[imagesource: Getty]

American TikTok star Charli D’Amelio used to have the most followers on TikTok.

Until Wednesday night, when Senegalese-born comedian Khaby Lame took over.

At the time of writing, Lame has 143,2 million followers compared to D’Amelio’s 142,4 million.

The two have always been relatively neck to neck, but Lame’s (pronounced Lah-MAY) videos where he out-logics and mocks the often ridiculously complicated life hack videos that flood social media platforms have helped him with the TikTok crown.

Although reacting wordlessly to complicated and absurd “life hacks” was how Lame, who resides in Italy, started out, he is now racking up millions of views and likes with different kinds of silent comedy skits.

TikTok has been criticised for how it treats creators of colour, so Lame becoming the most popular personality on TikTok is a big deal, per The Verge:

Lame’s ascent and unseating of D’Amelio is significant. D’Amelio and her sister, Dixie, are two of the central figureheads of TikTok, building an entire media brand atop what they themselves admit was initially accidental stardom.

Their meteoric rise to fame through seconds-long dancing videos has perplexed people not on TikTok — and inspired millions of followers to try to do the same. The sisters earned an estimated $27.5 million last year, according to estimates by Forbes.

Personally, I don’t get D’Amelio’s dance thing:

@charlidamelio @zoifishh @Arrington @Luis ♬ original sound – ✌︎︎

However, I can back Lame and his plethora of facial expressions:

@khaby.lame If @50 Cent had to do a casting in the 19th century. 🤣 #learnfromkhaby #learnontiktok @tiktok @tiktokcreators ♬ sonido original – 0riginal_G7

A few recent examples of his videos for those who steer clear of TikTok:

@khaby.lame Tag your friends who simulate frequently 🤣@433 #learnfromkhaby #learnontiktok @tiktok @tiktokcreators ♬ suono originale – Khabane lame

@khaby.lame Happy “break”day 🥳 🍰 🤣 @Lele Pons @Hannah Stocking do it with your friends and mention us #learnfromkhaby #learnontiktok @tiktok @tiktokcreators ♬ suono originale – Khabane lame

@khaby.lame 🎣 Mention your friends 🤣 #learnfromkhaby #learnontiktok @tiktok @tiktokcreators ♬ suono originale – Khabane lame

Good to see that for Lame, silence and simplicity still speak volumes.

[source:verge]