The rise of Bobrisky's Dance Challenge

We would not forget 'Oshey baddest',which she popularised without hassle after being initiated by Davido.

Nigerians can make anything trend and Bobrisky's dance is the latest thing to inspire a trend.

In January 2021, a video of Bobrisky dancing to Rexxie and Mohbad’s smash hit, ‘KPK’ surfaced and went viral on the internet.

The dance felt like a blend of miniature palliative dance movement with bursts of heavy side-to-side waist and upper body movements, and ‘confident girl’ dance struts.

The best performers of the routine also incorporate Bobrisky’s famed ‘death stares’ or ‘sinister smile’ for special effect. Some have since dubbed Bobrisky’s dance the ‘Rich aunty dance’ due to the elegance it exudes.

The challenge involves friends or family members trying to dance like Bob and scoring themselves on whose dancing is more like hers. One ordinarily not get too excited about such things because there are always new trends and challenges, but Bob is etching himself once more into Nigerian pop culture.

By March 2021, Bobrisky Dance Challenge became a thing on social media and everybody - mostly women - wanted to participate.

A few days ago, students from the popular organization, Dream Catchers Academy joined the Bobrisky Dance Challenge in a video that has since gone viral.

In a country that sees more trend-worthy dance routines than responsible politicians, Bobrisky’s dance became the perfect dance obsession between the palliative dance and Zlatan’s new Duracell-enabled routine, ‘Cho Cho.’

By April 2021, the dance became all a lot of people could talk about because it’s actually pretty fun and interesting to watch.

The problem is that some men might consider it too ‘girly’ for them to perform, and that might just limit the virality of the routine. The most viral dance routines over the past 10 years have been unisex.

Mastering the Bobrisky dance is an art form. You need to get hand body coordination; your facial appreciation has to be popping and just overall have a good vibe.

Why is Bobrisky such a sensation?

We can assume her pronouns are ‘Her/She’ because of a viral video in response to being called 'Bro' she said, "Tani bro e?" meaning 'Who is your brother?'

Her rise to fame started in 2011 when she was just a teenager. A bar owner allegedly caught her stealing and when they were parading her, sachets of water that were meant to serve as breasts fell out of her clothes.

She confessed that she dresses like a woman so she could get men to give her money. Afterwards, she became a ‘bleaching expert.’

Bob’s fame then continued on Snapchat. She started recording himself whilst engaging in different activities and talking about a supposed ‘bae’.

She even made her Snapchat premium and people had to pay to watch her videos - and they did.

Over the past few years, the big question has been ‘How has Bobrisky become such a sensation in such a homophobic and conservative society?’

Could it be the awe in seeing a crossdresser, her impeccable makeup or the bad English which comes off as hilarious or Is bad English the prerequisite to blowing up in Nigeria?

One could argue that Bobrisky’s charisma and confidence are key to her personality. But the overarching truth remains that Nigerians love outliers/enigmatic characters with strong personalities.

The appeal of Bobrisky is the caricature image of transgender and cross-dressing. That is why a homophobic country like Nigeria can tolerate her excesses.

Bobrisky’s Snapchat is still a hub for cruising. A lot of the videos on her Snapchat is of her dancing or just ranting in terrible English.

The internet as a hub of sensationalism caught on her dancing bug.

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