Middle School Student Goes Viral with Slickback Challenge on TikTok, Surpassing 200 Million Views

Lee Hyo-cheol, a third-year middle school student, became a hot topic by exceeding 200 million views with the Slickback Challenge. /Recent Olympics

It was revealed that the TikToker who surpassed 200 million views on TikTok by performing a dance as if he was levitating with his quick feet was a third-year middle school student. The dance performed by this student is the so-called ‘Slickback Challenge’, which refers to a dance in which the student glides by jumping back and forth with both feet alternately like skating. It is currently popular not only in Korea but also around the world.

As of the 25th, the number of views for this ‘Slick Bag Challenge’ has exceeded 205 million. The first video was uploaded to the account with the ID ‘wm87.4’ on the 16th, and this record was achieved in less than 10 days. The video has comments from not only Koreans but also netizens from around the world. “It really feels like it’s floating in the air” “There is no superconductor” “This is not a slickback. “It’s not slickback, it’s FLOATING”, etc. In fact, if you watch the video, which is about 10 seconds long, it looks like your feet are not touching the ground.

The main character in the video, who instantly became a celebrity, is Lee Hyo-cheol, a third-year student at Yongsan Middle School in Daegu. He recently appeared on YouTube’s ‘Recent Olympics’ and expressed his thoughts about his video becoming such a hot topic.

Slickback TikTok

According to the interview, the account with the ID ‘wm87.4’ where the video was posted belongs to Lee’s friend. It is said that Lee started dancing without thinking while leaving a restaurant with his friend, and his friend recognized his talent and filmed it and uploaded the video. Lee’s friend said, “When I first saw (Lee) dancing, I was like, ‘Wow.’ “The more I looked at it, the more I thought this was a talent that shouldn’t be left to Korea.”

When asked about his secret to slickback, Lee replied, “I danced instinctively.” He said, “I can’t really explain things like principles because I dance right away (by watching),” and added, “It’s hard for me to say it myself, but I think I have some athleticism.” He continued, “What I do is not the complete (original) slickback, but a modified one, and people like it a little more.” He added, “Originally, I dance while dragging my feet, but I do it because it looks like my feet are floating in the air (I think so).” “You have to put strength into your legs to dance, so if you do it too much, the inside of your thighs hurts,” he said.

Lee, who seemed shy throughout the interview, introduced himself as a ‘student who was shy at school.’ Lee said, “I like dancing,” but he also said, “I want to live a normal life while working at a company.” He added, “Thank you for your interest. “I will continue to upload videos often, so I would appreciate it if you could watch more,” he said.