How did you get into dancing?
I used to be rather shy when it came to dancing. I thought: 'No, I'd rather not.' But I'd always watched dance videos, and at some point when I was 16, I thought: 'OK, I want to be able to dance too.' And then I just gave it a go. I locked myself in a room once, put on some music and just danced. That's when I realised that it's a really nice feeling to be free, not to think about how you look, but just to move. From then on, I said: 'Now I'm going to dance every day and practise it properly, and I want to get really good at dancing,' and then it just started.
Who were your idols?
I only had one dancer who was my role model; his name is Kida the Great. He inspired me a lot. Even before I danced, I used to watch his videos. And when I was teaching myself to dance, I used to watch his videos in my room. I put them on slow motion and tried to imitate them. He was definitely my role model; on social media and as a dancer.
How would you describe your dance style?
Hip-hop is my main thing, but I started out with freestyle. I went to dance school to learn choreography, which is especially important for videos. In 2022 I added afro.
What fascinates the audience about dancing?
I think it's just a nice vibe - you dance, you smile, and it looks like fun. Sometimes you sit in front of your mobile phone and just have to join in. No matter what language the singing is in or where the music comes from, everyone can move to it and connect.
Why did you start uploading your dance videos to TikTok?
I actually just wanted to generate a bit of reach as a dancer. I was giving dance lessons at the time and my goal was just to get people to come to my classes. A mate had told me that it's easy to build up reach as a dancer on TikTok. That was the only reason I started. I told myself: 'I'm dancing. I'm doing what I love, just on a different platform. Whether it's Instagram or TikTok doesn't really matter.'
When did you decide to go for the afro look?
I used to want to grow my hair long, but I didn't want to look after it. I didn't want to comb it until I was 10 or so. That's why I always had stress with my father. He always wanted to cut my hair off. And then I said I wanted it like the one from High School Musical. He has really nice corkscrew curls. And before I combed my hair out, I had hair like that. I don't know how that happened, but my dad didn't like it. He thought it didn't look so neat, he wanted the shape to look perfect. Then I learned how to take care of the corkscrew curls, and everyone started to love my hair – including my dad. That's how it started.
What reactions are you most happy about?
What I think is very cool is mums always come up to me, with children who are mixed [ethnic background] like me or who are Black, and say: 'Since my daughter has been watching your videos, she wears her hair with pride.' At school, I had children say to me: 'You have funny hair,' and they laughed. That naturally makes children feel insecure. And I've often heard people say: 'Since my children have been watching your videos, my son loves his hair and wants to let it grow even longer.' That's very, very nice feedback; the nicest, actually.
How did you come up with your signature move of popping your afro out of your hood?
Back then, I was nowhere near as big as I am now. I started when I was still in training. At some point I had one or two million followers and could already make a living from it. And of course, that reassured my parents at first, they saw that there was money coming in, that could live off it easily, even move out, so that wasn't a problem at all. But it wasn't like everything is now.
There were several levels of what 'going through the roof' meant. Back then, 'going through the roof' was a video in which I danced with a policeman in Munich, I just went there and started dancing. That was the first video in the millions. The first video that really took off, I think it had around 40m [views] at the time, was actually my hair. It was lockdown, and I had to think of something I could do because I couldn't dance outside due to Covid. So, I made a video in which I let my hair pop out of my hood to a sound, and suddenly it had 40m views. That was briefly my thing during the time when I couldn't do anything outside.
Then came a time when development came to a standstill. I first grew from 300,000 to 1m [followers], then I stood still at 1m for over a year. It was just like that for a year, nothing went up, nothing at all. I was a bit frustrated, but then I went back to dancing, dancing and one day, I brought my hair back into play. I went up to a security guard and pulled my hood down. He was so happy all of a sudden, he hugged me, it was really nice. Then I put a soundtrack over it, and the video suddenly had 100m views. From that day on, I completely brought my hair back into the game. I did this move everywhere: at the doctor's, at the police station, everywhere, and all the videos went viral.
That's how the hype really started up again, but the problem was I didn't want to be known for just taking my hood down, so then I immediately combined it with dancing again, and everything just went completely crazy.
What expectations did you start out with as a creator?
I knew when I started that this could be something. I went in with confidence right away, I decided that from now on, I would post three videos a day just to see what happened. But, of course, I never expected to have 40m followers on any platform someday.
How was the evolution from dancer to creator for you?
I definitely had to change my mindset. As a dancer, I have a certain pride and the TikTok moves are more of a vibe than real dancing. But my followers can easily imitate them, which I think is great. At some point, I said: as long as I can make people smile, I'm happy.
What do your parents say about your life as a creator?
My parents taught me that it's cool to do what you enjoy in life. They never told me that I had to study or do this or that. They always said that the most important thing is to have fun. That's how I grew up. I always thought that I would never do something just for the money if I didn't enjoy it. I was raised with that mindset. Always do what brings you joy, without worrying what others say. I've always kept that mentality, and that's why I do what I do today.
How spontaneous are your videos?
I do everything in public, and people don't see what's behind it all. Because I always go to a public place and sometimes I can't even go to that public place without everyone coming over, taking photos and gathering around me. That means filming something with someone without them noticing it right away is often impossible. So, the more famous I become, the more difficult it is too. In other countries, it often happens that people come up to me and ask, 'Hey, can we make a video?' and then I do it quickly. Or when I pass by a restaurant, some people who see me already place their phones down and watch, waiting for me to come up to them. It's sometimes like that and sometimes not. Sometimes I talk to people, and sometimes I just do it. It depends on if others recognise me.
Do you have plans for new formats?
Yes, after all the short dance videos, I'm currently thinking about YouTube long formats. Maybe I'll talk more about them and incorporate new elements that have nothing to do with dancing. I want to broaden my horizons in some way.
Which country that you've visited has been your favourite so far?
Brazil. I originally planned to stay for two weeks but ended up staying for two months. Brazil was one of the nicest countries. And also Egypt. I didn't expect it, but Egypt was the most intense country in terms of hype. It started getting more intense after just three days. To the point where I couldn't even go outside anymore. It was really intense. On my last day, I even organised a fan meeting to say goodbye to Egypt. I posted a story, and then 3,000 people showed up. I shared a short story, and then I was there, and 3,000 people were there to say goodbye to me. It was really very special.
Did you travel a lot before your career?
Not at all. I've been to a few countries, Nigeria, of course; otherwise holidays with the family in Italy or something. But no big trips. I'm also not the sight-seeing type, I have to say. I'm not that interested in beautiful buildings. I'm more of a person who wants to mingle with people and see how they live. But I'm not a sight-seeing type at all. I only go to the sights to make a video so that everyone knows I'm in the city. But apart from that, I don't go there.
Do you still enjoy travelling?
I still have a lot of fun, but it has also become very exhausting. And travelling has become a bit normal as well. My first trip was to Brazil, and I was like, 'Wow, I'm in Brazil, amazing!' And now I go from here to there to there. I'm always somewhere else, and it has become normal. So that feeling of, 'Wow, I'm here now,' – I mean, I am very grateful – but the excitement is fading a bit. You've always seen so much, so it becomes more normal. That's why it's quite exhausting, but it's a lot of fun. You still get to see new cultures and different people. So it's definitely still enjoyable, otherwise I wouldn't continue travelling.
Do people in different cultures react differently to you?
When I realised that people in every country know you, it was already a crazy feeling. When I go to the centre of a city for the first time, and then I realise that everyone comes up and wants to take photos. And in every country, it's always different – how they react to you. In some countries, they scream, in some they come up and hug you. It's different in every country and I just find it beautiful to see how people radiate this love differently. So it's completely different in every country. In Brazil, for example, it often happens that five-year-old children come up and hug you like that. I've never experienced that before, and it's really nice to see so many different cultures and different people and how they react to you.