Shanin Blake
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Overview
Shanin Blake or Sunshine999 is a musician, influencer and OnlyFans model who gained a significant following throughout the 2020s. Blake is known for her hippy, naturalist aesthetic and lyrical content. Throughout 2022 and 2023, some TikTokers have accused Blake of culturally appropriating Black and indigenous culture with her dreadlocks and her manner of singing and rapping, sparking online debates.
Online History
Shanin Blake posted her first song, "Bag of Hammers," to her YouTube[1] page on April 21st, 2013, garnering over 109,000 views in 10 years (shown below, left). She posted her second video to YouTube[2] on March 12th, 2014, playing her song "The Game," garnering over 52,000 views in nine years (shown below, right). On January 22nd, 2018, she released her first album, Soul Child, on Spotify.[3]
On November 19th, 2021, Blake released her second album, lioness, on Spotify.[4] Blake started posting content to TikTok as early as 2022 under the account @shaninblake888, but it was deleted. She started her new TikTok[5] account, @shaninblake999, on February 11th, 2022, garnering over 692,000 followers in a year. Some of her earliest and most consistent content on the app shows her singing to her own songs (examples shown below). On June 16th, 2022, Blake released a music video for her song "nature song" on YouTube,[6] garnering over 227,000 views in a year.
@shaninblake999 New song drops 6/20 !! Bongrips at night ☺︎♡ #fyp ♬ bongrips at night by shanin blake – 🍄 shanin blake 🍄
@shaninblake999 Might mess w some of the words but ima call it pu$$y power
In December 2022, Blake posted a video to TikTok[10] responding to accusations of cultural appropriation due to her dreadlocks. In the video, she supports the idea that dreadlocks aren't cultural appropriation because many cultures wear them, not just Black and indigenous people. In the video's caption, she also explains that she is part Native American (shown below).
@shaninblake999 For the people in the back. I’m Native American and Hispanic and Irish, I grew up in a family that speaks fluent Spanish, visiting my relatives in Mexico often and eating homemade tacos. I grew up doing plant medicine, burning sage, doing sweat lodges in tipis and connecting with my ancestors as a part of my culture. My great great grandfather was a famous Cherokee chief, so please stop telling people what their ‘race’ is and what they can and can’t do. You are unaware that this is offensive. If someone has light skin it doesn’t mean they are ‘white European’. As well as dreadlocks they’ve been worn by every culture, it is not cultural appropriation even if you are just white, you can have dreads and burn sage. So please do your research and ask people what their ethnicity is, instead of being so rude and disrespectful, it’s offensive when you say those hateful things to me and other people. You are the one who is culturally appropriating.
"Energy Vampires" / August 2023 Cultural Appropriation Accusations
On May 22nd, 2023, Blake released the song "Energy Vampires" on Spotify,[7] garnering over 850,000 views in three months and becoming one of her most popular songs. On July 19th, she posted a lip dub video on TikTok[8] set to the song, garnering over 15 million views in a month (shown below).
@shaninblake999 I attract what i allow in ✨ #fyp ♬ Energy Vampires by shanin blake – 🍄 shanin blake 🍄
That August, TikTokers began replying to the video to accuse Blake of culturally appropriating Black and indigenous culture for both her dreadlocks and the style of her music. For example, on August 10th, TikToker[9] @mangolipgloss posted a reaction claiming Blake's "art style" is stolen from Black artists, garnering over 1.6 million views in two weeks (shown below, left). On August 11th, TikToker[11] @ozcolleo posted a video explaining, in her opinion, what Blake is taking from the Native community, garnering over 156,000 views in two weeks. In the video, she points out the dreamcatcher in Blake's car and the way Blake says a native Hawaiian phrase in the song (shown below, right).
@mangolipgloss #stitch with @🍄 shanin blake 🍄 I’m not getting any incentive to promote Noname! But if you take the time to listen, you’ll see where the originality is at. #nonamerapper #smino #room25 #neosoul #ravynlenae ♬ original sound – kiki✰
@ozcolleo #stitch with @🍄 shanin blake 🍄 #greenscreen i swear if i get called slurs in my comments again #nativetiktok #indigenous #karankawakadla #quechua #coahuiltecan ♬ original sound – ozcollo/léo
While some criticized Blake, others defended Blake from the criticism. On August 12th, TikToker[12] @deathmetaldad40 posted a video saying people are bullying her too much, calling her critics "boring" and saying Blake is just a "hippy" and they've always appropriated stuff, garnering over 90,000 views in two weeks (shown below).
@deathmetaldad40 @🍄 shanin blake 🍄 seems cool and everyone else is boring. #shame #sarcasm #musictok #shaninblakecontroversy #shaninblake #hippietok ♬ original sound – Slam Dad
Online Presence
Shanin Blake has over 385,000 followers on Instagram, over 690,000 on TikTok and over 259,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. She has been the subject of several interviews and commentary pieces, including an interview with YouTuber[13]
Dazedgypsy Lauren on December 28th, 2022 (shown below, left) and a commentary video by YouTuber[14] Dev Limes on August 25th, 2023, garnering over 78,700 views in three days (shown below, right).
Search Interest
External References
[1] YouTube – shanin blake
[2] YouTube – shanin blake
[3] Spotify – soul child
[5] TikTok – first post
[6] YouTube – shanin blake
[7] Spotify – Energy Vampires
[8] TikTok – shaninblake999
[9] TikTok – mangolipgloss
[10] TikTok – Shaninblake
[12] TikTok – deathmetaldad40
[13] YouTube – Dazedgypsy Lauren
Top Comments
Donald Task
Aug 29, 2023 at 12:50PM EDT
Whoop DeDoo
Aug 29, 2023 at 03:37PM EDT