In recent years, Ghanaian music has provided the culture with two of its most viral dance moments – the azonto and the alkayida. More recently, a strange new craze has swept across the Gold Coast and is threatening to follow the footsteps of the dance movements before it, it’s called “One Corner”.

The “One Corner” dance craze has a street origin, it is essentially an aggressive pelvic thrust performed while holding on to either the floor, a pole or any supporting object – many have been seen taking more daring positions underneath cars, on top of walls, on gutters etc. 

The dance originated from a song titled “One Corner” that has livened up the streets of Ghana, while the accompanying risque dance step is blowing up in the country’s social media space.

The song was released by a relatively unknown street artist named Patapaa, he features other up and coming musicians, Ras Cann and Mr Loyalty; it was produced by Morgan Beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdL_axPEH8U

Papataa performs the hit song in a mixture of his native dialect and what he describes as his own kind of French: ‘social studies French’. He explains that the concept is that, the moment dancers hear the song, they should literally retreat to a corner and dance as they please.

Papataa admits that he somewhat stumbled on the smash hit, explaining that “One Corner” was actually a remix of a previous song of his.

The Swedru-based singer released “One Corner” in August but it got major buzz after a video of him and his ‘soldiers’ performing it at the annual Akwambo Festival, in his native Agona Swedru, received several views.

The Akwambo Kese festival is celebrated by the people of Agona and parts of Gomoa states in the central region of Ghana. The colourful festival starts in the month of August and attracts people from all over the country. Papataa therefore performed the song in front of hundreds, if not thousands of participants and they helped to spread the word.

Papataa’s new dance step was given a further boost when it went viral shortly after the festival and metamorphosed into an online challenge; one of the most popular posts was by the Ghanaian U-17 football team trying it out.

“One Corner” has received endorsements from local celebrities including dancehall star, Shatta Wale who only has good words for the movement. And Patapaa has been pictured with popular Ghanaian broadcaster, Bola Ray, who shared a photo of them all together.

But the popular song has also brought with it its own share of controversy. A 19-year old woman reportedly died in the Central Region of Ghana after a wall she attempted to dance on collapsed. Also, popular Kumawood actor, Kwadwo Nkansah also known as Lil Win, recently released a very similar song titled “Corner Corner” and it caused controversy between the two artists.

Papataa alleges that, after “One Corner” became a hit, Lil Win initially tried to strong arm him into allowing him feature on the remix – he didn’t oblige. According to Papataa, Lil Win’s manager reached out to him to bring the data of the song to Kumasi for the singer to feature on, insisting that Lil Win also had a song with the same title but claimed that Papataa had just released his own version first.

“They told me that the song will be Lil Win featuring Patapaa. They want to take the song from me and take away all my glory”, he said.

Thankfully, the ongoing feud between the two singers hasn’t spoiled the fun and excitement around the record or the accompanying dance. The craziness has even reached Nigeria, Mavin singer Reekado Banks recently posted a video of himself vibing to “One Corner” in the studio and partaking in the challenge.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZjdHyolNP5/?hl=en&taken-by=reekadobanks

Will the “One Corner” virus catch on or will the song – which a popular TV presenter described as the ‘dumbest song to ever become a hit in Ghana’ – remain only in the country of its origin? Time will tell.