For today’s lesson in cultural literacy, we unpack “Backpack Kid,” the skinny 15-year-old shown for 50 seconds with Katy Perry on “Saturday Night Live.”

Katy Perry with Russell Horning on “SNL.” Image via NBC
In real life, the unsmiling “Swish Swish” dancer is Russell Horning of Lawrenceville, Georgia. His Instagram following has skyrocketed in the past 48 hours way past 500,000.

“Backpack Kid, as the people of Twitter dubbed him, stepped onto the runway and mesmerized the world with his backpack and the way he moved,” said HuffPost.

“People were delighted. They were in awe. They were confused. They had questions. They knew he had stolen the show.”

Esquire noted that Russell, known as i_got_barzz to Instagram followers, has been a viral sensation for a number of months.

“I have no idea. It just started taking off so I kept it going,” Horning told BET’s Jazmine A. Ortiz in December, adding, “I think people love the videos so much because they’re original. Yeah, there are other dance videos, but mine are funny. There’s nothing else like it.”

Other disciples of Backpack Kid:

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