Black TikTok creators are "striking" in an effort to gain recognition for choreographing dance trends that have been co-opted by white creators, furthering the debate over cultural appropriation online.
Megan Thee Stallion released her new song "Thot Shit" last week, a raunchy, abrasive response to the conservative moral panic invoked by last summer's banger "W.A.P." The song has all the trappings of a viral dance soundtrack, from the intoxicating beat to Megan's brazen celebration of her own sexuality.
One clip of the song on TikTok has been used in 137,600 videos as of Wednesday. Another version has been used 30,500 times. Despite the song's arguable success — it has nearly 13 million streams on Spotify — no specific dance trend for the song has taken off on TikTok because most Black dancers are refraining from posting their choreography.
TikTok's dance trends largely rely on Black creators. Most viral dances are set to songs by Black artists, choreographed by Black creators, with moves pulled from dance styles that started in Black communities. Despite choreographing elaborate — but easily replicated — dances, few Black creators receive the same recognition and monetization that the white creators who imitate them do.
Jazmine Moore, a 20-year-old TikTokker, told Mashable that the reluctance to provide free choreography is nothing new, but that the release of "Thot Shit" was a chance to take a united stand against uncredited dances.
"Creators who aren't Black will water it down to do the bare minimum of the dance and claim it as their own."
"We observed over the years on TikTok that most dances on the app are originated by Black creators. And creators who aren't Black will water it down to do the bare minimum of the dance and claim it as their own," Moore said via Instagram DM. "So when this song popped up everyone knew that someone was going to make a dance to it. But Black creators collectively agreed not to make one."
And it has worked. Without unified choreography driving the trend, the videos that appear under the "Thot Shit" sound are bleak. TikTok and Twitter users noted that, in the absence of set choreography, the dance videos that non-Black creators are posting are uninspired at best. Moore said the lack of trending dances to "Thot Shit" showed that Black creators "are the backbone of this app."
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"For all my melanated brothers and sisters of the African diaspora, we are on strike," TikTok creator Capkenknuckles said in a video about the lack of dances(opens in a new tab) under the sound. "We're not making a dance for 'Thot Shit.' Sorry. We're just gonna let them keep flailing."
The "strike" against free choreography stems from years of predominantly white creators profiting off Black creators' skills and labor.
Jalaiah Harmon, a then-14-year-old student, inadvertently created one of 2020's most lasting dances when she posted a video of herself dancing to K Camp's "Lottery." Her dance, known as "Renegade" because of the song's hook, went uncredited until a (opens in a new tab)New York Times(opens in a new tab) profile revealed that she was the dance's original creator(opens in a new tab). When the dance gained popularity, other non-Black creators gained views, followers, and brand sponsorships by performing Harmon's choreography. The lack of recognition for Harmon's skill and free labor inspired a platform-wide push on TikTok to credit the original choreographer when posting dance videos.
While the practice of including dance credit in captions is on the rise, white creators continue to benefit from dances by Black choreographers. An episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which featured TikTok star Addison Rae Easterling doing eight viral dances, was widely criticized for not crediting Black creators(opens in a new tab) who choreographed nearly every dance in the segment.
TikTok and Twitter users also pointed out that Easterling was given an opportunity that few Black creators were afforded. Easterling didn't dance with the same precision and passion that the original choreographers did, and the attention she received for doing less was salt in the wound.
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An edit of Easterling dancing to Cardi B's "Up," juxtaposed with the original video by creator Mya Johnson, circulated on TikTok and Twitter, furthering the dialogue over who "owns" an internet trend(opens in a new tab).
Johnson, who said she didn't blame Easterling, told PopSugar(opens in a new tab) that she was excited her dance made it on national TV, but that she wished she was the one to perform it.
"My mom always tells me: 'When it's my time, it's my time,'" Johnson said. "I felt like that should've been my time and Chris's time, because we created the dance."
Many of the dance videos using "Thot Shit" that were choreographed by white creators have been criticized by other TikTok users as having low energy and requiring minimal effort. One video by a white creator lip syncing to the song(opens in a new tab) received over 640,000 likes, but she turned off comments when people began pointing out that her dancing was lacking.
In another variation trending among predominantly white creators, TikTok users will lip sync the first few lines of the song, and then turn around and wave their arms(opens in a new tab) when Megan raps about twerking. Black creators parodied those videos by poorly imitating the moves(opens in a new tab) or posting their own "choreography"(opens in a new tab) of them halfheartedly swaying to the song.
A few creators complained that the most widely used dance to "Thot Shit," in which TikTok users walk away from the camera waving their arms when Megan raps, "Hands on my knees, shaking ass on my thot shit," blatantly disregards the song's lyrics.
"I don't want to hear another fucking white woman ever say that TikTok dances and TikTok trends aren't entirely stolen from Black women," creator xosugarbunny, who is white, said in an exasperated video(opens in a new tab). "Because a Black woman has yet to give a dance to this song...Megan says 'Hands on my knees. Shaking my ass. On my thot shit.' And the white women..."
"The instructions are right there."
She then turned around and imitated other white creators waving their arms to the song, captioning the video: "You could not have possibly gone so far in the opposite direction."
"The instructions are right there," xosugarbunny said.
Moore shares that sentiment.
"The fact she's giving y'all instructions in the songs makes no sense," Moore captioned a video posted this week(opens in a new tab).
In the TikTok, she demonstrates putting her hands on her knees and twerking rather than waving her arms. Her comments from other Black TikTok users joked that she was giving away their secrets, or that even this was too complicated for non-Black creators to think of doing themselves.
"We contribute to the app so much that now people are slowly realizing that not every popular creator is creating these things," Moore continued in a DM. "It really does show that even when Meghan was giving instructions, they really didn't know what to do without our help."
When white creators do try to follow Megan's lyrics, the results are absurd. Marcus Greggory, a 21-year-old creator, joked that hip-hop isn't for everyone in response to a video of a confused white teenager(opens in a new tab) trying to figure out what Megan meant by the lyrics "hands on my knees." The oblivious TikTokker thought Megan was referring to the move known as "Bee's Knees" or "Knocky Knees,"(opens in a new tab) popular in Charleston routines.
"I think we all kind of knew that Black creators were behind everything, but now it’s just so blatantly obvious that the alternatives are pretty freakin funny," Greggory said in an Instagram DM. "It really just shows what we been knew, man[.] We are the thing holding this app up."
A few Black creators are still dancing to the song, despite criticism from their fellow dancers. Lifestyle YouTuber and TikTok creator Skai Beauty posted her dance routine to "Thot Shit,"(opens in a new tab) choreographed by herself and fellow TikTok creator sir.rez.
One comment, directed at Charli D'Amelio, told the TikTok star to "keep swiping." Another commented, "Y'all better get the credit for this dance cause the YTs [an acronym for white] on this app will take it and rinse the seasoning off and act like it's giving." One TikTok user praised them for an excellent performance, but reasserted, "WE WERE NOT SUPPOSE TO MAKE DANCES TO THIS SOUND."
Though the reception to the 22-year-old creator's dance was overwhelmingly positive, many commenters fretted that the choreography would go uncredited. Within a day of posting, Twitter users found videos from white creators using her routine without adding a dance credit.
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Skai Beauty told Mashable that she didn't know about the strike until she posted the video, and had started choreographing the dance just two hours after the song was released. She added that Black creators "shouldn't have to be silenced" to get their point across, and was disappointed that white TikTokkers performed her routine without tagging her for credit. After seeing predominantly white dancers recreating her work without crediting her, Skai Beauty said she understands why other Black creators called for the strike in the first place.
"People who have talent or who [are] creators live to create. We shouldn't have to suppress our talents because our oppressors are obsessed with theft."
"It shows their blatant disrespect and disregard for Black creators," Skai Beauty, who asked to be referred to by her username only, said in an Instagram DM. "However it's [the strike] still a loss for us in the situation because people who have talent or who [are] creators live to create. We shouldn't have to suppress our talents because our oppressors are obsessed with theft."
The noticeable lack of dynamic choreography to "Thot Shit," a song made to go viral on TikTok, shines a light on the impact Black creators have on the platform's culture. This strike against creating a trendy dance to the song is not in protest of white creators dancing at all, but of white people continuing to profit off of Black labor.
TikTok has a history of discriminating against people of color on the platform, particularly Black creators. In 2019, Black creators alleged that TikTok was actively suppressing their content by designing an algorithm that worked against them. Two months after Mashable reported on the creator-led campaign calling for better visibility on the For You Page, TikTok admitted that its moderators were trained to suppress content(opens in a new tab) by users marked "vulnerable to cyberbullying," including disabled, fat, and queer creators.
During the height of Black Lives Matter protests last year, it appeared TikTok was blocking hashtags related to George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement(opens in a new tab). The company apologized for the "technical glitch," and promised to better support the Black community on the app. Nearly a year later, NBC reported that little had changed(opens in a new tab). Black creators' content was still appearing below that of white creators, and some alleged that their videos were inexplicably removed. Black creators also complain that videos they've made addressing racism have been flagged as hate speech.
Whether the strike is working is still up for debate. Greggory is doubtful that meaningful change will happen after the strike because "TikTok is famous for suppressing Black voices."
"When we're trying to do something meaningful, they only want our trauma. I doubt the majority of white people have any idea what's going on."
"Especially when we're trying to do something meaningful, they only want our trauma," Greggory added. "I doubt the majority of white people have any idea what's going on."
Moore made it clear that most Black creators participating in the dance strike aren't opposed to white creators dancing entirely, but that the community wants to be recognized and appreciated for carrying TikTok's culture. Blatant racism is still rampant online, especially on TikTok, and the same content that's ridiculed by non-Black users often grow into massive trends when white creators imitate it. The app should be fun, Moore said, as long as creators are "giving credit when it's due."
"People still need to acknowledge Black creators and not ignore us in any community that we partake in," Moore said. "To not belittle us or demonize our content for their amusement. We have each other in the long run and will succeed collectively as a family."
Skai Beauty, in the meantime, plans to keep posting her dances even if it means giving white TikTokkers the opportunity to benefit from her creativity. For Skai, not dancing is worse than not receiving credit.
"I'm not doing it for them," Skai Beauty said. "But they will be held accountable for their actions sooner or later."
UPDATE: June 24, 2021, 3:27 p.m. PDT Updated with comments from Skai Beauty and Marcus Greggory.
