Natasha Bedingfield wrote “Unwritten” for her 2004 debut album of the same title, creating a breakout hit and cementing her spot as the inspirational songstress we love today. Thanks to TikTok, the 17-year-old song has found new life as a Black dancer known as “Rony Boyy” created a viral dance for the song along with a few of his friends.
After gaining millions of views on TikTok, Bedingfield met with the young Black dancers and linked up with them in person. Acknowledging their impact in bringing her song back to the spotlight, the British songstress set out to learn the viral dance from the crew and did just that.
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“So much fun this week learning the #yhop #unwritten dance!” Bedingfield wrote on her Instagram video Wednesday. “And by “learning, “ I mean messing it up…but that’s what the song’s about.”
Often referred to as the “Rony Challenge,” “Yhop Dance,” or “Rony Boyy” challenge, the dance routine performed to a remix of Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” has now taken over TikTok. Rony’s TikTok even shows an airline pilot and flight attendant getting down to the viral routine with him at an airport.
He also uploaded a tutorial for the dance on his Instagram page, where he and Bedingfield go over the routine step-by-step.
“Taught Natasha the dance. Now you can rewatch and learn the dance too,” the young dancer captioned the 28-minute clip.
Related Post: TikToker Mya Johnson Speaks Out About Having Her Dance Performed by Addison Rae
While talk show hosts Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Fallon have been in hot water recently for highlighting Addison Rae over original Black TikTok dancers like Jalaiah Harmon and Mya Johnson, Bedingfield took the initiative to not only learn the viral routine from the source, but also credit the originators who gave her song new life.
“Natasha Bedingfield went and did TikTok videos with the guys who created the dance to her song,” one fan tweeted in support of the “Pocketful of Sunshine” singer. “I don’t want to hear sh** about not being able to give Black content curators credit on TikTok (or any platform).”
Natasha Bedingfield went and did TikTok videos with the guys who created the dance to her song.
I don’t want to hear shit about not being able to give Black content curators credit on TikTok (or any platform). pic.twitter.com/ZHDvyeEymg
— alex. (@Alex_Washington) May 20, 2021
Natasha Bedingfield collating with the Black artists who did a dance to her song and featuring them on her page? We love to see big celebrities giving credit
— no thoughts (@itsbaevid) May 20, 2021
Another fan tweeted, “Natasha Bedingfield really linked up with the TikTok creators who used her song to create that dance. Bless her.”
Natasha Bedingfield really linked up with the tik tok creators who used her song to create that dance. Bless her.
— YM (@YolMcL) May 20, 2021
What do you think about Bedingfield linking up with Rony and his crew? Could this be a teaching moment for other white celebrities and media personalities?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
