Rapper Tony Yayo is thanking college basketball star Angel Reese for helping his “You Can’t See Me” dance reach a new generation.
It was nearly 20 years ago when Yayo introduced the world to his signature hand-waving dance move in his “So Seductive” music video. The G-Unit member waved his hand in front of his face in a rhythmic motion that quickly caught on.
Soon, wrestling champion John Cena was using the dance move to taunt his competitors and let them know, “You can’t see me.” Now years later and the move was reignited when LSU Tigers Angel Reese returned the gesture to Iowa Hawkeyes Caitlin Clark during the NCAA final.
Reese received backlash and sparked a heated public debate
between those who felt she displayed poor sportsmanship and others who felt the Black female athlete was receiving harsher criticism than her white counterpart who made the same taunting hand gesture earlier in the tournament, as noted by NPR.The debates have helped reawaken interest in Yayo’s original dance move from decades ago, and the rapper couldn’t be more pleased.
“Any kind of sports, talking trash is a part of the game,” Yayo told TMZ Sports of his signature dance being used in sports.
“I mean, it was for the championship game. It’s competition. Even when I’m playing 2k — if you playin’ in the game, with video games, we get excited. You know?”
Yayo defended the dance being used in sports and shared the history of his signature move.
“It’s just a dance. I don’t take nothin’ personal,” he said. “It was a dance I created because I was trying to hide from the police.”
Yayo credits John Cena and Flava Flav for helping to popularize his dance move but hails Angel Reese as the one public figure who took the hand gesture to new heights.
“But shout out to all them people — John Cena, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark — and definitely Flavor Flav,” Yayo said. “But Angel Reese? You know, she took the ‘U Can’t C Me’ dance to a whole ‘nother level.”