Lavaado, a 17-year-old dancer and rapper from Atlanta, follows in the footsteps of Soulja Boy, Silentó and iHeartMemphis, going viral with his song “Switch It Up” and its #SwitchItUpChallenge. While the challenge has been building momentum, it received a substantial boost recently, when it was featured in an 8-minute package on ASAP Natin ‘To, the longest-running musical variety show in the Philippines.
The feature includes Filipino dancers, actors and singers Nhikzy Calma, Donny Pangilinan, Elmo Magalona, Loisa Andalio, Edward Barber and Kim Chiu separately doing the challenge with a member of their families. The spotlight also includes coverage of the fast-rising dance craze and an instructional video on how to do the routine that incorporates the lean wit it rock wit it, dab, nae nae and other dances.
The song produced by Cub$kout was inspired by Lavaado’s background as a popular dancer in Atlanta. “I know that most of my followers like to dance so I wanted to come with a creative dancing song that they can do with me,” he says. “The best part about all of the challenge videos is that people usually do them with five or more people which I believe makes the dance and song more interesting to participate in.”
Lavaado’s manager Ray Jones was excited to work with the emerging artist. “It’s not everyday I see an artist that’s able to make positive music, and still be considered ‘cool’ or ‘lit,’ as the kids say,” he says. “It’s a difficult balance, and I noticed Lavaado does it effortlessly. I felt I was one of few people in the industry that understood just how special his movement is and I really wanted to be a part of it.”
After beginning to post dance and prank videos on his social media pages in 2016, Lavaado quickly began to develop an online following.
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