mic drop
{{short description|Gesture of dropping a microphone}}
{{For-text|the song|Mic Drop (song)|the reality show|Drop the Mic}}
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
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.{{cite web|title='Cat café' and other words added to OxfordDictionaries.com|url=http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/08/new-words-update-manspreading-mic-drop/|department=OxfordWords blog|publisher=Oxford Dictionaries|accessdate=1 May 2016|date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606054400/http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/08/new-words-update-manspreading-mic-drop/|archive-date=6 June 2017|url-status=dead}}
History
File:Then Swänska Argus last page 1734.jpg in 1734.]]
When laying down his magazine Then Swänska Argus at the end of 1734, Swedish journalist Olof von Dalin ended with the words "as I now throw my pen" (när jag nu kastar min penna), typeset in a slanted manner, as a display of actually throwing his pen. (Possibly this was copied from The Spectator by Addison and Steele or other magazines of the time.)
File:Barack Obama drops the mic.gif's mic drop at the 2016 White House Correspondents' Dinner]]
The gesture with a microphone became prevalent in the 1980s, when it was used by rappers and comedians.{{Better source needed|date=February 2021}} Performers from different groups can engage in confrontational performance styles — rappers may participate in rap battles; comedians may interact with a heckler 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 performed a mic drop at the end of a concert at the Mafcentrum Maasbree, Netherlands, in December 1977.{{cite web | url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MtMd8M8X1DY | title=Sex Pistols live @ Mafcentrum Maasbree (Netherlands, dec. 1977) | website=YouTube }} Another early occurrence was Eddie Murphy in 1983 in his standup show Delirious. He did it again in his 1988 film Coming to America after a musical performance of “The Greatest Love of All” when playing the character Randy Watson.
The gesture gained increased popularity from 2012.{{cite web|last1=Wickman|first1=Forrest|title=When Did People Start Walking Off the Stage Like This? *Drops Mic*|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/01/25/a_history_of_the_mic_drop_when_did_people_start_dropping_the_mic.html|website=Slate|accessdate=1 May 2016|date=25 January 2013}} US President Barack Obama performed a mic drop on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, which has been credited with popularising the meme. 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 basketball player Kobe Bryant, who had ended his speech with the words "mamba out" at the end of his last game on April 14, 2016.{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=David|title=Barack Obama in surprise swipe at Clinton at final correspondents' dinner|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/01/obama-takes-aim-at-trump-and-republicans-at-final-correspondents-dinner|accessdate=1 May 2016|work=The Guardian |location=London |date=1 May 2016}} In 2017, RM, the leader of boy band BTS, revealed that the track "Mic Drop" from their extended play Love Yourself: Her was inspired by Obama's speech.{{Cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/ikrd/mic-drop-is-so-lit-i-want-it-to-be-played-in-my-coffin|title=This K-Pop Group Has A New Song Based On Obama's Mic Drop|work=BuzzFeed|access-date=2018-08-31|language=en}} A figurative use also features in a promotional video for the Invictus Games featuring Obama and the British Royal Family.{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Dan |title=Obamas, Prince Harry and the Queen trade mic drops in comedy sketch|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/29/obamas-prince-harry-queen-elizabeth-invictus-games-video |accessdate=1 May 2016|work=The Guardian |location=London |date=29 April 2016}}
Google introduced a "mic drop" feature to Gmail on April 1, 2016, as an April Fools' Day joke, allowing users to send a GIF 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/technology/april-fools-undo-gmail-removes-its-mic-drop-feature.html|title=April Fools' Undo: Gmail Removes Its 'Mic Drop' Feature |work=The New York Times|date=1 April 2016|accessdate=1 April 2016|author=Rogers, Katie}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/4/1/11344044/google-gmail-mic-drop-button-april-fool|title=Google pulls ill-advised 'mic drop' April Fools' joke from Gmail|work=The Verge|date=1 April 2016|accessdate=1 April 2016|author=McCormick, Rich}}{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35941806 | title=Google April Fool Gmail button sparks backlash | publisher=BBC News | date=1 April 2016 | accessdate=1 April 2016}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{wiktionary-inline|mic drop}}
- {{wiktionary-inline|drop the mic}}
- [http://dropthemic.io Drop The Mic Microphone]