The Everyman of the Internet
June 3, 2021 12:52 PM Subscribe
“It’s my face and my expressions which make people laugh" [NYT, alternative links on archive.org and archive.is]: meet Khaby Lame, a Senegalese-Italian former factory worker who has become the fastest-growing content creator on TikTok (66.1M followers and counting... he’s also on Instagram, 18.M), profiled in The New York Times by Jason Horowitz and Taylor Lorenz (who also mentions a recent article in Vox about "the blandness of TikTok’s biggest stars" and how "Khaby Lame is the antithesis of that" as he is "wholly unaffiliated with the Hollywood industrial complex").
I didn't know his name but the minute I started reading this I knew exactly who it was.
posted by jquinby at 1:12 PM on June 3, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by jquinby at 1:12 PM on June 3, 2021 [10 favorites]
He is deeply unimpressed for all of us.
posted by mhoye at 1:14 PM on June 3, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 1:14 PM on June 3, 2021 [7 favorites]
Yeah, I blocked him after the fifth or sixth appearance on my FYP. The schtick is whatever, though I’m cool with him smashing engagement records.
I wish I could review my TT blocklist: it’s grown even faster than Twitter, incredibly.
Obviously I’m on it every single day.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 1:21 PM on June 3, 2021
I wish I could review my TT blocklist: it’s grown even faster than Twitter, incredibly.
Obviously I’m on it every single day.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 1:21 PM on June 3, 2021
I kiss him! Does he like sex? Will he invitate us his house?
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:21 PM on June 3, 2021
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:21 PM on June 3, 2021
I've seen some of Lame's stuff and it is sufficiently funny. It's too bad that he's parodying assistive devices sometimes but some of what he does is to mock the all-too-ubiquitous "life hacks" videos that seems to infest TikTok/Reels like gnats. I think it's great that he's succeeding with a less-is-more esthetic rather than the more-is-more that seems to be so much of 2021 social media. No more countertop nachos, please, for the love of God.
posted by GuyZero at 1:34 PM on June 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 1:34 PM on June 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
Like the guy who filled his Tesla frunk with milk to dunk cookies in it needs to be mocked!
posted by GuyZero at 1:37 PM on June 3, 2021
posted by GuyZero at 1:37 PM on June 3, 2021
OK I I have never TikTok'd until this moment. My grandson is at the table at home school. I turned on Bella Poarch's biteo that is up, my grandson immediately asked me if I am on TikTok!
posted by Oyéah at 1:39 PM on June 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 1:39 PM on June 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
No more countertop nachos, please, for the love of God.
The
posted by zamboni at 1:40 PM on June 3, 2021
The
Lax standardsthread is a couple of posts down.
posted by zamboni at 1:40 PM on June 3, 2021
For those who are curious about his background and personal life, he (and his manager...) answer a lot of questions in this interview in Italian
posted by bitteschoen at 1:52 PM on June 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by bitteschoen at 1:52 PM on June 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
It’s the resignation in the tolerance of life’s little indignities that speak to me.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 2:10 PM on June 3, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 2:10 PM on June 3, 2021 [5 favorites]
Another Mefi post was about TikTok, and I scrolled down and discovered lots of Khaby Lame videos. They're addictive. It's kind of all the same joke, but his deadpan is masterful. Glad to learn more about him!
posted by zompist at 2:20 PM on June 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by zompist at 2:20 PM on June 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
You're an existential everyman, Charlie Brown Khaby Lame!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:34 PM on June 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:34 PM on June 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
Man, TikTok is basic.
It's like a whole global network based of of people who think fishing funnies are funny.
posted by signal at 3:17 PM on June 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
It's like a whole global network based of of people who think fishing funnies are funny.
posted by signal at 3:17 PM on June 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
his deadpan is masterful
I may be wrong about this but: has he basically subverted digital blackface (a concept which Italians are altogether unaware of, in my experience), monetizing it to his own benefit?
posted by progosk at 11:36 PM on June 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
I may be wrong about this but: has he basically subverted digital blackface (a concept which Italians are altogether unaware of, in my experience), monetizing it to his own benefit?
posted by progosk at 11:36 PM on June 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
From the interview:
What did you dream of becoming as a child?
"The comedian. I watched The Prince of Bel-Air with Will Smith, the films of Checco Zalone, Eddy Murphy and I was already a clown with friends. I like to make people laugh. But I want to say that the life of the worker, even if I don't manage to become a comedian, I don't mind ”.
Dear America, this is how you have a happy life.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:03 AM on June 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
What did you dream of becoming as a child?
"The comedian. I watched The Prince of Bel-Air with Will Smith, the films of Checco Zalone, Eddy Murphy and I was already a clown with friends. I like to make people laugh. But I want to say that the life of the worker, even if I don't manage to become a comedian, I don't mind ”.
Dear America, this is how you have a happy life.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:03 AM on June 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
he (and his manager...) answer a lot of questions in this interview in Italian
He's singlehandedly tipping quite a few flashpoints that underpin the pervasive/unspoken racism (and inability to face up to a massively suppressed colonial legacy) that reigns in Italy, and Italian media: black (and Muslim) success stories here have so far only been seen in sports, and usually to dramatic/tragic effect. That he's in a position - his growing up in solidarity with other "New Italians" now short-circuited with his meteoric cross-boundary celebrity - to shrug/chuckle this off is... interesting to watch.
On a minor tangent: the NYT article is an interesting case of the moot point of capital B's: the authors apply it, now by default, in a context where it's not ever, as least as of yet, used...
posted by progosk at 2:37 AM on June 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
He's singlehandedly tipping quite a few flashpoints that underpin the pervasive/unspoken racism (and inability to face up to a massively suppressed colonial legacy) that reigns in Italy, and Italian media: black (and Muslim) success stories here have so far only been seen in sports, and usually to dramatic/tragic effect. That he's in a position - his growing up in solidarity with other "New Italians" now short-circuited with his meteoric cross-boundary celebrity - to shrug/chuckle this off is... interesting to watch.
On a minor tangent: the NYT article is an interesting case of the moot point of capital B's: the authors apply it, now by default, in a context where it's not ever, as least as of yet, used...
posted by progosk at 2:37 AM on June 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
I have seen a couple of compilations of his work and have been amused. The ones I've seen have mostly been mocking TikTok "life hacks" that OMG desperately deserve to be mocked.
posted by rednikki at 5:39 AM on June 4, 2021
posted by rednikki at 5:39 AM on June 4, 2021
TikTok just gave itself permission to collect biometric data on US users, including ‘faceprints and voiceprints’
posted by gwint at 12:33 PM on June 4, 2021
posted by gwint at 12:33 PM on June 4, 2021
^^^On a minor tangent: the NYT article is an interesting case of the moot point of capital B's: the authors apply it, now by default, in a context where it's not ever, as least as of yet, used...
To a newspaper copy editor, there's no such thing as "a minor tangent" on journalistic writing style.
Why are "capital B's" a "moot point"?
Also: I'm puzzled by the statement "...in a context where it's not ever, at least as of yet, used," given the information presented in the Guardian commentary, by Minna Salami, to which you've linked.
"A Nigerian, Finnish and Swedish writer, feminist theorist and lecturer," Ms. Salami describes the disempowerment she experienced when "a significant number of news agencies, magazines, universities, publishers and cultural institutions followed suit" after the Associated Press announced, in July 2020, that its policy was now "to capitalize Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense."
Associated Press is an organization of US newspapers and broadcasters. AP's global reach ensures that its policies have an impact outside journalism and outside the U.S. As a journalist, however, I won't go as far as to say that every English-language news agency, newspaper, etc., abides by AP guidance.
Regarding the capitalization of "Black," Minna Salami (whose journalism has been published by US, UK, Swedish and Nigerian news outlets) says:
To a newspaper copy editor, there's no such thing as "a minor tangent" on journalistic writing style.
Why are "capital B's" a "moot point"?
Also: I'm puzzled by the statement "...in a context where it's not ever, at least as of yet, used," given the information presented in the Guardian commentary, by Minna Salami, to which you've linked.
"A Nigerian, Finnish and Swedish writer, feminist theorist and lecturer," Ms. Salami describes the disempowerment she experienced when "a significant number of news agencies, magazines, universities, publishers and cultural institutions followed suit" after the Associated Press announced, in July 2020, that its policy was now "to capitalize Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense."
Associated Press is an organization of US newspapers and broadcasters. AP's global reach ensures that its policies have an impact outside journalism and outside the U.S. As a journalist, however, I won't go as far as to say that every English-language news agency, newspaper, etc., abides by AP guidance.
Regarding the capitalization of "Black," Minna Salami (whose journalism has been published by US, UK, Swedish and Nigerian news outlets) says:
To be clear, I am not opposing the capital “b” per se. I am opposing the imposition of any rules on blackness, no matter how empowering they may seem (and this would include organisations which insist on lower-casing the “b”). It should not be in the hands of institutions and their guidelines to dictate what is best for black people at large: it is the individual author who should make their choice.posted by virago at 1:02 AM on June 6, 2021
virago, I was referring to the NYT’s “prominent Black Italians” and “the country’s most famous Black soccer star”.
I’m not saying it’s an easy call when writing about ethnicities in other countries that choose not to capitalize their adjectives if given the choice, so the fact that it’s dictated wholesale by new standardized NYT usage… seemed to be one of those cases that Minna Salami identifies as deserving a finer-grained consideration. Black Italians do not generally advocate to have “neri” capitalised (there are substantially different fish to fry first). Why should the US-bound usage automatically apply in all contexts?
posted by progosk at 2:49 PM on June 7, 2021
I’m not saying it’s an easy call when writing about ethnicities in other countries that choose not to capitalize their adjectives if given the choice, so the fact that it’s dictated wholesale by new standardized NYT usage… seemed to be one of those cases that Minna Salami identifies as deserving a finer-grained consideration. Black Italians do not generally advocate to have “neri” capitalised (there are substantially different fish to fry first). Why should the US-bound usage automatically apply in all contexts?
posted by progosk at 2:49 PM on June 7, 2021
(perhaps moot was a poor choice for “not one-size-fits-all”.)
posted by progosk at 3:02 PM on June 7, 2021
posted by progosk at 3:02 PM on June 7, 2021
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