It's the contagious dance craze that your favorite celebrities can't get enough of.
In just more than a month, Zay Hilfigerrr and Zayion McCall's Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem) has two-stepped from the streets of Detroit to the Instagram pages of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson , Gwen Stefani , Shaquille O'Neal and Ciara. And with a boost from performances on Live With Kelly and The Ellen Show, the viral hit is now making its way up the charts, climbing to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, tallying 37 million streams on Spotify and selling 196,000 downloads to date, according to Nielsen Music.
But where Juju has really exploded is on YouTube. Popular homemade videos by a Detroit-based dance troupe (17 million views) and high-school volleyball player (6 million views) kicked the trend into overdrive late this summer, spawning thousands of other users to post their own videos of the multi-step routine, which entails running in place, punching the air and swinging one's hips low to the ground.
"People want to do the dance, they want to see the dance and they want to post themselves doing the dance," says David Bakula, Nielsen Entertainment's senior vice president of analytics, comparing the phenomenon to that of viral dance smashes such as Baauer's Harlem Shake and Silento's Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae). "But it isn't just about the visual: People are actually into the beat. It shows that the audio is an important aspect of the song as well."
Juju's hook and dance were created by Detroit native Hilfigerrr (real name: Tyjuan Peoples), who has cultivated a small social-media following with his freestyles and dance videos. In early June, he invited his friend McCall (real name: James McCall) — an aspiring rapper with a slew of independent mixtapes — to lay down a verse.
"It didn't take long at all," says Hilfigerrr, 15. After putting the song online, they started to see it gain traction on social media in early August, eventually catching the attention of LeBron James , Waka Flocka Flame and the Portland Trail Blazers , who shared their own videos. "Then we started to be like, 'OK, this is crazy.' "
The friends signed to Atlantic Records this fall and are now working on new music, which they say incorporates elements of dubstep and techno. "We try and stay as hip hop as possible, but at the same time, hit on different genres,"says McCall, 17.
In the meantime, expect Juju to continue its upward trajectory. Like Watch Me's crossover success last year, Billboard senior editor Jem Aswad predicts the song will hit the top five of the Hot 100 — possibly unseating The Chainsmokers' Closer at No. 1 in weeks to come.
"It's rising so fast, they've managed to catch momentum in a way that a (record) label often can't with a viral song," Aswad says. "They're still working it hard and it seems like it's got a lot of potential."
Some famous faces who have posted their own Juju on That Beat videos:
»
0 Response to "Celebs YouTubers jump on viral dance hit 'Juju on That Beat'"
Posting Komentar