TikTok has become one of the most powerful cultural engines of the 2020s. Its short-form, music-driven format has made millions of songs and movement patterns into global trends. But behind many of the dances that rack up billions of views and spin-off trends lies a tension that mirrors older forms of cultural borrowing: the appropriation of African-originated dance styles and Black choreographic creativity by users who don’t credit, compensate, or even acknowledge the origins of those moves.
This isn’t a fringe critique. It’s rooted in broader debates about cultural appropriation – the adoption of elements from a marginalised culture by members of a dominant group without understanding, permission, or credit – and how that plays out in digital spaces where imitation often outpaces attribution.
Viral Dances, Silent Origins
TikTok thrives on dance trends. From simple steps to highly coordinated sequences, creators upload routines that are then remixed, stitched, or reinvented by millions. Some dances have roots in African diasporic communities, including African American social dances, Afrobeat-infused moves, and other rhythms that emerged from local scenes before spreading online.
One of the most talked-about cases involved the “Renegade” dance, originally choreographed by young Black creator Jalaiah Harmon to K Camp’s song Lottery. Harmon posted her routine in 2019, and it spread rapidly across TikTok – but initially without attribution. Among the users who helped make it a phenomenon were some of the platform’s biggest stars, including Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae, whose versions gained far wider visibility.
Eventually Harmon’s contribution was widely recognised in mainstream media, including The New York Times, which led to new opportunities for her as a performer and choreographer. But the delay in acknowledgement illustrates the gap between origination and visibility on digital platforms, where dances created by Black users can be widely replicated without recognition.
The Black TikTok Strike
In June 2021, this dynamic erupted into a coordinated protest that made waves far beyond the app. When rapper Megan Thee Stallion released her single Thot Shit, many Black TikTok creators refused to choreograph a dance to it. The intention was deliberate: to expose how viral dance trends have been fuelled by Black creativity while white creators often reap more views, followers, and even commercial opportunities by copying those dances.
Black creators noted that TikTok’s algorithm often amplified recreations of dances by non-Black users more than the original videos themselves, a phenomenon critics have described as digital colonisation or online Black marginalisation.
One participant explained the logic simply and directly: “TikTok would be nothing without Black people,” a sentiment echoed across conversations online. Creators like Erick Louis and others articulated that without Black users setting trends, the platform’s cultural influence would be significantly diminished.
Dance, Appropriation, and Algorithms
The strike wasn’t just about one song. It was a flashpoint in a longstanding pattern: dance moves and cultural expression originating in Black communities – whether on TikTok or elsewhere – are replicated and amplified by users of other backgrounds without credit or reward.
Research points to how social media platforms can invisibilise the contributions of Black creators. Due to algorithmic bias and user behaviour, dances that spread beyond their community of origin often lose the link to their creator. This isn’t just anecdotal; academics studying these phenomena have used terms like digital blackface to describe the adoption of Black cultural markers by non-Black users on platforms including TikTok, where rhythm, gesture, and Black expressive styles are leveraged for attention without context or connection to their roots.
Dance, in particular, is a potent example. Movement is embodied knowledge – it carries rhythm, history, and community. The way African-derived dance styles move from local scenes to global screens raises questions about who gets credit, who gets compensated, and who benefits from commercialisation. When a creator’s choreography becomes a fad, the platform often treats it like public domain content for remixing – even as the original creator sees little of the fame or revenue that follows.
Appropriation vs Appreciation
Some defenders of widespread dance sharing argue that TikTok is a participatory space by design — that replication is part of how trends work. But critics point out an important distinction: replication without credit is not the same as celebration; it is erasure. When dances tied to African rhythmic systems or African American social styles exclude their creators from visibility, it reproduces patterns older than social media itself – patterns of taking cultural expression without addressing the social and economic context from which it arose.
This tension extends beyond credit to compensation and community power. Creators have called for fair compensation, algorithmic accountability, and greater visibility for originators, not just tokenistic apologies from platforms. TikTok itself has made public statements about diversity and the value of Black creators, but many dancers and commentators insist that these commitments must be backed by measurable change – not just verbal support.
A Bigger Conversation
The discourse around TikTok dance appropriation is not just about moves and popularity metrics. It reflects a broader cultural question about how digital spaces intersect with historical inequities. The way trends emerge, spread, and generate fame mirrors older structures of cultural borrowing in music, fashion, and media – where Black creativity is adopted and profit is made elsewhere.
Representation Watch views this issue not as hostile to cross-cultural exchange, but as a reminder that movement without acknowledgement can replicate the very hierarchies it claims to transcend. Recognising originators, crediting cultural sources, and ensuring that those who fuel global trends benefit from that attention are not optional extras – they are part of ethical cultural production in a globalised digital world.
As dance continues to evolve on TikTok and beyond, the hope among many creators is that credit follows creativity, not after the fact but as a foundational practice. That shift – from replication without recognition to respectful visibility – remains central to how digital culture can truly reflect the diverse roots that sustain it.
