Depending on how the Supreme Court rules, we may be in the final days of TikTok in the U.S. But it continues to be a powerful platform for creators and communities the world over, "particularly with young people in the Global South," says Payal Arora, a digital anthropologist at Utrecht University.
"TikTok has really disrupted the way in which people see these communities," Arora says. "Yes, they are in rural areas. Yes, they're poor. But there's a sense of confidence, humor. They basically have used this channel to humanize themselves."
Goats and Soda has surveyed the platform to offer up a selection of this year's heavy hitters from the Global South.
Khaby Lame: Silent and sly
His TikToks involve no talking by him. His shtick has brought comparisons to the non-verbal, nearly silent British comic Mr. Bean. And he's reportedly the most followed account on TikTok — with 162.4 million followers.
Khabane "Khaby" Lame was born in Senegal and grew up primarily in Italy. In early 2020, at the start of the pandemic, he started posting videos on TikTok.
Much of Lame's content pokes fun at life hacks, which, in his view, are baloney. In a typical video, he shows the original life hack video before revealing how ridiculous it is, all without saying a word.
@khaby.lame Try it and let me know #learnfromkhaby #comedy ♬ original sound - Khabane lame
For example, one of his videos begins with an excerpt of another social video of someone emptying their deodorant stick and refilling it with melted butter. Once solidified in the fridge, it becomes a seemingly perfect tool for spreading butter on a slice of bread. The video hard cuts to Lame in the kitchen looking at the camera with an expression that conveys just how stupid he thinks the butter-in-the-deodorant idea is. He takes his own stick of butter, unwraps one end and scrapes it against a piece of toast. No deodorant required.
Lame appears to delight in mocking the corners of the internet where these life hacks originate, even if the result may seem a little silly. "He's just burst the bubble," says Arora, "and said, 'Hey, hang on. They are the idiots, not you. You're doing the normal thing.'"
Lame has also embraced the Mr. Bean comparison. In a video posted in November, he creates a fake airport encounter between him (a security officer) and archival footage of the real Mr. Bean (as a passenger). Suspecting Mr. Bean has a gun (which he does not — it's just a pretend gun he fashions out of his fingers), Lame pursues him at length through the terminal. The video has received 9.2 million views and counting.
@khaby.lame Many of you have been asking me to share something about Mr. Bean, so here it is finally, a video just for you! I hope it brings a smile to your face. Let me know if you’d like to see more content like this!#learnfromkhaby #comedy #mrbean ♬ original sound - Khabane lame
Lame's performance as a mime gives him a global audience. "If you talk, then accent [and] language — all this gets held against you," says Arora. "Which is why you see a lot of the creators coming from the Global South who are circumventing these sort[s] of barriers."
Moo Deng: A face only a mother — and 3.3 million followers — can love
The Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand has posted videos featuring many of their animals, but the star of the show is without a doubt Moo Deng — a pygmy hippo who was born this summer.
In one video, Moo Deng gets a couple playful pats on her rump from a zookeeper, runs around and eats a veggie snack.
In another, Moo Deng's keeper gives her a tender face rub to a cheerful tune. Arora says this kind of content has a broad appeal. "This contrasts to decades of practice," she explains, "where we build content for different age groups thinking that older people will like this kind of content, and children will like that kind of content — and it doesn't quite apply anymore."
@khamoo.andthegang ฮิปโปน่ารักมั้ย #ฮิปโป #ขาหมูแอนด์เดอะแก๊ง #hippo #หมูเด้งจะเด้งกี่โมง #hippopotamus ♬ เสียงต้นฉบับ - ズäﾶﾑﾚåWﾑ刀.ｱんö
Moo Deng — whose name roughly translates to "bouncy pork" — is so popular that TikTok featured her in their annual roundup of top trends and accounts on the platform. This year, the company writes, the popularity of Moo Deng and other trending animals "transcended borders, not only connecting people with a shared love of animals but also sparking conversations around their welfare and preservation."
Viral remixes of viral hits
That same TikTok roundup lists the top ten global songs of the year based on Spotify streams and how many user-created videos each has generated. This year's listing includes "Alibi" — an anthem of feminine power and queer energy in a world that often seeks to undermine that strength — by Sevdaliza (an Iranian-Dutch singer-songwriter) featuring Pabllo Vittar (a Brazilian drag queen and singer) and Yseult (a French singer-songwriter). It's an international performance that has found its way into oodles of TikTok accounts the world over.
Arthur Paek has his own viral take on the same song. Born in Brazil to parents who immigrated from South Korea, Paek is a culinary enthusiast and influencer whose distinctive videos pair quick cuts of him preparing a dish to the tune of a pop song, timing his percussive chops, splashes and movements to the steps of the recipe. The result looks like a syncopated dance. For the song "Alibi," he and a companion prepare potatoes au gratin. Spuds fly through the air, ham is diced and the dish is baked to perfection — all in a video that clocks in under 30 seconds.
@arthurpaek batata gratinada 🥔🎶 Ingredientes - 6 batatas - mussarela e presunto - requeijão - creme de leite - sal a gosto - pimenta do reino a gosto
♬ Alibi - Sevdaliza & Pabllo Vittar & Yseult
Most users rely on one of two other approaches to take advantage of pop songs. First, there are those who lip-synch — like Kili Paul, a Tanzanian social media star who performs Bollywood and other movie hits against the backdrop of his rural community — a mix of greenery and low-slung buildings. Arora says he has won the adoration of fans in the Global South, including many in the Indian diaspora.
A lot of Paul's earlier videos feature his sister as a co-star. "They're super confident [and] they have embraced the Indian culture so deeply. They are giving their own twist to it."
Earlier this year, Paul was invited to the Indian embassy in Tanzania. The office tweeted, "Today had a special visitor at the @IndiainTanzania; famous Tanzanian artist Kili Paul has won millions of hearts in India for his videos lip-synching to popular Indian film songs #IndiaTanzania."
Niana Guerrero, age 18, is a good example of the second type of content that incorporates pop songs — viral dance videos. Guerrero is one of the most popular TikTok creators in the Philippines with 44 million followers. At 9 years old, she joined her older brother in his popular dance videos. Several years later, she started making her own. "Every time I make a video, I make sure the energy of just fun and happiness is in that video," she said in an interview with VICE Asia.
@nianaguerrero FAV DANCE RN ( dc @MONA ) 😮💨😮💨😮💨 #onewithnatalia @Megan Thee Stallion ♬ Mamushi (feat. Yuki Chiba) - Megan Thee Stallion
Her dance challenge videos have been featured in the music videos of Drake and BTS. And on occasion, her original dance routine to a particular song inspires people from all over the world to copy her moves and post their own versions from the U.K. to South Korea — an example of how the internet spawns more internet.
Her tip for creating viral content is simple: "Know what you have to offer to the world that ain't nobody else can."
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