Is Fortnite appropriating black dance culture? Milly Rock dance creator’s lawsuit says so
- Rapper 2 Milly’s signature dance move is being sold on the most popular video game of 2018
- The lawsuit also accuses Epic Games of stealing other hip-hop artists’ moves
In the summer of 2015, rapper 2 Milly went “Milly Rocking” on every block in Brooklyn, New York, turning the hip-hop two-step into the viral dance of the summer. People started doing the “Milly Rock” on fire escapes, on top of cars, in the end zone after scoring touchdowns. Rihanna was doing it. Travis Scott did it. “If you ain’t Milly Rockin’, you ain’t doing nothing,” 2 Milly, whose real name is Terrence Ferguson, told Vice in 2015.
But then one day in July this year, some unwanted “Milly Rockers” were brought to the rapper’s attention: avatars in Fortnite, the most popular video game of 2018.
“Everybody was like, ‘Yo, your dance is in the game’,” 2 Milly told CBS News last month.
The moves appeared unmistakable, 2 Milly said. The dancing avatar swung her left arm, then her right, spun her fists in a circular motion, then twisted her hips and did it all again. In Fortnite, the massively popular battle royal video game, the “dance emote” was not called the “Milly Rock”.
Instead, the move was called “Swipe It”, a victory dance that players could unlock after purchasing an add-on package for 950 “V-bucks” (about US$9.50). Players recognised the dance immediately – just as they had so many other popular viral dances that appear to be included in Fortnite, but were made famous by mostly black artists.
Now 2 Milly is suing over it.