It is not uncommon to see people turn a newly released dance music video into a viral challenge on the internet.
Dance musicians invent new contagious dance steps and accompany them with catchy rhythms, making their songs sell more and getting millions of views on their videos.
As it turns out, the band Fuse ODG released a hit in 2013 that instantly became a dance fever track—and the internet ran with it.
Nana Richard Abiona, a British-Ghanaian recording artist famously known by his stage name Fuse ODG, released a single called “Antenna” which was seventh on the UK Singles Chart.
Not long after its release, people began to get hooked on the song. Later, Fuse ODG decided to make it a worldwide challenge wherein dancers should record themselves dancing to the song following the Ghanaian dance form azonto.
This dance duo absolutely nailed this “Antenna” azonto dance.
Kwabena Benko and Tracy Selasi showed Manchester their azonto dance skills in this video!
They took on the “Antenna” dance challenge along with some others by recording themselves dancing in public places around Machester.
The clip first showed Selasi walking towards a restaurant’s entrance.
The moment she entered, you could see Benko waiting for her at one of the seats. They started with a little drama with Selasi acting like she was ignoring the approaching Benko. As they finished walking around each other, they were finally in a position to dance.
They took their dancing to the Manchester tramway too!
As the duo continued dancing inside McDonald’s, there are multiple transitions to them dancing inside a moving train.
It would seem that the video was edited to make it seem like they were dancing at two places at the same time.
On the train, the passengers became the unsuspecting audience to Benko and Selasi’s gimmicks.
They continued dancing on the train as if they were unbothered with losing their balance, and the passengers had fun watching their moves.
Whether they were on the train or not, people’s eyes were glued to them as they showed off their dance moves.
Azonto was another addition to the Ghanaian dance culture added just a decade ago.
According to an article in Modern Ghana, the dance involves knee-bending, throwing hands in all directions and strong hip movements. Benko and Selasi’s dance was a perfect representation of the azonto because if you have noticed, that was exactly what the dance duo showed while they were busting theirs in front of their onlookers.
Benko and Selasi won the dance craze competition!
It was their video that captured Fuse ODG’s heart.
“I think what makes [Benko and Selasi’s video] my favorite is the fact that it’s so vibrant. I like Manchester and it works well on the video,” he said.” People have looked at the clip from all round the world. Thousands of people have imitated the Manchester dance. It shows how music can unite the world.”
As he said himself, Fuse ODG wants to make azonto known with his music.
There are plenty of stories revolving around the world on how azonto got a ride into the international scene.
In either case, it’s clear that Fuse ODG has been one of the few musical artists who incorporates this instrumental style of azonto in his music and introduce it to the world—just like with his hit song “Antenna” which has spread like fire on the internet. With Benko and Selasi’s performance, the influence grew bigger around the world.
Be sure to check out the adorable performance in the link below:
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