Katharina Buczek
In March of 2020, sixteen-year-old Charlie D’Amelio took the title of TikTok’s top followed creator– and held it for over two years. But this month, Khabane Lame stole the throne.
Khabane, also known as Khaby, is a twenty-one-year-old Senegalese-Italian influencer who won the world over with his wordless commentary on ridiculous life hack videos.
Ever seen the “5 Minute Crafts” TikToks? He often duets or stitches “hacks” like that and shows his displeasure by completing tasks– such as peeling a banana or putting on socks– in the correct way.
Khaby is based in Italy and actually turned to TikTok in a moment of uncertainty. He was a factory worker prior to COVID-19 but, like many, lost his job amidst the pandemic.
And while his father encouraged him to apply for more jobs, Khaby began posting regularly on TikTok in March of 2020.
This was right when the platform really boomed in users due to quarantines and isolation periods around the globe.
His videos first appeared in Italian before Khaby moved on to creating the reaction clips. And by June of 2021, he had already acquired 65.6 million followers in just over a year.
Now, he has more than doubled that– reaching just over 145 million followers on June 23. This milestone also makes Khaby the second influencer to ever cross TikTok’s 100 million follower threshold.
TikTok; pictured above is Khaby in one of his videos
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