The dab was most popular from around 2015 to 2017, after starting in Atlanta’s hip‑hop scene earlier in the 2010s and then exploding through music, sports, and memes.

Quick timeline

  • Early 2010s: The dab gesture appears in Atlanta hip‑hop, with artists like Migos, OG Maco, Skippa Da Flippa, and others using it in their scene.
  • Around 2013: People in that scene recognize the move, but it is still mostly local and not a global meme yet.
  • 2015: The dab goes mainstream – Migos push it with tracks like “Look at My Dab,” and American football players start using it as a touchdown celebration, which massively boosts its visibility.
  • 2016–2017: The dab becomes a worldwide meme, all over social media, YouTube, and schoolyards, and starts to feel “overused” to many online communities.

In internet culture terms, people often talk about the dab as a mid‑2010s meme that “peaked” around 2015–2016 and felt “dead” or cringe not long after, even though some kids and communities kept doing it.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.