With songs like "Legbegbe" and "Shepeteri"; as well as Olamide and Davido doing the dance, Shaku-Shaku is already taking over the streets.
Nigerians love to dance. With more than enough music to go round, each year has brought with it a new, strange dance step. This year, thanks to the streets, you can add a new dance style — Shaku Shaku to the list.
The name is somewhat scary, granted but it is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.
If you’ve been at any parties or concerts in the past few months, you’ve seen it done before.
There’s no way to describe it, except that when the music drops, one arm goes over the other and the legs begin to move in a way that makes you want to stand up and throw your home training out the window.
To be honest, we don’t really know what it is about Shaku-Shaku.
The very expressive and interesting dance step is catching a fast buzz across the city of Lagos, as you may have expected.
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To label it a dance of the streets would not be wrong.
Most people first became aware of the term “Shaku Shaku” after Dammy Krane released his song of the same title in December.
However, Shaku Shaku has its origins on the vibrant streets of Agege. Agege is most known for its retail markets and major roads. But along its inner streets, a strong street culture is influencing the music scene.
In the last few months, everyone’s favourite artiste has taken a shot at dancing Shaku Shaku.
Artistes in tune with the streets, like Lil’ Kesh and Mayorkun, regularly show off the dance during their performances.
With Hennessy coursing through his veins and Zlatan Ibile’s song “My Body” featuring Olamide playing in the background, Davido has also been captured on camera doing the Shaku-shaku dance.
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But it’s not really from the streets until the King of the streets endorses it.
The most popular video of anyone doing the dance at the moment features none other than Olamide.
In the video, which is supposed to be one of those amateur precursors to a music video, Olamide is seen doing the dance to his song “Say Say Maley”, off his recently released studio album.
There are many things Badoo isn’t good at, but dancing isn’t one of them.
Add Tiwa Savage, Niniola to that list and you get an idea of how fast this dance style is catching fire.
So why exactly is the dance style so big?
Nobody knows bro, but it’s provocative.
Ok. Scratch that.
Shaku Shaku enjoys the distinction of being one of those truly street trends.
The dance was not popularised by any particular music video or artiste; instead, it grew from small parties and hangouts to where it is now; slowly becoming a major trend.
To be fair, there’s no way to ignore the role that the music of Lagos mainland’s inner streets has played in advancing the dance style.
Within suburbs like Agege and the slums of Mushin, there is a distinct bass-heavy, chaotic sound that is as popular among the people there as it gets.
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When you hear it, it may sound like noise but to fans of the sound, it is something that reflects their identity; a distinct beauty in the middle of raw chaos.
The “Shaku Shaku” dance is tailor-made for that sound, which is why when Lil Kesh tried to dance it to his song “Rora”, it seemed like all was not well with the world.
The dance trend has inspired the creation of an entire sub-genre of songs, made specifically for the dance.
Two of these songs have become massive sleeper hits in their own regard; their success has also elevated the careers of two underground acts that you would do well to pay attention to.
A dance style is producing new underground stars
Their names? Idowest and Slimcase.
The songs? “Legbelegbe” by DJ Real featuring Obadice and Idowest.
The other song, “Shepeteri” features Idowest and Slimcase alongside none other than Dammy Krane.
The fourth edition of Olamide’s OLIC provided a clear indication of how big shaku-shaku and the songs made for it have become.
Before Olamide graced the stage, at least five different artistes whipped out their own shaku-shaku to varying level of success.
But nothing could have prepared anyone for the commotion and raw passion that grabbed the audience when Slimcase graced the stage to perform Shepeteri among other songs.
Why should you learn Shaku-Shaku in 2018? Because with the streets behind it and everyone jumping on the wave, the dance is already set to become Nigeria’s biggest dance trend of 2018.