Mic Drop

About

Mic Drop and Drop the Mic are expressions referring to the practice of intentionally letting a microphone fall to the ground as a display of bold confidence following a successful performance. Colloquially, the expressions have also been used to celebrate the delivery of an impressive argument or insult.

Origin

According to an article on Slate^[2] titled “The History of the Mic Drop,” the practice of letting a microphone drop on stage was popularized by rappers and comedians in the 1980s. The earliest known example occurred during comedian Eddie Murphy’s 1983 stand-up special Delirious, in which he drops the microphone on stage after a fan yells “Shut up bitch!” at a heckler (shown below, left). The earliest known reference to the practice in hip hop is contained within the 1987 track “I Ain’t No Joke” by Eric B. & Rakim, in which Rakim raps “I used to let the mic smoke, now I slam it when I;m done and make sure it’s broke” (shown below, right).

Spread

During a scene in the 1988 comedy film Comedy to America, the lead singer of the fictional R&B band Sexual Chocolate finishes a song and yells “Sexual Chocolate!” while dropping the microphone (shown below, left). In the 2000s, comedian Chris Rock employed the mic drop at the end of his stand-up sets (shown below, right). On September 5th, 2006, a theater house manager published a post on his personal blog,^[3] which urged performers to stop damaging microphones by dropping them on stage.

On March 19th, 2007, the channelzerotv YouTube channel uploaded footage of rapper Big Daddy Kane dropping the mic on stage at a concert in Chicago, Illinois (shown below, left). In 2008, Saturday Night Live introduced the character Obnoxious Microphone Guy (played by Bobby Moynihan), who would steal microphones from public speakers, yell “what” and then drop it to the ground (shown below, right).

On October 4th, 2011, Urban Dictionary^[1] user Nicki Menagerie submitted an entry for “mic drop,” defining it as “when a performer or speaker intentionally drops/throws the microphone to the floor after an awesome performance.” On February 7th, 2012, the Comedy Central YouTube channel uploaded a skit from the show Key & Peele, in which United States President Barack Obama approaches a street rapper, takes his microphone and says “I’m the leader of the free world” before letting the mic fall to the ground (shown below, left). Within three years, the clip gained over 4.5 million views and 1,800 comments. On April 24th, Obama appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he sings a “slow jam” with the show’s host before dropping the microphone on stage (shown below, right).

On July 4th, 2013, a page for “Mic Drop” was created on TV Tropes.^[4] On July 11th, 2015, actor Bryan Cranston dropped the microphone after delivering a “your mother” joke to an audience member during a panel Q&A session at the Nerd HQ convention (shown below, left). On July 27th, the JackInTheBox YouTube channel released a commercial in which the fast food company’s mascot drops a microphone after introducing a new sandwich (shown below, right). On August 27th, the OxfordDictionaries.com^[5] added “mic drop” to its online dictionary.

Search Interest

External References