Boots on the ground: From tiktok to trail ride tradition

Africanews (in English)

Boots on the ground: From tiktok to trail ride tradition  Now, with “Boots on the Ground” topping Billboard’s R&B charts and trail ride culture trending nationwide, a Southern tradition once rooted in tight-knit Black communities is stepping into the mainstream—one line dance at a time.  READ MORE : http://www.africanews.com/2025/08/21/boots-on-the-ground-from-tiktok-to-trail-ride-tradition  Subscribe on our Dailymotion channel and receive all the latest news from the continent.    Africanews is available in English and French.  Website : www.africanews.com  Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/africanews.channel/  Twitter : https://twitter.com/africanews

Transcript

00:00When Trey Lito two-stepped in cowboy boots at the BG award pre-show this summer,

00:04it wasn't just performing, it was riding the wave of a cultural moment.

00:08Alongside South and Seoul singer Lito delivered the viral sensation boots on the ground,

00:13a trail ride inspired song whose signature dance has swept across African-American gatherings nationwide.

00:20I feel that with the new energy toward country music and trail ride music

00:27and African-American presence in it, I think that opened up America's eyes

00:33to what we've been doing down in Louisiana and Texas and Mississippi and Alabama for years.

00:38So for me, it's nothing new, but it's to the country,

00:43I think their eyes have been opened to line dancing and the unity that it brings.

00:50And I think it's starting to spread versus...

00:53Line dances like the Cha-Cha Slide and Wobble have long been stables of weddings and cookouts,

01:00but boot on the ground brought trail ride culture to the national stage.

01:07We marched together, we stepped together years ago.

01:10It's a sense of unity where everybody can be on one accord at one time.

01:16When we can do it together, it's just that sense of unity.

01:19That's why I feel like line dancing is the most powerful music in the world.

01:24I don't think there's any other genre more powerful than line dance

01:27because it brings people together.

01:29The power was on display during the Black Lives Matter protest in 2020

01:34when Qubit recalled saying protesters and police diffuse tensions through the Qubit shuffle.

01:41And a pivotal moment was during Black Lives Matter movement

01:43when the riots were going on and there was a video sent to me of people who were rioting

01:50and then the police who were trying to bring, you know, bring everybody calming them down.

01:54And they were doing the Qubit shuffle at that moment to kind of like ease the tensions.

02:00So that's when I realized the importance of it as far as connecting two people

02:05that don't even see eye to eye together.

02:07Now with boots on the ground, talking the billboard and R&B chats

02:11and trail ride culture trending nationwide,

02:14a Southern tradition once rooted in tight-knit Black communities

02:18is stepping into the mainstream.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended