Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series about the viral Hip Hop dance "Renegade" as an example of how White people profit off of Black creativity.
Part I of this series presents information about how the experience of Jalaiah Harmon, the African American teenager who created the viral Hip Hop dance "Renegade" finally is getting some credit for her creative work.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/youtube-videos-about-african-american.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases a video of the Hip Hop song "Lottery" which is the record used for the "Renegade dance. Part II also showcases some videos about Jalaiah Harmon's finally receiving credit for creating the Renegade dance after a number of White cultural influencers on TikTok have profited off of that dance.
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Jalaiah Harmon for her creativity. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
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INFORMATION ABOUT JAILAIAH HARMON AND HER VIRAL DANCE "RENEGADE" & HOW WHITE PEOPLE HAVE PROFITED OFF OF THE DANCE SHE CREATED
Article Excerpt #1
From https://blavity.com/14-year-old-is-receiving-her-overdue-props-for-creating-viral-dance-renegade?category1=news "14-Year-Old Is Receiving Her Overdue Props For Creating Viral Dance 'Renegade'"
The 14-year-old dancer created a viral sensation but never received credit for it.
by Jon Greig, February 14 2020,
"The 14-year-old dancer and Atlanta, Georgia, native is the creative genius behind the Renegade, a massively popular dance taking over TikTok and Instagram.
Despite creating the popular dance, Harmon never received credit until there was a groundswell of outrage. Her situation spotlighted how many Black teens, particularly Black girls, are not receiving their props for being the brains behind dozens of viral sensations that are co-opted and profited from by white teens.
It all started on September 25, 2019, according to a recent New York Times profile of Harmon.
Harmon came home from school that night and decided to come up with a dance to K-Camp's hit song "Lottery" with a friend. Once they came up with all the intricate moves and filmed it, they posted the video to Funimate, a social media platform, and then to Instagram.
The video racked up 13,000 views but took off when another user posted a video of it on TikTok. From there, TikTok influencer Charli D’Amelio turned the video into one of the website's most popular dances by posting a video of herself recreating the moves.
Other major TikTok influencers jumped on the trend and started sharing videos of themselves doing it, but not a single one credited Harmon.
Harmon tried to create her own TikTok account and share the video while commenting on other videos asking for credit, but she was largely ridiculed for it.
[...]
The situation highlighted the racial divides between content on sites like Dubsmash, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. For years, Black teens and creators have complained that white TikTok influencers routinely take dances and content from Black creators on Dubsmash and share it with their majority-white audiences on TikTok.
D’Amelio was implicated in another situation where she stole someone else's dance and told the New York Times that she was happy to learn of the person behind the dance.
“I know it’s so associated with me, but I’m so happy to give Jalaiah credit and I’d love to collaborate with her,” D’Amelio said.
[...]
The halfhearted apology did little to change the reality of the situation, and the social media response was harsh, with many criticizing how common it is for Black art to be stolen and sold.
HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty
@itskeyon
· Feb 13, 2020
Replying to @itskeyon
See this is the stuff that I hate..........
HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty
@itskeyon
This is why black creatives can’t get no where cause y’all don’t like taking 2 seconds to credit y’all sources
9,353
6:50 PM - Feb 13, 2020
@bbybluwu
i thought charli made that dance this whole time.. charli got big off of that dance and couldn’t even credit?????
765
6:53 PM - Feb 13, 2020
[....]
baeza
@MlSBEHAVINMARA
plus all the tiktokers that went viral got sooo many real life opportunities, brand deals, etc. because they got famous from this dance
23.4K
6:53 PM - Feb 13, 2020
[...]
anu 🇳🇬🇺🇸
@cinderhellaz
Charlie Damelio did this dance and got over 30 million followers in a month, is now living in a mansion in LA and has millions in brand deals and was even in a super bowl ad. The original creator received nothing.
1,701
12:24 AM - Feb 14, 2020"
[...]
Even famous producer Polow da Don has noticed a discrepancy in how content created by Black teens is repurposed by white children.
“Dubsmash catches things at the roots when they’re culturally relevant. TikTok is the suburban kids that take things on when it’s already the style and bring it to their community,” he told The Times.”..."
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Article Excerpt #2
From https://afrotech.com/social-media-rallies-teen-credit-tiktok-dance Social Media Rallies Behind Black Teen Who Did Not Receive Credit For Viral TikTok Dance
Stephanie Ogbogu, Posted on February 20, 2020
"TikTok is the latest social networking platform allowing users to go viral due to creative videos and dance challenges. However, as we’ve often seen in the past, although songs and dance challenges may go viral, amassing social media influencers a ton of followers, endorsements, and other opportunities, the Black creative who originated the trend tends to get the short end of the stick.
14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon of Fayetteville, GA is the creator and choreographer of the viral “Renegade” dance routine. You may not know the name, but if you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, or have a teenager in your life who enjoys TikTok, you’ve definitely seen the dance.
The dance craze has taken over TikTok. It’s even made its way to Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, with celebrities getting involved in the fun.
[...]
The routine has gotten so big that in anticipation for NBA All Star Weekend, the NBA had TikTok influencer, Addison Rae Easterling, fly down to teach their cheerleaders the dance. To top it off, Addison, along with TikTokers Charli D’Amelio and Dixie D’Amelio, performed the famous “Renegade” dance during the NBA All Star Dunk Contest alongside Aaron Gordon.
[...]
And while everyone is having a blast learning the dance, they know very little about who created it. In fact, despite the routine being choreographed by Jalaiah, credit has actually given to viral TikTok star, Charli D’Amelio, for “popularizing” it.
[...]
Recently, Jalaiah did an interview with the New York Times, discussing her thoughts on coming up with the blazing hot trend.
“I was happy when I saw my dance all over,” she tells the publication. “But I wanted credit for it.”
Jalaiah recalls creating the dance and posting it alongside her 12-year-old Instagram friend back in September 2019.
“I posted on Instagram and it got about 13,000 views, and people started doing it over and over again,” Jalaiah tells the publication.
Weeks later, TikToker @global.jones, a Black creator known for dance challenges, did the dance on TikTok with his little brother. The dance’s popularity began to grow from there.
[...]
Unfortunately, @global.jones hadn’t given Jalaiah credit, either.
Jalaiah has done her due diligence to get the credit she deserves, hopping in the comment section of videos to bring awareness, only to be ridiculed by other users.
Thankfully, New York Times journalist Taylor Lorenz felt it was necessary to shine a spotlight on Jalaiah Harmon, prompting the rest of social media to do the same.
[...]
Black Twitter came to Jalaiah’s defense, demanding that she receive the credit she rightfully deserves, including all of the opportunities that other (white) TikTokers are being given.
With virality comes profitability. In this digital age, we have seen social media make young people very wealthy. YouTuber Evan Fong brought in $11.5 million last year by just playing video games. We’ve even watched viral stars become celebrities and live the life of their dreams (ex: Lil Nas X)."...
[...]
Fortnite is another great example of Black creatives having their art ripped off and not being compensated. In May 2019, Fortnite made $203 million as reported by Forbes. However, the featured dances that make the game so popular, are frame by frame copies from Black creators like rapper 2 Milly, Donald Faizon, Alfonso Ribeiro, Snoop Dogg and more.
K. Camp, the rapper responsible for the song “Lottery” which is used in the Renegade Challenge, took to Twitter to shine a much-needed additional spotlight on Jalaiah over the weekend.
“Lottery” has become a viral smash thanks to social media and it couldn’t have been done without Jalaiah’s efforts.
“Thank you Jalaiah and Skylar for helping make lottery the BIGGEST song in the world,” K. Camp tweeted alongside a video of him in the studio with Jalaiah performing her dance.
[...]
With the entirety of Black Twitter and K Camp on her side, Jalaiah finally received an invite to Chicago to perform her original version of “Renegade” during the final day NBA All Star Weekend. Before the game, Jalaiah met up with Charli D’Amelio and Addison Easterling, the viral TikTok stars who were initially invited to perform in Chicago and were credited for popularizing the “Renegade Challenge.”
[...]
Finally, Jalaiah got an opportunity to finally show the world the dance she created nearly 6 months ago. During the 2020 NBA All Star game on Sunday, February 16, the young Atlanta dancer took to the court and performed, capturing the attention of celebrities and acquiring new fans. She was even briefly joined by the NBA cheerleaders.
Congratulations to social media creator, Jalaiah Harmon. Glad the power of the internet was able to make sure you received your just due!"
-snip-
This article includes content from tiktok, instagram, and other social media forums.
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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams post.
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