You may have spotted videos of some questionable dancing popping up in your social feeds in recent weeks.

The Kiki Challenge is the latest social media challenge sweeping the globe and has led to police forces warning people against taking part.

But what is the Kiki Challenge? Where did it come from? And why are police condemning it?

What is the Kiki Challenge and where did it come from?

As with numerous Internet memes in the past few years, the Kiki Challenge is inspired by Toronto rapper Drake.

Social media star Shiggy posted a video to his 1.8 million Instagram followers in June of himself dancing to Drake’s latest hit single, “In My Feelings.”

 

#Mood : KEKE Do You Love Me ? ������ @champagnepapi #DoTheShiggy #InMyFeelings

A post shared by Shoker�� (@theshiggyshow) on

New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. then shared a clip of himself doing the dance after hopping out of a vehicle. And thus, the Kiki Challenge was born.

Since then the craze has exploded across the Internet, with celebrities like Will Smith and Ciara taking part.

Smith’s attempt in Budapest sees him scale a bridge. "This is definitely illegal," he says in the Instagram video.

Why are police against it?

Like most Internet challenges, people have made it riskier and riskier.

Attempts to perform more outrageous instances of the dance, particularly from outside moving cars, has caused injuries and chaos on roads.

 

 

“This stuff spreads so quickly that by the time you’re on the third day, it’s not enough to make the same video that everybody else did, you have to make it bigger or better or faster or scarier,” said University of Waterloo social media expert Aimee Morrison. “So that really accelerates the moves to the extremes.”

One video of a man being hit by a car in Florida while performing the dance has served as a stark warning to those taking part.

 

“There’s been some people who’ve fallen out of motor vehicles,” said Guelph police Const. Ian Smith. “There’s one video showing a young man getting run over by another car. Injury or death could occur.”

And doing the challenge could land you in legal trouble as well as the emergency room.

“There could be some Highway Traffic Act charges, stunt driving, careless driving, depending on whether the driver themselves is video recording,” Smith added.

Drake released the music video for ‘In My Feelings’ on Friday and makes references to the popular dance towards the end of the video.

"I just had a dream that I made some song about some girl," Drake tells a friend after waking up. "I was from New Orleans, I had like, a grill in my mouth. And then this kid from New York that spits when he talks all the time did some dance to it, and then the world did the dance, and Will Smith was there. It was terrible!"

The video ends with Shiggy making a cameo, playing a production assistant sent to get Drake.

As the credits roll, a number of viral videos of people doing the dance can be seen.