Keara Wilson, the 19-Year-Old Who Created the Viral “Savage” TikTok Choreo, on What’s Next

Photo credit: Queen.Kekeeee/Instagram
Photo credit: Queen.Kekeeee/Instagram

From Cosmopolitan

Ya know the TikTok dance that pretty much everyone around the globe has been doing to Megan Thee Stallion’s song “Savage”? Of course you do. But do you know that it took 19-year-old Keara Wilson only AN HOUR to come up with the viral choreography?! Her original TikTok, which she posted on March 10, now has more than 50 million views, and celebs like Hailey Bieber, Ashley Tisdale, Jessica Alba, and Meg Thee Stallion *herself* have performed the dance on their own accounts.

In other words, thanks to one single TikTok, Keara’s life changed—literally overnight. Ever since, brands like Lysol and NYX have been reaching out to her for collaborations and she’s even come out with her own merch.

Keara, aka Keke, is clearly a star and I have a funny feeling this is definitely only the beginning of her impressive career. Lucky for me, I was able to hop on a Zoom call with Keke last month and got to hear all about what life has been like since her newfound fame. Read on for the deets.

Where are you right this second?

I’m from Ohio, but right now, I’m in Texas. My sister moved down here—she’s in the military. She just had my niece, who is 4 months old. So I was down here helping her at first.

When did you create your TikTok account?

Back in September, and I wasn’t really a fan of the app at first. I was like, Okay, I’m gonna go on here for a couple of minutes and then get off. But one day, it just clicked and I was just like, Oh my gosh, I love TikTok. I just wanna do all these dances on here. And then I got addicted…like, bad.

Did the dancing aspect of the app attract you?

Yes! I’ve been a dancer for 10 years. I loved all the other stuff—the comedy, the skits—but I can’t do that. I’m not that creative. But I am a dancer!

What kind of dance did you do?

I’ve done lyrical, hip-hop, pom, and jazz.

What specifically inspired you to create a dance to “Savage,” by Megan Thee Stallion?

I was just bored one day…like every teenager. Megan had just released her new album, so I picked what I felt was the best track. It had a catchy beat and it’s really bouncy and fun. So one day, I made a dance and it just clicked. It was awesome. I’m a big fan of hers.

How long did it take you to choreograph the dance?

Like an hour or so? It didn’t take me very long.

How did you come up with the moves? Did any other TikToks come to mind?

A couple of the moves came from TikTok, but I mainly come up with my dances by making up moves to certain lyrics of the song.

Did you ever think your dance would blow up?

Not at all! I didn’t think it was that good! I was just throwing something together. I did not expect it to be a worldwide thing at all. I figured that maybe a couple of TikTokers [would do it], but that was MAYBE.

How did it feel seeing everyone, including Megan Thee Stallion, do your dance on TikTok?

I cried. For a while, I was just shocked. I was in disbelief. It amazes me that everyone loves something of mine. It’s an amazing feeling and I’m beyond blessed.

You had just graduated high school, yes?

Yeah. I was working and looking into joining the military because my sister inspired me to do that.

Is TikTok/social media a full-time thing for you now?

Yes.

Has Megan reached out to you about your dance?

Unfortunately, no. Not yet.

I saw that you have merch! What inspired that?

We released it back in the beginning of May. The idea was to make something…savage. Everyone knows me as The Savage Girl—I get that a lot when I’m walking around. I thought of putting “Original Savage” on a T-shirt because I’m the original creator of the “Savage” dance. The other shirt says “Savage” and has a cartoon picture of me. I thought that was a funny, cute idea.

View this post on Instagram

New savage collection out now ! #QueenKeKe

A post shared by Shop Queen KeKe (@shopqueenkeke) on May 26, 2020 at 3:28pm PDT

Did you design it?

No, somebody else designed it. My brother does all the merch stuff.

This is a whole family act!

Yeah! And my mom, she’s my momager.

I see your family hops in your TikToks sometimes! Is that gonna be a thing? Do they have their own accounts?

We just got our family account called @TheCrownFamily. My family members also have all their own accounts. I like to do TikToks with my mom. She loves to dance. My niece has her own account. She’s my little dance partner! And then my boyfriend joins in all the time. We have an account—@Keke.Tony.


What kind of opportunities have come your way since you released this dance?

People have asked me to promote their music, like, “Could you please dance to my song?” And I’ve been offered a lot of campaigns—Subway, Lysol, NYX (the makeup brand). Seeing that I can support these brands is just amazing.

So, what’s next? Do you want to move to L.A.? Your next big goal?

Yes, I do. That’s somewhere I plan on going. I would definitely love to be on a Netflix show or any show. A commercial. Work with even bigger brands. The sky’s the limit for me.

Who’s your biggest inspiration in life?

I would say my mom. She’s the one who pushes me through all this. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here today. When she was back at home and I was here, it was tough. But we worked it out. During all this, it was a struggle at first. I’d get all these emails and have to say, “I’ve gotta call my mom real quick. She’s all the way back in Ohio and I’m all the way in Texas.” But now she’s here. It’s been a motivational thing and we’ve been workin’ it.

And she’s your full-time momager?

Yes! And my boyfriend helps on the side.

Would you join a content house?

Yes. I probably would.

Would you make your own content house?

Yes! Actually, me and my brother have been thinking about it.

What’s your favorite remix of the “Savage” dance?

I would say the Kim Kardashian one because I made something so funny to it. It was so fun! I acted it out so good.

If you were to be another TikToker, not just focusing on dance, what would you be?

Probably hair. I’m not really good at doing my hair, but I feel like my hair is really different. A lot of people ask me about it. I don’t do too much to it, but I think that’d be another thing I’d be good at.

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