Zaynah Bear became an inspiration to thousands — unintentionally.
The social media influencer blew up from simply posting videos of her dancing online.
I was fighting for my life to finish this 🤣 Had to attempt the Aunt Viv to bring in Black History Month! pic.twitter.com/7vXuVCtak2
— Zaynah Bear 🇹🇹 (@zaynahbear) February 2, 2023
As she posted more, she began to show more of her true self, and the dance moves looked more chaotic or “weird,” as some viewers may describe it. She encapsulated the spirit of “dance like no one’s watching” and put it out for the world.
@zaynahbear You’ll never stop me! #fyp
At Remy Martin’s ATL Loves Hip Hop Presents honoring Jazze Pha event at the legendary Cascade Family Skating rink on Oct. 26, Bear spoke to rolling out about her career and platform.
Jazze Pha hinted Ciara might be coming through. Were you a Ciara fan growing up?
Of course! I was doing the matrix with everybody else.
And I loved Goodies, too.
What was life like for you growing up?
It was irritating, especially being called an Oreo growing up. [However], [I] had it easier than some other people because, first of all, I went to an art school. But from elementary [school] up to seventh grade, it [was] hard. Once we graduated into the [arts] high school, where it’s more consolidated [because] you have to audition to get into the high school, and you have to have the specific artistic disciplines you want to go into, so there were more weirdos in that school for me to be comfortable with. I was still an outcast because I didn’t have any friends, and I didn’t know how to make them, but it wasn’t because I was quirky anymore. It was just because I was [expletive] antisocial.
Where’d you go? DeKalb School of the Arts?
Yeah, DeKalb School of the Arts.
The same school Donald Glover went to.
Yeah, and Lloyd…I also had other more recent graduates to look up to, like Baby Tate; we were in the same class in high school. Seeing someone my age doing it is inspirational, and [she’s] someone I have known since elementary [school].
What was it like blowing up on social media?
It was just a confidence exercise for me. At some point, I decided to work on my self-esteem [actively], and a part of that was getting over my fear of being seen. I would dress down so nobody would look at me, I wouldn’t talk to anybody, and I wouldn’t even take pictures of myself.
Posting videos on the Internet was the [most challenging] form of exposure therapy [for] however many people to see. I never expected it to go viral, so that was another beast. Now it’s like, “Damn. A hundred million people have seen me.”
What was one heartwarming message you’ve received from a supporter?
This one person brought to my attention that I was representing the neurodivergent community.
A lot of people with ADHD or people who are on the autistic spectrum can [relate] to a lot of my content. Especially people’s kids. A lot of people say their neurodivergent kids, whenever they see me dancing or what have you, start to imitate it, [which] makes them smile or calms them down.
