KOCHI: You got to hand it to Canadian rapper Drake. A month ago, when his new single ‘In My Feelings’ was released, he would have thought maybe it would be a chart topper. But even he perhaps didn’t expect the extent of its popularity. Now, with #InMyFeelings, #ShiggyChallenge and #KikiChallenge trending and storming the internet, the single is the earworm that no one would be able to forget anytime soon unless you’re living under a rock. And it seems no one is in a hurry to do so either (song on the radio: “Kiki... do you love me?? Are you riding?”)
Following the trend from the other side of the world, Malayalis too have taken it up like any other fad thrown their way. Remember the time when the world wide web of Malayalis went crazy over the Jimmikki Kammal fad last year? Before going on and on about the revolutionised hashtag, a brainstorming session is due for those who haven’t been familiarised to it. #KikiChallenge, #ShiggyChallenge and #InMyFeelings picked up speed when internet comedian Shiggy posted a video of himself dancing to Drake’s song on Instagram. Followed by this, many Hollywood celebrities and millennials did the challenge making it the whirlwind fad of the year.
What started out as a dance sequence suddenly became people jumping out of moving cars. And voila, everyone’s doing the Shiggy challenge. It didn’t take long for the Malayali ‘influencers’ to catch the wind of it. Actor-dancer Saniya Iyyappan was seen jumping out of a moving car and shaking a leg to Kiki. The video got over 3 lakh views in a week. Also, Instagrammer Aiswarya Suresh’s #KikiChallenge in saree went viral on the internet.
While the challenge was becoming popular in the state, some internet users went to the extent of creating troll videos and memes of #KikiChallenge (Like any Malayali would pass up an opportunity to be creative on the internet). Karikku, a content company, released a video of an ‘aam aadmi’ (saadharanakkaran) doing the challenge from an autorickshaw. On the other hand, Shabeer Sha on his Instagram page (@the.paanda) uploaded the cheater’s version of the #InMyFeelings challenge. While some poked fun at how some Malayalis cannot afford to do the challenge from a car, others decided to satirically point out the social issues such as the potholes on the road.
And like always, for some, this was the perfect setup to dub the song with classic scenes from films. One such video was dubbing the video of the song ‘Pom Pom Ee Jeepinu Madhamilaki’ from the Malayalam film Nanayam with Drake’s voice.
All jokes aside, the police departments of various states, including Kerala, have been warning people from jumping out of moving cars. Some states even decided to go creative on the approach. Delhi Police tweeted a picture of a man dancing behind the doors of an ambulance saying, “Dancing on the roads can open new doors for you.” The Jaipur Police Department uploaded a framed photo of a young man with a garland, underneath of which, it is written: “In loving memory of KK. Loving boyfriend to Kiki, died while doing the Shiggy (February 1995 - July 2018).”