TikTok, the Chinese-created video app, has taken the internet by storm, as its quickly become the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide in 2020. Originating as an app for making short lip-sync videos, it allows users to share singing, dancing, and acting videos. Many young people have taken advantage of this platform to showcase their talents to a worldwide audience, including Jacob Fletcher-Johnson.
Even if you’re not using the app, popular TikTok dances have spilled all over mainstream media, from viral dance challenges, such as the “Renegade” and Fletcher’s own “Spaz Challenge.” Jacob Fletcher-Johnson, better known by his TikTok name @jacob.fj, has been dancing and creating content for social media since he was 12-years old. In May 2020, he paired up with @zinco18 to create the “spaz challenge,” a TikTok dance challenge which became viral during the pandemic, accumulating to over 2.8 million videos made in response, including celebrities, such as Jason Derulo, Kida The Great, and even James Charles participating in the challenge.
Since the “spaz challenge” went viral, the 17-year old British TikTok sensation has been focusing his time on creating regular content to post. His unique dance persona and strong online presence has led to opportunities in his dance career, such as performing at the O2 in Birmingham, United Kingdom, alongside popular UK artists, such as Headie One and Loski.
Fletcher-Johnson found his appreciation for dance when he was just 4-years-old. “I was on holiday in Cyprus, Greece, with my family, and I remember the stage in the hotel we were staying in was empty as the acts were preparing to perform.” While the audience sat there waiting for the acts to begin, he felt naturally compelled to drift towards the stage until he was upon it. It was at that moment, that a young Fletcher-Johnson found himself dancing to the music playing, and the audience cheering him on.
As he grew up, he started watching Michigan dance due, Ayo & Teo, who quickly became one of his biggest inspirations. In June 2019, when Fletcher-Johnson had just started regularly uploading to TikTok, he had the chance to meet his role models at an event in the UK. It was at this event that he posted a collaborative video interconnecting the UK and US dance communities, that resulted in over 9 million views in total. This quickly became an iconic video in the dance community, when people noticed similarities between Fletcher-Johnson and Teo, both in dance style, but also from their unique afros and masks they wore. Ever since then, Fletcher-Johnson has even made several collaborations with Ayo & Teo in Fortnite gaming videos.
Fletcher-Johnson draws inspiration not only from the styles of Teo, but also from both western dance and modern African dances. He is known for mixing moves created by Teo, Les Twins, and Michael Jackson, with modern African styles, such as The Poco and The Shaku, Shaku, as well as a variation of American dance styles such as Chicago Footwork, Jersey Club & Memphis Jookin. This unique combination of choreographed dance has led to a true sense of dance artistry found in Fletcher’s video creations.
Today, Fletcher dedicates his time to increasing his content output and growing his online presence even more, growing from just 7k followers to 50k in under four months. His unique persona has drawn the attention of major artists, such as Chance The Rapper, Swae Lee, and Les Twins. Fletcher-Johnson’s consistency on TikTok has even landed him a role with Flipz Pretzels, a popular pretzel snack brand, after winning a competition to work as Flipz UK’s content creator.
Fletcher not only spends his time contributing to the online dance community, but he also strives to give back to the youth through his involvement with Genesis Sun, a non-profit organization that helps young, disadvantaged black British citizens help achieve successful academic outcomes, by encouraging them to have ambitious expectations, and by empowering them to build a better future.
Recognized within the dance community as one of the most consistent online content creators, you can find his unique style both on his Instagram and his TikTok pages.