After solidifying his legacy with the creation of the classic “Cupid Shuffle” back in the early aughts, Bryson “Cupid” Bernard is back with another track prime for all the summer BBQs and family reunions to come this upcoming Summer season and beyond: “The Cookout.”
I don’t think the streets had a line dancing,” Cupid said to The Knockturnal, “Like real talk. You had Cha Cha. Then you had me, and then you had me again. I was like, you know what, imma make a song about a cookout. We always talk about the Cookout, but we never had an official dance for The Cookout, so I was like, let me make one.”
Amplifying his passion for the art of line dancing, Cupid cultivated a new, revamped line dance with a modern-day vibe replete with 808 beats, horns, and yet another infectious hook.
In conjunction with the original track, Cupid was able to team up with his fellow Southern bredren and Hip-Hop legends in their own right: Bun B and Paul Wall for the remix.
Well, about two years ago, Bun B called me up to perform with him at the Houston Rodeo,” Cupid said to The Knockturnal. “They do about 75K people a night. I’ve just always been a (UGK) fan like big time. And Paul Wall, maybe like a day before I reached out to Bun, hit me, and was like “you need to get me on one of these party songs,” and then I realized that his wife teaches Line Dancing classes in Houston. So I was like, man, it don’t get no better. Houston is a spot I call my second or third home, so it just made sense.”
Known as the “Line Dance King,” Cupid is a pioneer in the line dance community. Some of his most salient traits include his innovative choreography and undeniably positive energy.
In 2008, the six-time, multi-platinum artist broke the Guinness World Record for the largest line dance assembled with over 17,000 people in Atlanta at EBONY’s Black Family Reunion Tour. Throughout his 20-year career, he’s garnered over 500 million streams across platforms and gained media attention from Rolling Stone, The New York Times, VICE, MTV, BET, XXL, CBS, Revolt TV, VH1, ABC, Viacom, EBONY, NBC, CNN, and BBC, among others.
Moreover, when it comes to the practice of line dancing, there’s a communal element that brings people closer together, and that’s what Cupid has been focused on bringing into fruition.
Cupid Shuffle is one of the most important songs in the world,” Cupid said to The Knockturnal. “When Black Lives Matter was going on and people were protesting and burning stuff down, civilians and policemen were doing the Cupid Shuffle together to establish peace. I feel like having a message of peace is powerful. That’s just super important to me. The platform is starting to take off in the mainstream world, which is something I’m super proud of.”
At the moment, Cupid is on a National tour, traversing myriad cities: Birmingham, Biloxi, Laurel, Las Vegas, Detroit, Columbia, Fayetteville, Columbus, and more.
When it comes to Line Dancing, Cupid has harbored the contemporary mantle of Black line dancing with poise and grace. However, it hasn’t always been the easiest path.
I fight with my label all the time because they try and say my music is old,” Cupid said to The Knockturnal. “I beg to differ. I feel like my music is timeless. It’s not dated. It’s just good music that stands the test of time. Eventually, I’m gonna be the Frankie Beverly and Maze of line dancing one day. His journey was that he didn’t receive his flowers early on in his career. It wasn’t until the latter part when he really started getting his flowers.”