Misc. Reviews

Ghost riding the whip, which The Washington Post recently dubbed "another bad idea from California," is the phrase for dancing near, on top of, or on the back of a moving car with no one in the pilot position. Created in Oakland and popularized nationally by the E-40 single "Tell Me When to Go" — and YouTubers forwarding their videos of individuals' attempts at it — ghost riding has become a hot button of parental paranoia over the last six months.

Ghost Ride the logo.

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"Ghost Ride the Whip Blog" (ghostridethewhipblog.blogspot.com) started last summer and has asserted itself as the most powerful comedic voice to address the activity. With clips of news reports and ghost riding incidents appended with minimal commentary, the blog pokes fun at the mainstream media sensationalism of the trend as well as the stunt novices themselves. The underlying suggestion here is that those involved in both hyping and attempting these moves might be just a little bit dumb. Whether that's dumb in the classic sense or in the hyphy slang wavers; the page's editors don't always blindly side with the riders. (Example: Man ghost riding with baby on board, classic dumb.)

With a little work, there's the potential for GRTWB to grow into an authoritative voice on the subject. I'd love to know the site's opinion on Mistah F.A.B.'s recent Fox News appearance discussing the topic, for example. There are flashes of funny minds at work behind the screen, as demonstrated when one video was introduced with the tag, "Watch as the Bay Area takes back ghost riding the whip from white middle America like an angry lesbian takes back the night." But for that prominence to happen, these ghost riding aficionados have to really take charge and jump into the driver's seat more often.