We said in our blog last week that more than GDP growth, the measure of a country’ rise tends to softer factors like success in a range of sports which are NOT associated with making lots of money – see https://marcellus.in/blogs/
“Quick Style, of newfound social media fame, is a Norwegian dance group founded in 2006 by Pakistani-Norwegian twin brothers, Suleman Malik and Bilal Malik, and their Thai-Norwegian childhood friend, Nasir Sirikhan.”
In case you haven’t watched Quick Style’s era defining wedding video, we recommend you watch it to get a crash course in global pop culture: “In the 12-minute video, the diverse crew brought Bollywood hits from Hindi films through the years to life. Their phenomenal energy and electric moves were even commended by artistes who starred in the films.
One comment in the wedding video that said, “I’ve been watching it three times a day like a meal” was upvoted 220 times. People from all over the world – America, Uzbekistan, you name it – couldn’t look away either. One viewer puts it best: “Divided by religion. United by culture!”…
“If we were to guess, we would say it’s because of the inclusive choreography, diverse people and the feeling of joy. These created a moment that is priceless and special.””
So how did the boys from Norway get so plugged into Hindi Music? “Talking about how they came to dance on desi hits, Bilal shares, “Growing up, we had Bollywood music playing in our house, besides Arabic and Pakistani songs. We were familiar with that, and my sister would also send us those songs. That’s how we started dancing to Hindi tracks. The idea of this specific show (clips of which are going viral) was our partner, Naseer’s.””
Understanding how these Norwegian group has been working to stay afloat for the past 15 years is itself an education in how the ‘supply-chain’ for global pop culture works (hint: it has nothing to do with which country you live in): “…way before that viral moment with the wedding video, the group had already rung up an impressive slew of achievements – including choreographing for K-pop titans, BTS.
The first official music video Quick Style choreographed for BTS was Save Me, followed by Blood Sweat & Tears – both of which debuted in 2016. More recently, in 2019, Quick Style was behind the iconic moves in the official music video for Boy With Luv, which has shaped up to be an award-nominated choreography that has been viewed more than 1.5 billion times on YouTube.
However, when Bang Si-Hyuk, who formed the seven-member K-pop group, rang the Quick Style boys up, they had no clue who BTS was.
“We did not know who BTS were at the time, but we have been big fans of K-pop since the early 2000s,” Quick Style confessed. “It is still one of the best experiences as they trusted us completely.””
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Note: The above material is neither investment research, nor financial advice. Marcellus does not seek payment for or business from this publication in any shape or form. The information provided is intended for educational purposes only. Marcellus Investment Managers is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and is also an FME (Non-Retail) with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) as a provider of Portfolio Management Services. Additionally, Marcellus is also registered with US Securities and Exchange Commission (“US SEC”) as an Investment Advisor.
