Amid the backdrop of Charli XCX’s ‘Apple’, claims of being ‘demure’, and snippets from hotel breakfasts, familiar faces continuously produce content.
Indeed, while TikTok hosts a variety of ever-evolving, unique content, there are certain creators that fans consistently turn to.
Many of these influencers gained their fame during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the top TikToker at the moment.
Yes, that’s Khaby Lame. After he was laid off from his factory job during the lockdown, he began recording videos of himself dancing, reacting to video games, and performing comedy sketches, eventually finding his niche.
That niche? He never utters a word in his videos.
Boasting 162.9 million followers and 2.5 billion likes, he responds to life hack videos on TikTok with his signature simple reactions—a shrug, a gesture, or a facial expression.
While this approach has proven hugely successful for the Senegalese-Italian star, some might wonder why he chooses to remain silent, and he has provided a quite reasonable explanation for it.
In 2022, Khaby Lame explained to CNN that his silent reactions were designed to embody the term ‘shaking my head’—commonly abbreviated as ‘smh.’ His videos frequently display his frustration with the unnecessarily complicated aspects of everyday life.
“I came up with the idea because I was seeing these videos circulating, and I liked the idea of bringing some simplicity to it,” he shared.
“The type of gesture came by chance, but the silence didn’t. I thought of a way to reach as many people as possible. And the best way was not to speak.”
“Maybe because my facial expressions are funny and they make people laugh, this simplicity makes people laugh and I love it.”
@khaby.lameI hope one day you will teach me how to be a ninja #comic #learnfromkhaby #ufc
Khaby Lame overtook Charli D’Amelio as the most followed account on TikTok in 2022.
However, he asserts that it isn’t the number of followers or likes that motivates him to continue creating videos. Instead, his primary goal is to bring laughter to people, especially during the lockdown period.
“I don’t care if I’m first or second or fourth most popular on TikTok. I started making videos because I wanted to make people laugh in that period of lockdown,” Khaby explained.
“And I keep making videos with the same ideals. I’m happy about my accomplishments, but those are not my main things.”
Looking ahead, Khaby has grand aspirations.
He dreams of someday making a movie with Will Smith, whom he counts among his fans.
