Victoria Monet has been at the forefront of pop culture with her latest single “On My Mama” off of her newest album, “Jaguar II.” The song just entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 98 and looks to only continue to grow. One of the driving factors of its popularity is its music video which holds some challenging choreography that many fans learned on their own. It has even become a new social media craze called the “On My Mama Challenge.” While Monet is the face of the moves, the credit has to go to the mastermind behind the choreography, Sean Bankhead.
Sean Bankhead’s Genius
The Atlanta bred choreographer has been the face behind many of today’s hottest dance moves. The dance genius has actually been on the scene for several years before he blew up to what he is today. He has always mentioned that his inspiration for dance came from watching music videos from artists like Missy Elliot and Aaliyah.
At the age of 16 he started taking dance classes at Atlanta dance studio, Dance 411 where he fine tuned his work and began choreographing his own numbers to the hottest songs out. The power of YouTube went to work in his favor. His videos garnered hundreds of thousands of views. He was able to grow into creating his own showcases and mock music videos until he was able to get his shot with big names as not just a background dancer, but a choreographer.
Bankhead began working with artists like Ciara, Will.I.Am, and Janelle Monae on their projects. He was even able to choreograph some award show performances for the likes of Pharrell, Miguel and 2 Chainz. In 2020, he then got the opportunity to choreograph Missy Elliot’s “Cool Off” video which became a global phenomenon. This was one of his first steps in creating viral dance moves for the world to try to learn on their own.
Going Viral
The “Cool Off” video came at the perfect time for Bankhead. It dropped right at the start of the pandemic lockdown, which was also when TikTok started to see a boom in usage. According to Wallaharoo, TikTok was downloaded 315 million times in the first quarter of 2020. This is a 58% increase from the previous quarter and made it the highest amount of downloads an application has ever received in a quarter. Everyone on TikTok was looking for something to pass the time and Bankhead’s choreography was the perfect way to escape and let loose. The hashtag, #CoolOffChallenge has a total of 20 million views to this day.
Bankhead’s next viral moment was his choreography for the “Up” music video by Cardi B. The video came about a year later in February of 2021 and had an insane impact. This time, when he went on Intagram live to show what rehearsals looked like for the song, a clip of his adlibs while rehearsing went viral. Choreogrpahers are known to use catchy and funny phrases when going over their moves and this was no different. The viral sound prompted many to learn the choreography, ushering in the “Up Challenge.”
Moving Into Today’s Trends with Sean Bankhead
After going viral during the pandemic, Bankhead was able to work on many other projects that really got his name out there. He choreographed Normani’s “Motivation” video as well as her “Wild Side” video featuring Cardi B. He has also choreographed Lil Nas and Jack Harlow’s “Industry Baby” as well as Elliot’s “Drip Demeanor”.
The “On My Mama Challenge” is yet another notch in Bankhead’s belt when it comes to making moves that everyone wants to learn. His talent has the potential to take him far and with the credits he already has, there is no doubt he will grow in the industry.