Hanna is Golden (real name Hanna Min-Jung Herbertson) has used her love of dancehall and dancing to charm the infamous TikTok algorithm and spread her passion to over 225k followers. This is a story of energy, defying norms and cultural immersion that began in her laundry room.
Tell us, who are you and what do you do?
I usually call myself a multi-hyphenate and have a host of different interests. My passion job is as a dancer, and it’s become a vehicle for me that’s taken me across the world. I grew up on the Swedish island of Gotland, but dance and travel have united to take me across the world to immerse myself in cultures and forms of expressive dance and music.
Tell us about your journey to where you are today as Hanna is Golden.
The love of music and dance is where it all started. I moved to New York to dance, there I also learned how to DJ. And the golden came in because my DJ teacher said I needed a name – and I like gold! My dance crew in NY was named Blackgold so it’s always sort of followed me around. ‘Hanna is Golden’ seemed to have a better tone than my surname, so it’s been with me ever since.
You clearly know your way around Social Media.
As a creator, dancer, and teacher, coming to NY, I needed to step out of my shy Swedish persona and find a way to self-promote and amplify my qualities. As I enjoyed social media, branding and editing social media content, it became a vehicle for me to promote what I was doing. As what I was doing gained traction, brands and companies came to me and asked for help, so I consult now in marketing and strategy, alongside the dancing.
You’re in Sweden now though, right?
Yeah, when I moved back to Sweden, I thought I was done. But the dance has continued. It’s in my soul, part of my DNA. I felt I needed to learn TikTok to help develop my consultancy, so I started posting videos mainly to get the hang of it as a platform.
And then it happened?
I used to dance while doing the laundry, in the laundry room in the basement of my apartment building and that started to take off. I was just shooting in the app, using TikTok’s tools. I feel most at home doing the Jamaican dancehall dances. The algorithm helped to amplify the content!A lot of people were surprised to see an Asian woman doing dancehall. But the films connected with people – they felt and shared the joy I get when I dance and hear that kind of music.
You’re a dancer not just to dancehall but other forms of music and dance forms as well?
I love the Afrobeats, R’n’B and Hip Hop. But the algorithms pigeonhole you, so I’m classed as dancehall. In the beginning, it was ballet and all that sort of stuff. But I was (and still am) a dancehall nerd. When I was in New York, I’d travel to parties late at night, going from borough to borough.
Dancehall is one of those genres of music that feels like a sub-genre but is kind of always present in many forms, how would you class dancehall?
People were confused when I moved to NY and said I loved dancehall and taught dancehall dance. It’s known but not so much on a deep level unless you’re involved in it. But there’s a deep cultural side to it, and a more commercial side of it. They meet in the middle; you can have a foot in Jamaica and one in the mainstream. That said, the raw side stays mainly in the party.
Describe dancehall for someone who has no idea of what it is.
The music and the dance reflect life and the way you’re feeling. There are spiritual songs, sensual sexual songs, and angry songs. It can be fast or slow. The dance and the live dancehall experience are intertwined. Sometimes, the music draws its creativity from the dancers; a singer will pick up on a dance and write a song about it, and sometimes, the dancer will interpret the song and amplify it. The dancers go to be seen; you dress up. You can be paid to go to a party as a dancer. There’s not like an audition system for a stage role; you get spotted at a club and asked to dance at clubs to lock in the vibe. Or you do something like I’m doing nowadays; go viral online and book gigs that way instead.
And now you’re making merchandise! What messages or themes do you want to explore on your garments?
I did some merch for my clients and brands and suddenly realised that I don’t have merch for Hanna is Golden. One of my friends pushed me and said I should try it, and I felt it was time, so here we are. I’ve always been about having fun with what I’m doing on Social Media though. Along the way, people have said they want to support me, but I didn’t just want to take money and give nothing in return. This way, they can support me and express support for the culture as well, which feels more like ‘me’. The little messages align with what I post on TikTok and seem to resonate with people. The ‘I got places to go but I love dancehall’ line for example. The response has been cool. I want to try different things and messages because it’s so easy to create the products.
Before we let you go, give us a few artists or DJs we can check out to give our summer some proper flavour this year.
Artists that I recommend checking out include Ding Dong, Shenseea, Busy Signal, and also Spice. This is also one of my favourite sets by DJ 90sBella, and one I made that you can listen to.
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