2020 was quite the year and none of us will be forgetting it in a hurry. COVID-19 restrictions had us far apart from our loved ones and even farther from our beloved celebrities. Thankfully, where mankind exists, so does innovation and via the internet, we were able to stay connected to our favourite artistes via their music, social media, online performances and even take front stage with social media challenges they put up.
1. ‘Don’t Rush’
This viral challenge was one of the earliest and most interesting aspects of the worldwide lockdown. It started when in March, Toluwalase Asolo of the University of Hull posted a video of herself and her 7 friends passing make-up brushes and seamlessly changing from bland to glam looks. The song “Don’t Rush” by Young T & Bugsey provided the backdrop for their 1:26minutes video and all other videos in the challenge that later grew like wildfire after theirs.
2. Flip The Switch
Dke’s ‘Nonstop,’ was the choice song for this challenge which involved a lot of interesting outfit and character switches. As soon as Drake sings “look, I just flipped a switch (Flipped, flipped),” the light goes off and comes back on in an instant to show that a swap has occurred during the transition.
3. ‘Wipe it down’
Another outfit-based challenge, propelled by its own song. This time, BMW Kenny’s ‘Wipe It Down’. Basically the video starts with someone wearing one outfit and as soon as they wipe down the mirror, their attire is completely transformed.
4. The ‘Bop Daddy’ challenge
Think of this challenge as a Nigerianized version of the ‘Don’t Rush’ challenge. Although it began as Falz' male response to the 'Don't Rush' challenge, it was later jumped on by men and women alike.
As a result Falz’ single, ‘Bop Daddy’ enjoyed a very good run with this social media moment.
5. The Vogue challenge
This was a global rave sometime in June and the idea was simple: simply create your own magazine front cover. Nigerians caught wind of this and went in hard.
6. Duduke challenge
The Duduke challenge was a Nigerian challenge through and through. It began after singer Simi released the video of her baby song. The challenge saw people doing covers and making dance videos while cradling both real and unreal baby bumps. It is important to mention here that long after the initial challenge ended, Simi’s Duduke remains the go-to song for pregnancy shoots, baby deliveries and other baby-related themes.
7. ‘Don’t leave me’
Naija imported challenges but thanks to comedian Josh2Funny, we got to export one as well. This challenge is simple: make lame jokes with lousy word play, and then run or walk away from the camera while someone [typically the one recording the madness] runs after you with the chant of ‘Don’t Leave Me.’
8. Jerusalema- Master KG & Nomcebo:
It came from South Africa and touched down in Nigeria as well as other parts of the world and made another trip round the globe with the Burna-Boy assisted remix and the easy-to-imitate dance steps that were inspired by a group of Angolan dancers.
Did you participate in any music challenges this year? Did they make our list and which of the ones on our list are your favourites?