlier than the rappers and comedians. Its popularity increased after President Obama did a mic drop in 2012 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and then at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2016. Some articles (eg Slate, Guardian) date the mic drop’s introduction to 1980s comedians and rappers (eg Eric B and Rakim, Eddie Murphy). You can see the mic drop here (clip is only 9 seconds long): (He announced the break-up of the Sex Pistols four days later.) Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night.” before dropping his microphone and walking off stage. Their last song was a cover of the Stooges’ song “No Fun”.Īt the end of the song, a weary and disillusioned Johnny Rotten spoke to the audience: “Ah-ha-ha. The last gig of the Sex Pistols’ disastrous 1978 US tour was on 14th January 1978 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
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