How 2018 Became the Year of the Dance Challenge

By Rania Aniftos

2018 is unofficially the year of viral choreography, as Famous Dex had the Internet buzzing with his “Japan” dance challenge back in March and recently, BTS launched their own dance for their latest single, “Idol.” Most famously, Drake’s “In My Feelings” challenge gave the non-single a push to stay on top the Billboard Hot 100 for the seventh week in a row.

As Instagram and Twitter become more and more popular by the day, artists and dance challenge lovers alike can thank social media for the wildfire-like spread of these videos. In an age where teenagers are vying for views and likes on their posts, a fun jig to a popular song is the perfect recipe.

Take “In My Feelings” for example. It all started when Drizzy’s Scorpion dropped on June 29 and social media comedian Shiggy posted an Instagram video dancing to the track, dubbing the dance #DoTheShiggy. Almost instantly, celebrities and Instagrammers flooded social media with videos copying the dance to the point where hearing the lyrics, “Kiki, do you love me?” became inescapable. Drake even attributed the song’s success to the comedian when the two met a few weeks later, and dedicated the end of the tune’s music video to a compilation of his favorite Shiggy reenactments.

Dance challenges then popped up almost weekly. July gave way to Ciara’s “Level Up” and Nicki Minaj’s “Fefe” challenges, while BTS encouraged their own viral moves for “Idol” a month later. There’s still four months left of 2018, which, at this rate, could mean countless more challenges are on the way.

If you haven’t been able to keep up with the viral choreography madness, see below for a quick recap of all the 2018 dance challenges (so far).