Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on the #Don't rush challenge.
Part I provides information about the #Don't rush challenge.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/04/seven-youtube-examples-of-dont-rush.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part I showcases seven videos of the #Don't rush challenge.
The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE DON'T RUSH CHALLENGE
Excerpt #1
From https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/04/9679534/dont-rush-challenge-creators
"Like a lot of us, 20-year-old business student Toluwalase Asolo has been stuck at home since March. Naturally, she took to creating a video with her friends, and then tweeted a clip captioned, “The boredom jumped out.” That was the beginning of the #DontRushChallenge, which showed seven friends changing looks while passing around a makeup brush to the song “Don’t Rush” by Young T and Bugsey. The video blew up, and has gone on to amass more than 2 million views. In it, the women show their natural look, and then use the brush to “transform” into gassed-up going-out looks.
The women in the well-edited video planned the sequence of handing off the brush and collected the footage for the challenge via WhatsApp. The now famous seven have Congolese, Nigerian, Sierra Leonean, and Turks and Caicos Islander origins, and shot their sections of the video in their own dorm rooms while self-quarantining during the coronavirus pandemic.
[...]
“We understand that in a period like this with nothing to do, a lot of people may slip into depression due to high levels of inactivity and idleness,” Asolo told Teen Vogue. “So we decided to highlight the togetherness in isolation.” "
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Excerpt #2
From https://www.teenvogue.com/story/dont-rush-challenge-creator The Real Reason the #DontRushChallenge Was Created
A 20-year-old college student was just trying to kill time and have fun with her seven friends.
BY ANTOINETTE ISAMA, APRIL 7, 2020
In this op-ed, writer Antoinette Isama touches base with the co-creator of the viral #DontRushChallenge to learn the origin story and unpacks the importance of giving credit to internet phenomenons.
On March 22, Toluwalase Asolo, a 20-year-old business management student at the University of Hull, tweeted a clip with the caption, “The boredom jumped out.” To the song of “Don’t Rush” by U.K. rap duo Young T and Bugsey, she and her seven girlfriends changed looks seamlessly while passing around a makeup brush used as a metaphorical baton. This one minute and 26-second video would go on to amass 2 million views and become the popular #DontRushChallenge.
“We understand that in a period like this with nothing to do, a lot of people may slip into depression due to high levels of inactivity and idleness,” Toluwalase tells Teen Vogue. “So we decided to highlight the togetherness in isolation.” The ladies, who have Congolese, Nigerian, Sierra Leonean and Turks and Caicos Islander origins, planned the video sequence of handing off the makeup brush and collected their respective footage for the challenge via WhatsApp. They are in their respective dorm rooms while self-distancing during the global coronavirus pandemic.
In its third week, we’ve especially seen Black women effortlessly celebrate their diverse cultures, professions, and interests all in short clips. This video challenge has shown us yet again that Black women creators have the ability to shift and maintain virality in a digital space that’s quick to erase them. Their intention with the #DontRushChallenge, according to Asolo, was to empower and encourage women to embrace their beauty with and without makeup. They wanted to incorporate what they love — fashion and beauty — with what women around the world can easily relate to.
“In all honesty, we did not anticipate this blowing up on the internet,” Toluwalase says. “We were taken by surprise, but [we were] also overwhelmed with gratitude at how well it has been embraced by people worldwide. We started a movement and we’re extremely proud of ourselves and honored that our idea has been recognized on a global scale.”
It’s important to note this recognition, as we’ve seen how Black women creators on platforms like TikTok don’t get such nods and opportunities (e.g. the “Renegade” challenge). This erasure also stems from what some have pointed out as tech bias from the developers of these platforms. However, with the #DontRushChallenge, those who participated made it a point to thread the original clip or tag the creators of the challenge to give proper credit, so it was hard to forget the faces behind this moment.
Furthermore, in some iterations of the challenge, participants switched from sweats to traditional outfits. This signifies the duality first- and second-generation Black women experience daily. Through this challenge, it’s reassuring to celebrate the diversity and pride of the African diaspora.
“I think it just goes to show that we never really are given our respective dues because we’re so creative and are a big part of online culture. To get this recognition means that slowly but surely Black women are getting the respect they deserve online,” Toluwalase adds. “Additionally, it just emphasizes how much variety comes from Black women and the immense amount of beauty that is all around the world, and so when given the right platform, we are always ready to show all the way out.”
The girls selected the song “Don’t Rush” as the soundtrack for their concept and it remains the mainstay for many iterations of the challenge — yielding a point of discovery for the artists despite the single being originally released around this time last year. Thanks to the challenge, the song has now charted in over nine different countries on major streaming platforms. Young T and Bugsey have made sure to give the girls their due credit for this milestone. “The artists have reached out to show appreciation for the effect the challenge has had on their song," Toluwalase says. “It’s a pleasure to play a part in the well-deserved recognition the song has received.”
In turn, Toluwalase points out that the countless iterations of the #DontRushChallenge showcase the versatility and individuality of women. “With its tremendous universal response, we can feel the empowerment of these beautiful women as they embrace what would otherwise be considered ‘flaws,’ as beauty,” she says.”
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES
The "Don't Rush challenge" originated in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2020 and has since spread over the world. According to the article excerpts given above, the challenge started when Toluwalase Asolo, a 20-year-old business management student at the University of Hull (England) and her friends were bored during their coronavirus quarantines.
A summary for the April 8, 2020 #Don't Rush Challenge video entitled "Don't Rush Challenge Mash Up | Top Videos | Moms, Doctors, Military Women, Basketball Players, Kids" (and given as Video #5 in Part II of this pancocojams series) serves as an example of the underlying theme of the challenge. That summary invites people watching that video to "Join in on the fun and share your videos on Instagram, Facebook, etc. This popular TikTok challenge features participants starting off dressed down then glowing up after “tossing” objects, such as a make up brush, from one to another to the sounds of Young T & Bugsey hit “Don’t Rush.”.
-end of quote-
"Glow up" (also given as "glo-up") - refers to a positive transformation in one's appearance. Click https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/glo-up-meaning-best-examples-2/ for information about the 2018 Twitter "glow-up" hashtag “#2012vs2018.”, including this quote "The viral meme saw users post two images of themselves with a six-year time difference in order to illustrate changes in their physical appearance. But there’s more to it than that."
-end of quote-
Initially, all of the #Don't Rush Challenge videos were of Black people. However, by at least the beginning of April 2020, White people and other non-Black people throughout the world began to join in the trend of posting #Don't Rush Challenge videos.
This viral internet social media challenge now includes videos of people representing almost any conceivable category including moms with children, individual videos from historically Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities, individual videos from people in specific careers or in the armed services, Grey hair edition, natural hair editions, interracial couples, Gay father's edition, celebrities editions, celebrities impersonators, videos that showcase children, Black males, Black families, people over 40, Drag Queens, Muslims, and people representing specific nations and regions throughout the world.
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Initially, some of these videos may have credited the "Don't Rush Challenge" originators. However, most of the YouTube videos I watched don't credit those originators.
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This challenge is sometimes referred to as the "pass the brush" or the "make-up brush" challenge, in reference to the make-up brush that sometimes passed or thrown to the next featured person. That person is first shown in informal attire without make-up, and then (usually) fully groomed and dressed up as if they are going on a date or to somewhere special. Particularly in the mom with children editions, the mothers appear very harried before they are shown with the make-over that they presumably gave themselves, since they are in quarantine due to the coronavirus.
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A few summaries to #Don't Rush Challenge" on YouTube provide a link to information about Covid 19, or otherwise mention the coronavirus quarantine. However, most summaries don't mention the coronavirus or provide that informational link.
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WARNING: The lyrics to the British rap song "Don't Rush" by U.K. rap duo Young T and Bugsey have nothing to do with the overarching theme of the #Don't Rush Challenge. That rap track is all about how the rappers are irresistible to women. In the #Don't Rush Challenge, the specific words "don't rush" exhort people who are experiencing the stress, anxiety, depression, and extra work at home during the self-isolating coronavirus quarantine to take time to beautify themselves like the would have done if they were going somewhere special.
"Don't Rush" by Young T and Bugsey contains a lot of profanity and sexually explicit references, but perhaps because of their accents, most of the lyrics of this song are indecipherable. The words to that rap that are clearly heard are "don't rush".
WARNING: A number of #Don't Rush Challenge videos show a lot of cleavage, which probably reflects styles in women's fashion in the United States and in other nations where these videos were made.
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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.
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