The origin of Krumping can be traced back to traditional African dances. In the movie Rize David LaChapelle uses footage of dancers in an African village interspersed with scenes of Krumpers battling each other to illustrate the similarities. "Krump" or "Krumping" is an evolution of the "Clowning" or "Clown-dancing" style or manifestation of the Black Dance movement. Clown Dancing was created in the early nineties by Thomas Johnson aka Tommy the Clown, who was a hip-hop dancer and spokesperson for then California Governor Gray Davis. In 1992 Johnson began fusing different local dance elements and created a unique, appealing, universal style that also aided him in promoting his own career as a clown for children's parties.
