Nigeria is a place of beautiful culture, worth celebrating. This culture has been engulfed into their music, with her as a nation producing dances that is irresistible and very easy to practice and perfect within short notice. These dances are unique arming themselves with various danceable beats and sounds.
Over the years, different dance has found its way into music, indigenous and abroad. Dance steps such as the Yahoozee, kukere, shoki, Etige, Alingo, Skelewu, Shakiti bobo, Alanta, Dab , Pepper Dem Gang, Sekem, One corner and others.
Around the year 2017, a new dance emerged and overtook the Nigerian music Industry. This dance gained many heights within and outside its originated borders. The dance was created by Nigerian Popular rap star Olamide. The dance was first featured in the ‘Wo’ song, and then followed by the popular ‘science student’ which has 2 videos to its name, all created by this same artist. Although the second video was likened to be more of a dance video that featured dancers who were high profusely on some amount of weed, coupled to this, the dance video was choreographed by our own dance queen in the person of Kaffy.
The new dance style that continues to wow the music market is the skaku shaku dance This dane step was formulated from an hybrid sound which strongly focuses on the drums – the Qgom emphatic big bang that always incite the listeners to dance.
With this dance making its mark into almost all music that uses the big bang, every music producer wants to deliver music that goes well with the dance. Also all artist or singers are in high demand for the shaku shaku beat which has been dominating the street.
Although the existence of this beats has been linked with the South African House, It is strongly believed to be indegenious to the mainland part of Lagos in Nigeria.
According to Oderinde Abisola, by and large known as HON Beecy, the evergrowing shaku shaku beat that lacks melody aside that created from the rapper or singers voice, has existed a long time. According to him, this rocking beat has for long been a trademark beat in the mainlands of Lagos being that it also originated in this same area.
However to some of us, this raving beat went viral with emergence of music such as the ‘wobe song that was sung by street favourites -Small Doctor’. But with most, this great beat began viral with the emergence of songs such as Legbegbe, Oshozondi, Shepeteri, Science student, Codine diet, Shaprapra, Overload and many more.
During the close of the year 2017, the internet was discovered to be filled with diverse of videos displaying shaku shaku dance steps.
Some of the artist that lead these songs happened to be artists who were trying to get recognition, they were kind of newcomers, but with the help of the shaku shaku beat, their prayers were answered and without time they came to lime light. For example Slimcase and DJ Sidez.
How is the shaku shaku dance performed?
The dance is performed crossing your arms at the wrist along with your legs stretched slightly apart from each other first which is then followed by launching yourself in a half-gallop position, At this position, you are required to freestyle your legs in a movement you so desire. At this state, all required of you is to make an unfinished move towards your right hand side and then to your left hand side. Doing this movement, your upper body is expected to move slightly and try to sinc well in the same directions your leg is. With little fraction of time, you are required to make a hand movement that is likened to be in the position of a person trying to pull a generator. This is more of the basic step to dancing the shaku shaku dance.
In the course of dancing the shaku shaku dance, you find some people trying various head movements that sync alongside their leg movement. Sometimes you can even add the extraordinary sometimes, such as performing a squat position once and twice which is followed by a landing position with legs pulled apart.
The shaku shaku dance has been tagged the Nigerian kind of ‘Gagnam style’ which was introduced in 2012 by Psy.
The emergence of the shaku shaku dance has seen a lot of individuals generate self created videos with an attempt to show to the world their own way of dancing the shaku shaku dance. Even celebrities in the likes of Tiwa savage, Davido,Wizkid involved.
Without mixing words, it is very clear that artist such as Olamide has also imbibed an extra effect into the shaku shaku world by creating ‘Science student’ which was remodeled from ‘Awom omo wobe’ which dispositioned Small Doctor his street competitor.
At the release of the science student video, Olamide just wasn’t satisfied with his performance, he had to release a personal video which saw him showing incredible skills one never thought of in dancing this dance. Without doubt Olamide, one of the leading musicians in the Nigerian Music has been the one behind the shaku shaku dance going viral and reaching several heights in the market.
Although there is argument regarding the invention of the shaku shaaku dance, it has been concluded to be a dance gotten from the street. Being as it is, this does not stop other notable artists from joining the shaku shaku gang as they have well embraced the dance and beat by scooring songs and realing records which pave way for the showcasing of this popular dance.
With shaku shaku dance being the hottest style imbibed into the Nigerian music industry, It seems it is not ready to shot down very soon as it continues to be welcomed by more and more people. It gets you wondering when it would end.
But as we can see, we have noticed some hot dance steps fade away, and as expected the shaku shaku dance would end and pathway for new dances such as those dances that existed before shaku shaku dance did. But before the shaku shaku dance rides away with time, it would be much nicer if you can participate in the dance. Remember there is no great feeling like knowing how to do something so well that you have the ability to even chip your own style.
Where did shaku shaku dance emerge from?
There have been a lot of controversies as regards where shaku shaku dance came from. Amidst these controversies, it is much believed to come from the ever bubbling town of lagos, Agege to be specific. This place has played a major rule in influencing the Nigerian Music industries by creating a cliché to itself in the likes of creating a new genre of music in Nigeria, called ‘Street Music’.
Agege is a suburb part in Lagos known for her busy self with a lot of markets and roads. These roads and markets are filled with joints and ‘koro’s in the Yoruba language’. These joints are famous for selling ‘Paraga’ popularly called Hots, products such as bitters, cigarettes and ‘Kaikai’ a.k.a malaria medicines.
The shaku shaku dance was believed to feature in the year 2017. There is even account of the shaku shaku dance going viral due to activities of the infamous street urchins in the name of the awawa boys. There are even claims that the name was originated from the way the way these street urchins consumed weed.
But in the streets of Nigeria now, the one proper and most accepted dance that every dares and expects you to dance is the shaku shaku dance, with every jockey stands and DJ providing the ever tempting shaku shaku beats that makes your legs and body linger for a dance.
Even though this dance has been concepted to pick its spot at the Agege town, it remains a major pick that offers broader platform for your freestyle.
But all this would not have been possible if there was no technology to mix and create beats that one can’t just listen and work away from being that it has these tempting feel that even the soul recognizes and appreciates. Without technology such as the beat box and its likes, shaku shaku would not have made its ground into the Nigerian music world, not alone become viral.
With the help of this technology, music producers were able to infuse beats consisting of analog or natural sound which was well blended to make the shaky shaky sounds and become a hit.
