How Norway’s The Quick Style danced their way to viral fame

The multicultural Norwegian dance crew has been around for nearly two decades, but now they are taking their art to the world

The video that took The Quick Style viral was never supposed to exist. “We hadn’t planned to film it,” recalls co-founder Bilal Malik of that wedding dance show that his hip-hop crew performed in 2022 in Oslo. “We didn’t even rehearse it. It was all very casual. But my big brother stopped us. ‘Where’s the camera?’ he asked. ‘Wait for the camera’.” 

They released a clip—11 fit men in sharp-cut suits and sunglasses grooving to Badshah’s remixed version of Kala Chashma from the 2016 film Baar Baar Dekho—on their Instagram and TikTok in June 2022. “When @katrinakaif don’t show up to your brothers wedding u gotta do it yourself (sic)” they wrote in the caption. 

Within 10 days, it had racked up millions of views, with their account garnering 100,000 followers on TikTok. On June 20, they posted another part of the Kala Chashma performance on Instagram to announce that the full 13-minute video was up on their YouTube channel. The full performance has 106 million views. On Instagram, where their follower count steadily climbed into a multi-million figure, Katrina Kaif dropped a fire emoji under that “last post”. 

A lesson in virality

Because of The Quick Style’s wedding video, the Badshah version of Kala Chashma (the original was released in 1991) re-entered pop consciousness. And this time, its reach multiplied. By August, Jimmy Fallon and Demi Lovato were vibing to it in New York; and, it has been a permanent fixture since last year’s wedding season. 

The Quick Style’s fate has popped in much the same way: Their MO being a curious mix of nostalgia, cultural cross-pollination, sharply-honed dance skills, and an ear for an irresistible beat. “We also have that identity—multicultural, minority,” says Malik, explaining the group’s origin story on the second day of their debut visit to India. “We didn’t engineer it, it happened quite naturally.”

In 2006, Bilal Malik, his brother Suleman Malik (both of Pakistani origin), and their friend Nasir Sirikhan (of Thai origin) were 14-year-olds drawn to the dance floor, all fascinated by Michael Jackson’s moves. Over the next few years, they won many competitions in Norway and Europe. They landed a contract with Sony Music in 2009 when they won Norske Talenter, the Norwegian version of Britain’s Got Talent. Today, their crew has grown to 11 members with diverse ethnic backgrounds—Indian to Japanese—and most of them trained at the trio’s studio from very young ages.

After Jackson, “we were lucky to be able to watch a lot of Japanese underground hip-hop dancers,” says Sirikhan. “We even learned some of our moves from Justin Timberlake’s choreographer.” After initially toying with the name Casanovas, the Malik brothers and Sirikhan landed on the name Quick Style, after the “classic” Norwegian chocolate brand Kvikk Lunsj; and were soon just as ubiquitous on the cultural landscape.

“When YouTube started, we began to post videos from our rehearsals purely to show people what we did,” says Sirikhan. What was unique about these videos was how the crew applied the global language of hip-hop to their diverse cultural backgrounds. They could go from an updated version of the monastery or the two-step into a social dance on an Iranian number; they could apply the energy of a mainstream pop video to a folk Coke Studio song like Kana Yaari. All of this is elevated by flawless synchronisation, a keen sense of style, and boundless energy. 

More than a numbers game

Slowly, their YouTube videos began to find viewers from unlikely places. But, says Bilal Malik, “we’ve never done what we do for the numbers. We love these songs that we dance to, we’ve grown up with them—whether they’re Iranian, Afghani, Indian, or from anywhere else in the world. When we create, it takes our languages out into the world.” 

Just as diverse is their client list. The Quick Style has worked with K-pop heroes BTS, American R&B singer Usher, J-pop group Be:First, and Norwegian rap phenomenon Karpe. “It wasn’t our intention to create a big company. It was created by nature, formed by love, friendship, and family, which makes it different,” says Bilal. “Being able to do any cultural song, from any part of the world, as long as it fits us and matches our vibe—that is the beauty.”

In the past year, the Quick Style has travelled widely; their “wolf pack” have taken over the world, racing through the streets of London, New York, Dubai, and Lahore. Hours after landing in Mumbai—where screaming fans greeted them—they were packed into a local train. The next day, at the Meta India HQ, they arrived, surviving on barely two hours of sleep, but you wouldn’t know it unless they told you. 

They met and filmed performances with Virat Kohli, Raveena Tandon, and Suneil Shetty; dished on their journey, and offered hard-won wisdom on social media success to Instagram creators. They also released a “challenge” video, a brief choreography to the trending 2022 song Dilbar by Rusha & Blizza x Tech Panda & Kenzani, shot inside a bathroom. 

There is a lot of thought behind these high-profile collaborations. “We are activating different regions,” says Sirikhan. “Our intention is to be available for all generations,” adds Bilal, “whether it is aunties in the local market in Oslo or kids in Somalia asking us if we’ll start dancing now.” For Suleman, it’s about “showing people different cultures and values through our style.” “If you can bring something niche into a larger commercial scene, that is a big step. I believe when you think global, it gets fun. But no matter what, we are always happy where we are.”

As they talk, it’s clear they are wise to the fleeting nature of their new-found fame. “You should not have expectations for what the reach of your content should be,” advises Yasin Tatby (of Moroccan-Finnish descent), “because that can lead to disappointments.” “Own your failures,” says Sirikhan, “because in every success, there is failure. Think of it as battle scars.”   

“We love what we do, we find strength, growth, community and joy through it,” says Bilal. “We want to keep it clean, have fun while we make it, and hope that people can relate to it all.” At the same time, says Suleman, “this is also our chance to show the world that we are not just an overnight thing.”

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