Tik Tok is a phenomenon application of today. The most followed person in this application with 146 million people as of July 2022 is a Muslim of Senegalese origin: Khaby Lame
Khabane Lame was born on March 9, 2000 in Senegal. Before becoming a TikTok celebrity, he worked as a CNC machine operator. He started posting on TikTok in March 2020 during the COVID-19 quarantines. TikToker was the most followed Italian on April 26, 2021. Then, in June 2022, he was recognized as the most followed Tik Tok person in the world. As of July 2022, he has over 146 million followers. He shares videos that contain ironic and dark humor.
Even those who do not know his name, when they see his face, "Oh, I know now, he is a very funny boy!" they says. Behind the success of Khaby Lame, who first took over TikTok and then Instagram with his silent reactions, lies doing something that no one else has done.
Khabane Lame worked at a factory near the city of Turin in the north of the country, before Italy entered the Covid quarantine early last year. The quarantine started, the factory closed and Lame was suddenly out of work. He now spends his time at his family's house in Chivasso with his three siblings, while trying to find another job.
One day, while surfing the internet, he downloaded the TikTok application and opened an account with the username "Khaby Lame", and from that moment on, his life began to change in an unexpected way.
Like all fresh users of TikTok, he started his posts with classic content. He was dancing to various songs, playing computer games, shooting comedy videos and uploading them to his channel.
Earlier this year, he decided to offer his followers something different and started producing content that made fun of the life-enhancing videos that we often see on Social Media platforms. He reacted by following the advice "Look, it's easy if you do it this way" in his videos, and either shrugs or rolls her eyes.
With these reactions, the followers must have been so impressed that his channel started to rise rapidly.
Moreover, 22-year-old Lame did it without opening his mouth and saying a word. On TikTok, which is a very noisy platform, Lame made a difference with its silence.
Lame told CNN recently, "I wanted to add some simplicity to these videos that I often come across on social media. That's how the idea for my own videos came about," he said. "I was looking for a way to reach as many people as possible, and the best way was to not talk."
Originally from Senegal, Lame is a slender young man with a face that speaks volumes. In most of his videos, he makes fun of videos of people who overcomplicate mundane tasks and shows a more logical and simpler way of doing the same thing. For example, in one of the videos, against a person trying to peel a banana with a chopper, Lame shows us that we can easily peel a banana with his hands. In another video, Lame suggests using a vegetable peeler as an alternative to cucumber, which the woman peels with one's teeth.
Lame's reactions are summarized in the internet world as SMH, 'shaking my head'. After Lame peels the banana with her hand or opens her drink with the opener, she opens her palms and looks at the camera as if to say "Oh but that's okay". Sometimes this signature gesture is accompanied by an eye roll or a nod.
Thanks to these quiet but telling responses, Lame soon became one of social media's best-known content creators.
Lame explained, "Maybe my facial expressions are funny to people, it makes them laugh. This simplicity makes people laugh and I love it."
He became the agenda in Italy
Khaby Lame was on the agenda again in July 2022. Because it turned out that Italy did not grant citizenship to Khaby Lame. Khaby Lame, 22, moved to Italy with his family from Senegal when he was 1 year old. Although Lame has lived and studied in Italy for about 21 years, he still has not been able to obtain citizenship due to Italy's strict citizenship laws. With the influence of Lame's reputation, known as the "TikTok king", demands for reform in the citizenship law in Italy came to the fore again.
There is debate about granting citizenship to children who have foreign parents but were born in Italy or settled there before the age of 12 and studied there for at least 5 years. A legislative act in this direction, called "Ius Scholae", was submitted to the parliament. The regulation is expected to begin debate in the House of Representatives from next week.
According to the current laws in Italy, children born in Italy can automatically acquire citizenship only if one of the parents is Italian. Children with both foreign parents can apply for citizenship only after they turn 18; After this application, the long waiting periods can lead to complaints.
Khaby Lame also brought up citizenship laws in an interview with La Repubblica newspaper. "It's not fair that someone who has lived and grown up in Italian culture all these years and is clean still doesn't have citizenship," Lame said.
Lame's words were published on the front page of La Repubblica with the headline "I, TikTok king, have been waiting 20 years to be Italian".
According to a survey by YouTrend, 59 percent of Italians support the implementation of the "Ius Scholae" principle by reforming the citizenship law.
Links for deeper information:
Most Followed Tiktok Star Khaby Lame Is a Muslim and Hafiz e Quran
Tik Tok account:
https://www.tiktok.com/@khaby.lame