, frequently used in the context of "ghost riding the whip" (a "whip" being a vehicle) or simply , is when a person exits their moving vehicle, and dances beside and around it. American rapper

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click (band), The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 stud ...

's 2006 song "

Tell Me When to Go "Tell Me When to Go" is the first single from E-40's BME/Warner Bros. debut, '' My Ghetto Report Card''. Keak da Sneak is also featured on the track. It was produced by Lil Jon, and one of the first singles to kick off the hyphy movement on a n ...

" produced by

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

brought mainstream attention to "ghost riding". Ghost riding is also another term used for

car surfing Car surfing involves riding on the outside of a moving vehicle being driven by another person. It has resulted in numerous deaths, predominantly causing severe head injuries. The Quebec Provincial Automobile Insurance Company defines car surfin ...

, and the term is also occasionally used to describe a moving vehicle with no occupant, such as when a car without the

hand brake In road vehicles, the parking brake, also known as a handbrake or emergency brake (e-brake), is a mechanism used to keep the vehicle securely motionless when parked. Parking brakes often consist of a pulling mechanism attached to a cable which ...

applied starts to roll down an incline. The practice originated in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

, specifically the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

. It gets its name from the fact that while the driver is dancing beside the moving vehicle, it appears that the vehicle is being driven by an invisible driver. Subsequently, the trend was also featured in the lyrics of the 2006 track "Ghost Ride It" by Mistah F.A.B. whose wording speaks of "Dancing on the hood while the car's still rollin'". Ghost-riding-the-golf-cart

Ghost riding is an activity that has been practiced in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

including

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, California, for many years, during what are called sideshows.Farhi, Paul
"Ghost-Riding: Brake-Dancing With Zip Under the Hood"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', December 27, 2006, p. C01. Accessed October 18, 2007. It is thought to have started as a trend around 2006. The popularization of ''ghost riding'' a car is a byproduct of popular Bay Area music and the

hyphy The term hyphy ( ) is an Oakland, California, slang meaning "hyperactive". More specifically, it is an adjective describing the hip-hop music and the culture associated with the Oakland area. The term was first coined by rapper Keak da Snea ...

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

in general; additionally, it has been suggested ghost riding is a

copycat crime A copycat crime is a criminal act that is modeled after or inspired by a previous crime. It notably occurs after exposure to media content depicting said crimes, and/or a live criminal model. According to a study, copycat crime is a social phen ...

popularized by

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

videos and online social media. Ghost riding is performed by exiting an automobile while it is left in gear. The automobile's engine runs at idle speed, slowly propelling the car forward. As with

, ghost riding is dangerous and has resulted in deaths in North America.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Hazardous motor vehicle activities Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 2000s fads and trends 2000s in California Organized crime activity