UAE: Man who went viral without saying a word talks it up in Dubai

For a man who went viral for not uttering a single word and having one exasperated emotion, Senegalese-Italian content creator Khaby Lame had plenty to say and express while addressing Dubai.

“I started doing videos only to make people laugh during the pandemic,” he said, speaking to a packed audience at the 1 Billion Followers Summit. “Now, thanks to God, I was able to buy a house for my mother and me with my income.”

Throwing in his trademark expressions and gestures, he kept the crowds in splits. When he was asked what he thought was success, he kept quiet for a while, as the crowd burst into laughter. “I am thinking,” he said, struggling not to laugh. “When people ask me questions, I answer. I don’t keep quiet.”

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The Tiktoker, who has 161 million followers and is the most followed account on the platform, was a factory worker at the start of the pandemic. His wordless reactions to ridiculous videos have gone viral and have been turned into countless memes and stickers.

He said the key to creating great content was to keep it simple. “I made my first videos on a very bad phone,” he said. “I did not have a light, so I just made some changes to the settings. You don’t really need a big camera or a lot of equipment to make good content.”

Grateful

Khaby said that he was extremely grateful for the opportunities he had received. “The best thing is that my mother she has become soft with me,” he said. “African mothers are never soft.”

He said the outpouring of love gave him a lot of energy to continue creating. “Every day I wake up, all energetic to make new video for my followers,” he said. “I do it for the passion not for the money or fame. And that is what keeps me going. It is important for content creators to do what they are doing out of love and passion.”

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