Richy Jackson Wants His Choreography to ‘Leave Earth’
Jim Mullin
You may not be familiar with Richy Jackson, but you definitely know his dance moves. The choreographer and visual director has worked with all your favorite main pop girls—Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, and Katy Perry to name a few—making him the mastermind behind some of the most influential music videos of the past two decades.
With a résumé that includes songs like “Bad Romance” and “California Gurls,” Jackson has a knack for creating hit choreography for hit music and has done it again with emerging pop star JoJo Siwa. The Dance Moms star is all grown up with a new single “Karma,” which has gone viral for its, well, everything. You may have seen clips of Siwa on your timeline hitting the song’s signature dance move—two foot stomps punctuated by whipping hand movements and a full body gyrate—in its sexy music video. Or performing on stage at Miami, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and London Pride. Or during a taping of Access Hollywood with Mario Lopez.
The dance move is emblematic of Siwa’s new adult era: audacious, provocative, and in her words, “never done before.” It’s also the kind of out-of-this-world choreography that Jackson is known for. So when we hop on a video call for our interview, it’s only appropriate that the choreographer’s Zoom background is set to outer space.
“If you’ve seen the video, she had been dreaming of this white party on a yacht,” Jackson says of the “Karma” video. “But JoJo’s like, ‘I’m going to do it my way.’ So once I understood the yacht party, I thought it would be so cool to dance out this relationship between JoJo and her girl, but also there’s the other girl enticing her. Once she walked me through her vision, she wanted to jump off the yacht into the water, but come out as a beast.”
Going beast-mode set the tone for the rest of the dance. Jackson wanted to pull a 180 once Siwa emerged, signifying her transition from child star to adult pop star. “I was like, This dance has to look completely different from what was on the yacht. The yacht was very just pop, feminine, strong. But when we come out of this water and she’s in her whole new look with her as the beast and her beast dancers, I was like, I have to go. I have to leave Earth. I have to leave Earth and go somewhere else.”
The move has polarized social media, with users describing it as everything from “hideous” and “scary" to “hard asf” and “kinda eats.” Despite the discourse, it certainly hasn’t stopped the “Karma” dance from taking over TikTok and counts celebs like Billie Eilish, Logan Paul, and Minji and Haerin from New Jeans as fans.
Jackson recognizes that not everyone will understand his choreography—but that’s kind of the point. “It’s one of those things I’m always saying, I’d rather you be talking about it then not talk about it at all,” he says. “That’s one. And two, we’re so connected right now because of social media and our phones that I’m always trying to break the mold. You can choreograph and do what everyone’s doing and do what they like, but I just feel like you just become one of the millions. So I’m always willing to step outside the box.”
Ahead, Richy Jackson talks about the viral “Karma” dance move, his creative process, and how social media has changed the dance world—plus his quest to find the next main pop boy.
Glamour: Where did your love for dance come from?
Richy Jackson: I’ve been dancing since I was probably three. Grew up watching Michael Jackson, MC Hammer, Janet Jackson, Madonna, all the greats. I was a drummer since fourth grade to throughout high school. I was in marching band, so band was a huge influence in my life. On top of that, I was in an old dance group called Mack Ten. When I was 13, my mom had a cheerleading squad, so I was already choreographing then and I choreographed for her.
The dance group that I had joined, eventually some of them ended up moving to LA, and when I graduated, I went to Tuskegee University in Alabama because at the time I wanted to become a lawyer of all things. Just nowhere near dance. I didn’t know enough about the dance community and how it worked as a professional dancer. And one day I was watching MTV and Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody” music video came on and I saw one of my old dance members dancing with her. I was so blown away. I called my mom as soon as the video went off and I told her, “I’m out of here.” She was like, “What?” And I was like, “If he can do it, I can do it.” So I literally left school in the middle semester, that might’ve been a Thursday, and on that Monday, I flew back home and then eventually ended up flying to LA and that’s when the journey started.
Being a dancer is one thing, but becoming a choreographer, particularly for artists of the caliber you work with, is another. How do you make that transition?
The best part about it was taking my time. I danced for Missy Elliott, Usher, Christina Milian, Jessica Simpson, NSYNC. I did all those iPod commercials when they first came out years ago, and I was an iPod billboard, so it was great to just learn how to dance. And then from there I started to assist. I assisted three different choreographers to just learn my craft. I wanted to learn.
Once I started choreographing for different artists and eventually getting people like Katy Perry for “California Gurls,” Nicki Minaj for “Check It Out,” and then ultimately Gaga, it opened up my world, especially working with artists who allowed me to do what I do. And when they did that, it allowed me to create what happened with Katy Perry. That was a huge video for her. I worked with Nicki way early and I’ve been with Gaga since 2007. I met JoJo when she was nine and reunited with her when she was 15. I’ve been with her since, God, it’s been six or seven years now.
What is it like to see one of your dances go viral?
It’s exciting. It’s also jaw-dropping. I love to see how it affects people and how people react to it. I like to see people always sending me clips of it or seeing how crazy the clips have gotten. I kind of chuckle on the inside because I don’t go into it choreographing with that in mind.
Especially with JoJo, I went into it saying, I’ve got to create the “Karma” dance for her. I love creating signature dances for songs. I just love that. That’s what’s a little special about “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. “Thriller” is my favorite video of all time. As soon as you see them do the dance, you know what it is. You don’t need the words of the song to know that’s the song. I’ve always been inspired by that.
Do you feel like social media has changed the way we approach choreography and dance?
What I think it’s allowed us to do is to see dance in so many different ways, done by so many different types and kinds of people. Back in my day growing up, you only saw the best of the best. The professional dancers, the professional artists were the ones who were dancing, and you didn’t really see what people were doing at home. Social media has allowed us to see that anyone can dance at this point. And every type of dancer. Doesn’t have to be at a professional level. It could be comedy, it could be a joke, but it could still go viral. It’s allowed everyone to participate in a new way.
But there is still a difference in a TikTok dance versus a “Karma” dance, in my opinion. TikTok dances are all about being cool and really simple, which is fine. But when it comes to pop choreography, there’s a level that I’m trying to always attain and stay at or go past. It’s got to be some level of weird, maybe they can pick it up, but then it’s got to be a little difficult, but then it’s got to be a little easy. It’s the mix of it all, and that’s what I love about pop choreography.
Some people might think with your dancing it’s meant to go viral and it’s a stunt or something. But once you think about it, if we had TikTok around the time “Thriller” came out, there would definitely be a “Thriller” dance challenge.
100%. Every Halloween, someone’s doing a breakdown of “Thriller,” they’re doing the choreography. But it is about, at least for me, those signature moves being created for songs, purposefully.
Your artists have passionate fans who pick up your choreography. Do you get blown away by their dance covers?
Friends will send them to me or they always tag me, and in most cases I repost it, especially in my Stories. It’s so cool and I know that they want to be seen and I want to let them know that I see you. You’re not alone. I see you. It’s not just happening on your phone. I see you. And some of them, most of them, can actually really dance.
My favorite is the fan Gaga plucked from the crowd and he did all the choreography with her and the dancers.
He knew all the steps. It was so crazy. I was like, How do you know everything? The transitions, when we walk.
How did you come up with the “Karma” dance move?
I’ve been working with JoJo since she was 15, but she’s not with Nickelodeon anymore, so this was the first time she’s in her adult era. This was the first time we could actually go for it the way we wanted to without restrictions. And it was all about turning heads. We wanted to turn heads.
I choreograph on the spot and I literally did it. And she was like, ‘What?’ And I was like, ‘Everyone, walk with me. It keeps clumping. And you slam and you stomp and you slam and you stomp.’ And we worked on that section for about 20 minutes, just getting the right vibe. Once I taught them the rest of the choreography, we started to rehearse it and once she got it, she was like, ‘Got it.’ It just took off from there.
You choreographed on the spot. Is that standard for everything you do?
I like to work in the moment. Other choreographers like to take a song and they might go home or wherever their studio is and choreograph something. I like to work with my artists and work with the room and say, “What is it saying to me?” It’s like creating art in the moment or molding something. You have to mold it. I create in the moment. I get inspired by the people who are in the room, but definitely the artist. And with “Karma,” I just loved it. It just sounded nothing like anything that we had ever done before in her Nickelodeon years and I could not wait to go in there and put these moves on her.
It seems that you’ve done it all, but is there an artist or project you still want to take on?
Listen, who wouldn’t want to one day work with Janet Jackson? Who wouldn’t want to one day work with big names that we all grew up on? But to be completely honest with you, I’m also extremely inspired by artists that no one knows yet. I’m extremely inspired by helping to bring up the next generation. I’m extremely inspired by everyone saying, “Who is that?” And then I was like, “Oh my God, it’s so and so.” I’m extremely inspired by keeping the music industry at a level despite how it’s getting taken now, music comes in so many forms and fashions now, but I love to maintain that level. So, yeah, I’m really and always inspired by new artists because I love fighting for the underdog
You need to find us the next pop boy. We’re in a pop boy drought.
It’s so funny because I have literally said that. You guys, I’m telling you right now, it’s time for the pop boy. I am with you. Just know that there are some things in the back pocket that I’m trying to make happen. But you and I are on the same page with that. I agree with that 100%. If I can have that privilege to help bring that pop boy to the world, I will. That’s my next goal. If I find him, I will hit you and be like, ‘Okay, I found him. When can we do the next interview?’
Ariana Yaptangco is the senior beauty editor at Glamour. Follow her @arianayap.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
