What is the deal with Watashi Wa Star TikTok trend? Megan Thee Stallion dance explained and lyrics meaning

• TikTok’s latest dance craze is Watashi Wa Star. 
• It is based on a song by the rapper Megan Thee Stallion. 
• Videos of people doing the dance have millions of views. 

If your kids are into TikTok you might have heard them yapping away about Watashi Wa Star recently. In fact they may have even enthusiastically attempted to get you to join in with this latest dance craze. 

Unless you are plugged into the culture - or at least the latest going ons in hip-hop - the whole thing may have gone completely over your head. And it is okay to accept that the older you get the more life gets in the way of keeping up with trends. 

So if you are trying to figure out what the heck is going on with the Watashi Wa Star trend, don’t worry we are here to help you out. Here’s all you need to know: 

What is Watashi Wa Star and is it a dance? 

The phrase has gained popularity online after being used as a lyrical refrain in a song by Megan Thee Stallion in her viral hit Mamushi released earlier this year. During the track the American raps ‘Watashi Wa Star’ which is a Japanese phrase which roughly translates to “I am a star” - which is a phrase she raps in English earlier in the song “I get money, I’m a star”. 

The song itself features the Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba and a large part of it is in Japanese. But despite the language barrier that hasn’t stopped it inspiring a trend on TikTok. 

A dance based on the track, particularly the Watashi Wa Star refrain, has become popular throughout July. TikTok users are filming themselves doing the dance with the Megan Thee Stallion track playing over the top - or in one case, with someone playing an acoustic guitar version of it. 

How do you do the dance? 

Look, I am not going to attempt to describe the step by step for doing the dance because I am not sure I have the words to do it and also would end up sounding even more like an old man. Instead I’m just going to embed a TikTok or two and let the experts show you what to do. 

The only move I can put into words is that it involves doing the devil horns (or sign of the horns as some call it) with your hand - which you may be familiar with if you’ve ever been into rock music/ gone to a metal concert. But just watch the clips, it will make more sense just to do that. 

What do the lyrics of the song mean? 

As mentioned in the above section explaining what Watashi Wa Star means, the phrase itself is basically “I’m a star” in Japanese. But what about the rest of the track? 

According to the geniuses at, well, Genius.com, the song title itself Mamushi is a reference to a Japanese snake of the same name. The website claims that a theme of Megan’s album on which the track features “is the beginning of something new – she is shedding her skin like snakes do”. 

Megan Thee Stallion’s english verse on the song features plenty of references to wealth and expensive products - like a crocodile skin Hermes bag. It is a continuation of the flexing from the song’s main refrain - “I get money, I’m a star”. 

I’m afraid that my Japanese is next to zero, so I can't really offer insight into what is in Yuki Chiba’s verse. But it is likely to be offering similar sentiments to the rest of the song around money and being a star. 

Have your kids tried to get you to do the Watashi Wa Star dance? Share your experience in the comments below.