(ThyBlackMan.com) Recently, XXLMAG.com released a list of the five biggest dance crazes of 2015. Of the five dances listed, “The Quan” accompanied by the song Hit The Quan by iHeartMemphis and the “Whip/Nae Nae” accompanied by the song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) by Silento, were the two obvious choices for this year’s top dances. For kids and those who enjoy vine-era dance and its music, it’s a, for lack of a better word, timeless record where you can play it at shows, parties and events for years to come and kids will routinely associate themselves with it. For the artists, their songs will effortlessly come off as a de facto one-off hit that already has changed their lives forever.
For record execs, it’s a get-rich-quick way for an artist to gain exposure and a way to make capital in a few months. This line of thinking by the powers that be have upended Dem Franchize Boyz (Lean Wit It, Rock Wit it), The GS Boyz (Stanky Legg), New Boyz (You’re A Jerk), Soulja Boy (Crank Dat), and DJ Unk (Walk It Out/2 Step). These acts created songs that we will always remember for its catchiness and their dances that swept the youth at the particular moment. Sadly, none ever created another song that could match those novelty records and a majority of them including many not named) have faded into obscurity. Which subsequently begs the question; seeing the past failures of the acts that have attempted to wash away the typecast labels of just a “dance rapper,” what would prompt iHeartMemphis and Silento to make the difficult climb to rap stardom with a novelty record under their belt?
In today’s rap music, the Future/Young Thug route is more accepted in which an artist puts more emphasis on releasing single after single or mixtape after mixtape to keep an artist relevant. But for a lot of artists today, making a trendy song for kids to dance to is 
the easiest route. It’s been a pattern since early 2014 when WeAreToonz released the song “Drop That Nae Nae” and the dance to accompany it. Songs with kids doing the Nae Nae to it went viral and everyone had fun. But, it makes me wonder to WeAreToonz and any other rapper who released any song that became viral because of any hot dance at the moment, did they believe that a successful career would have come out of it?
In the acting business, once you appear in reality TV or was a popular character in a TV show for a number of years, it becomes increasingly difficult to find work and for producers and directors to strongly consider them for more serious roles. This also pertains to rap; the stigma of making a dance record damages the rappers credibility. They are perceived as rappers who only can make dance songs by fans and record execs alike.
For instance Soulja Boy, DJ Unk and V.I.C in 2006-08. The three released songs that were accompanied by dances such as “Crank Dat” “Get Silly” “Walk It Out” “2 Step” “Get Silly” and “The Wobble.” While the former and latter will forever be staples at parties, cookouts weddings and events for the adolescent, the three rappers, like many rappers who have taken the one-song-trick route, have never released a bigger hit or had the same success that they achieved when their novelty songs were commodities. V.I.C hasn’t released an album since his debut Beast in 2008. DJ Unk hit Platinum and Gold with “Walk It Out/2 Step” but hasn’t had anywhere of the same success he achieved with those two singles. He, too, hasn’t released an album since 2008.
Soulja Boy did have two more top 20 records in “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” released on his debut album Souljaboytellem.com and “Turn My Swag On” released on his second release iSouljaBoyTellem. But, on his second release he had his failures, attempting to recreate a new dance “Birdwalk” with the accompanying single having the same name; it failed to even crack the top 100 and his second album sold poorly. Since about 2009, Soulja Boy has attempted to brown-nose a variety of styles by rappers from Gucci Mane, Chief Keef, A$AP Rocky and Lil B. As fans we can’t get frustrated with Soulja Boy or any other novelty rapper who fell from grace; they don’t have a true voice or identity and can only latch onto trends to keep their names relevant.
And this is the main issue I have with songs such as Watch Me or “Hit the Quan. Once those songs blow over, the chance of Silento and iHeartMemphis creating another dance track that is just as popular as their current hits are slim to none. Because music today is so transcending, kids will find another song and dance to play and dance their hearts out to because Instagram, Vine and snapchat bases their business model to fit their attention span. And like WeAreToonz with “Drop That Nae Nae” Bobby Schmurda and his “Schmoney Dance” on Hot N***A, they never found another hit that could keep them in the public eye, (for Schmurda’s case, crime caught up to him) and now they are all but forgotten about. Kids will dance to anything that has a catchy beat, and record execs will provide a budget for anything that will make them a quick buck. But it appears these artists don’t comprehend that careers have come and gone using the dance-song model.
In the end, one-hit wonders and and novelty dance tracks will always be around. The record will spin and it’s YouTube plays will always be huge. But if history repeats itself, Silento and iHeartMemphis will probably be forgotten about in a few months. The music business is not a place for the non-savvy and again, another dance song will probably be out soon. For Silento and iHeartMemphis, I wish them the best in their careers future endeavors, but I can’t help but to think that these moments in which they became pop culture phenomenons this year will be the highlights of their career.
Music Editor; Brad Washington
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