Backstage With Silentó

A dark, packed auditorium. Fans dancing in their seats. Music beats pulsing onstage. This might seem like an ordinary day for hip-hop musician Silentó, but for me, it was an experience of a lifetime.

 My name is Adedayo Perkovitch, and I’m part of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. A few months ago, I got to go backstage before a Silentó concert in New York City. I intervewed the 18-year-old artist about his hit song, “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).” It’s been viewed online more than 800 million times since 2015.

A dark, packed auditorium. Fans dancing in their seats. Music beats pulsing onstage. This might seem like an ordinary day for hip-hop musician Silentó. But for me, it was an experience of a lifetime. 

My name is Adedayo Perkovitch. I'm part of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. A few months ago, I got to go backstage before a Silentó concert in New York City. I interviewed the 18-year-old artist. We spoke about his hit song, “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).” It's been viewed online more than 800 million times since 2015.

In recent years, viral Internet videos like Silentó’s have exploded in popularity. To be considered viral, a video or post must be viewed and shared by millions of people online. You can tell how many people watch the post by the number of views. 

The idea for “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” came to Silentó one day while he was at school in 2014. Performing in front of his classmates in the cafeteria, the Atlanta, Georgia, teen combined two popular dances: the Whip and the Nae Nae. 

Then he did what so many of us do. He recorded a video and shared it on social media. And people loved it! “Once I knew my peers accepted this song, I knew I had to make it,” he says.

Given the popularity of Silentó’s single, you would think that the song was a hit from the start. But in fact, the artist had to convince others that the song was worth recording in a studio.

Viral Internet videos like Silentó's have exploded in popularity in recent years. To be considered viral, a video or post must be viewed and shared by millions of people online. You can tell how many people watch the post by the number of views.

The idea for "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" came to Silentó one day while he was at school in 2014. He was performing in front of his classmates in the cafeteria, in Atlanta, Georgia. The teen combined two popular dances: the Whip and the Nae Nae. 

Then he did what so many of us do. He recorded a video. After he shared it on social media . People loved it! “Once I knew my peers accepted this song, I knew I had to make it,” he says.

Silentó's single has become popular. But it wasn’t a hit from the start. But in fact, the artist had to convince others that the song was worth recording in a studio.

Since Silentó’s song went viral, many people have uploaded their own Whip/Nae Nae videos on YouTube. For example, P.E. teacher Jared Paschall recorded his own Whip/Nae Nae workout video with students from Harvest Elementary School in Harvest, Alabama. In just a few weeks, the video had more than 19 million views on Facebook and YouTube.

Though Silentó’s life changed with “Watch Me,” he has tried to keep a level head. “There is a lot of negativity” out there, he says, but he hopes to continue to spread positive messages with his music.

Silentó isn’t much older than I am, but he has some very wise advice. “Be confident and always believe in yourself,” he says.

Since Silentó's song went viral, many people have uploaded their own Whip/Nae Nae videos on YouTube. P.E. teacher Jared Paschall is one example. He recorded his own Whip/Nae Nae workout video. He danced with his students from Harvest Elementary School in Harvest, Alabama. In just a few weeks, it went viral. The video had more than 19 million views on Facebook and YouTube.

Silentó's life changed with “Watch Me.” Though he has tried to keep a level head. “There is a lot of negativity” out there, he says. He hopes to continue to spread positive messages with his music.

Silentó isn't much older than I am. Yet he has some very wise advice. “Be confident and always believe in yourself,” he says.