The Atlanta hip hop group We Are Toonz is credited for inventing the phrase with their hit song "Drop That NaeNae" in 2013.
[1][2] In the series, Martin Lawrence cross-dressed to play Sheneneh Jenkins, an exaggerated, sassy "ghetto girl".
[5] Throughout 2014, the song achieved popularity on social media such as Vine, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
[4][7] Numerous celebrities have been covered by the social and mainstream media when they performed the dance, including Jeremy Lin and Stephen Curry,[8] Dwight Howard,[1] Lance Moore,[1] TLC,[1] John Wall,[6] Pharrell Williams,[6] Miley Cyrus,[9] J. J. Watt,[10] and Hillary Clinton.
[13] Then-President of the United States Barack Obama publicly praised a Washington, D.C. police officer who did the dance with a teenager in October 2015.