A mic drop is the gesture of intentionally dropping one's microphone at the end of a performance or speech to signal triumph. Figuratively, it is an expression of triumph for a successful event and indicates a boastful attitude toward one's own performance.

History

The gesture became prevalent in the 1980s, when it was used by rappers and comedians. Performers from different groups can engage in confrontational performance styles — rappers may participate in

rap battles Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults and wordplay. Battle rap is often performed or freestyled spontaneously in live ...

, comedians may interact with a

heckler A heckler is a person who harasses and tries to disconcert others with questions, challenges, or gibes. Hecklers are often known to shout encouraging comments at a performance or event, or to interrupt set-piece speeches, with the intent of di ...

in the audience — and dropping the microphone after a particularly effective line indicated complete confidence in the opponent's inability to come back with anything that would be worthy of a response. Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the British punk band the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

performed a mic drop at the end of a concert at the Mafcentrum Maasbree, Netherlands, in December 1977. Another early occurrence was

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

in 1983 in his standup show

Delirious Delirious may refer to: * A state of delirium Film and television * Delirious (1991 film), ''Delirious'' (1991 film), an American comedy directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring John Candy * Delirious (2006 film), ''Delirious'' (2006 film), an Americ ...

. He did it again in his 1988 film '' Coming to America'' after a musical performance of “

The Greatest Love of All "The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser, who composed the music, and Linda Creed, who wrote the lyrics. It was originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson, who made the song a substantial hit, peaking at number two on the ...

” when playing the character Randy Watson. The gesture gained increased popularity from 2012. US President Barack Obama performed a mic drop on ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...

'', which has been credited with popularising the

meme A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...

. Then at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 30, 2016, Obama ended his speech with the words "Obama out", then dropped a mic, evoking a speech by the then retiring

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

basketball player

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

, who had ended his speech with the words "mamba out" at the end of his last game on April 14, 2016. In 2017, RM, the leader of boy band BTS, revealed that the track "

Mic Drop A mic drop is the gesture of intentionally dropping one's microphone at the end of a performance or speech to signal triumph. Figuratively, it is an expression of triumph for a successful event and indicates a boastful attitude toward one's own ...

" from their extended play '' Love Yourself: Her'' was inspired by Obama's speech. A figurative use also features in a promotional video for the Invictus Games featuring Obama and the British Royal Family. Google introduced a "mic drop" feature to Gmail on April 1, 2016 as an April Fools' Day joke, allowing users to send a

GIF The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on 15 June 1987. ...

of a Minion dropping a microphone as a reply to any email. If used, the feature also prevented the sender from seeing any subsequent replies that the recipient sent. The feature was removed within hours after Google received complaints from some users, with some reporting that they lost their job as a result of accidentally using it.

References

External links

* * {{wiktionary-inline, drop the mic
Drop The Mic Microphone
Gestures Internet memes Microphones