One of the world’s biggest TikTokers revealed why he never says a word in his videos.
Khaby Lame – aka @khaby.lame – shot to fame on TikTok during the coronavirus pandemic after losing his factory job during lockdown.
In his first videos nearly four years ago, Khaby filmed himself dancing, reacting to video games and performing comedy skits, but since then he’s managed to tap into a niche of his own.
And it’s done very well for him.
TikTok/Khaby Lame
These days, he reacts to life hack videos – which are in plentiful supply on the platform – but he never speaks in any of the clips.
And apparently, there’s an important reason for it.
Khaby told CNN back in 2022 that his silent reactions were meant to personify the term ‘shaking my head’ – otherwise known as ‘smh’ – with his videos regularly showing his exasperation at weirdly complicated parts of life.
He said: “I came up with the idea because I was seeing these videos circulating, and I liked the idea of bringing some simplicity to it.
“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.”
TikTok/@khaby.lame
Khaby surpassed Charli D’Amelio to become the most followed account on TikTok, with over 160 million followers and 2.4 billion video likes.
He says it’s not the following or the likes that keep him making videos, though, but the fact he’s making people laugh on the platform.
“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,” he said.
“And I keep making videos with the same ideals. I’m happy about my accomplishments, but those are not my main things.”
And he has some big ambitions for the future, too.
Khaby says he would one day like to make a movie with Will Smith, counting the movie star as one of his fans.
Khaby shot to fame on TikTok during the coronavirus pandemic after losing his factory job during lockdown.
While his first videos featured him dancing, reacting to video games and performing comedy skits as many TikTokers do, he soon managed to find a niche of his own.
He really hit his stride when he began reacting to the torrent of ‘life hack’ videos flooding the internet claiming to have found easier ways to live your life.
For Khaby, all it takes is a shrug, a gesture or a facial expression to mock these videos – and he does it all without a word.
Khaby told CNN his silent reactions were meant to personify the term ‘shaking my head’, with his videos regularly showing his exasperation at weirdly complicated parts of life.
He said: “I came up with the idea because I was seeing these videos circulating, and I liked the idea of bringing some simplicity to it.
“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.”
He recently surpassed Charli D’Amelio to become the most followed account on TikTok, with over 142 million followers.
One of the genius things about his videos is that by not speaking you don’t need to know any language to understand them, meaning they have a global appeal.
It’s why a man born in Senegal who moved to Italy at a young age has been able to grow a massive fanbase all over the world.
They also tap into a generational feeling that life is complicated and it really shouldn’t have to be, plus at this point a lot of those life hack videos aren’t really helping people sort their lives out, if anything they’re more complicated than ever.
As for what the future holds for the TikTok megastar, he would one day like to make a movie with Will Smith, counting the movie star as one of his fans.
Khaby’s popularity is enduring proof that sometimes you say it best when you say nothing at all.