If you are on Tik Tok – and even if you aren’t you’ve almost certainly heard of it and have inadvertently watched a few clips – you’ve likely come across something called the Spaz Challenge. It went viral during the COVID-19 lockdown, with celebrities and over 2.7 million others making videos in response to the challenge. The creator behind it? Where to start when talking about Jacob? It’s hard to decide. He was first introduced to Black culture and R&B artists like Michael Jackson and Usher, from his father. Since he was 12 years old, Jacob started sharing videos on YouTube. By 15, he started to see his content go viral and began monetizing it. Jacob has focused on developing a strong social media presence, by uploading content and videos with high frequency.
This social media consistency has led to dance promotions and collaborations with the artists Swae Lee, B.O.B., and Aitch. Jacob has helped further intertwine the dance communities of Britain and the US by meeting and collaborating with Ayo & Teo – whom he calls his “social media inspirations.” He says that meeting them was “an iconic moment” within his career, as he has been known for his similarity to Teo, with similar afros and masks. 7.7 million viewers watched their collaborative project, and it led to them collaborating some more, including in gaming videos playing Fortnite. Jacob also knows about editing, too. He has just wrapped up his final year at Stafford College, where he studied BTEC Level 3 Creative Digital Media Production. Recently, he began freelance editing and videography, recording and editing birthdays and weddings. Oh, and Jacob has done all of this and he’s just barely done celebrating his eighteenth birthday.
Even though he is very young, Jacob has already developed a unique dance persona. He finds inspiration within western dance and pop culture, and modern African dances. He mixes the moves and styles of Teo, Les Twins and Michael Jackson with some modern African moves such as the poco and the Shaku, Shaku dance. Jacob also draws inspiration from American dance styles like Chicago Footwork, Jersey Club & Memphis Jookin. His style and artistry can be seen on both his personal Tik-Tok page or on his Instagram. His Instagram is unique, as he is widely recognized within the dance community as one of the most consistent content creators within Instagram. In June of 2019, he began posting twice a day on the social media platform. This devotion to consistently uploading content, which oftentimes showcases his unique choreography, is really a devotion to his followers and audience.
Jacob wants to “prioritise audience interaction more than other influencers by getting them involved with decisions in production and giving them behind the scenes of content creation.” He also looks to his audience as a way to share his artistic vision, exposing them to moves that haven’t been seen before. Jacob even vlogged to his audience when, earlier this year, he met and collaborated with the French duo, Les Twins. Jacob defines this as another momentous occasion within his career, as he has watched the duo since he was 9 years old, and his dance style has consistently been compared to theirs.
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