Louisiana Dance Musician calls on fans to help him save TikTok

Louisiana Dance Musician calls on fans to help him save TikTok

by: Howard Castay

Cupid, a.k.a. Bryson Bernard, who dubs himself, "the line dance king," credits social media for reinventing his career among age groups in some of his fan base.

However, he said the changes have been more noticeable since TikTok arrived in 2016.

The Lafayette native has grown in popularity worldwide, after recording the single, the "Cupid Shuffle," in 2007.  The song peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Since then, the  singer and songwriter has morphed into someone he calls the king of dance music.  And as of late, he credits TikTok for helping him secure that title.

"Tiktok is music to the people," Bernard said. "It's a direct connection for music and dance, and also a great resource of information."

"With TikTok, I have tripled my exposure to audiences, as opposed to my past promotional strategy."

Describing his TikTok success, he said his new song, "Flex," has over 10 million impressions on TikTok and the "Cupid Shuffle," has, "way more than that number."

"What's interesting though, is that since TikTok's inception, I've been watching kids who weren't even born 17 years ago when I made the Cupid Shuffle,  dance like crazy to it. Then, I'm watching the Cupid Shuffle fans, dance to Flex."

"Speaking for myself, I think TikTok has been a huge influence."

Now, the artist is asking fans to save TikTok by placing #saveTikTok on all their TikTok videos.

The reason? What has his ire is news from Capitol Hill that some members of Congress want to ban TikTok for all Americans, citing unfounded national security concerns.

Also, in Louisiana, there is a bill currently in the legislature (which is currently in session), HB 361 by Rep. Daryl Deshotel, R-Marksville, to prohibit the use of TikTok on state devices or networks.

Here are some of the singer's objections on why a TikTok ban doesn’t make sense.

 

• It seems like the government is trying to control people. Is the government upset because they can't figure out how to make money off of it, so they are throwing in the towel?
• Not having the power to control the media. Real life situations! Just think if there wasn't TikTok. When would we have found about George Floyd? Or Ahmaud Arbery?
• Viewing TikTok as a threat to personal freedom. For instance, some teenagers are making thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars without a proper education.
• American Propaganda. We're told China is destroying America. But has the government checked on the things we're doing?  Why are government contracts being leaked? That's not TikTok's fault!