TIK TOK STAR KELVIN IKWARA SHARES HIS JOURNEY FROM BUSIA TO THE WORLD

Popular ‘Tik Toker” Kelvin Ikwara has spoken after being the first Kenyan celebrity to be featured on American popular entertainment website The Shade Room.

Speaking during an interview, Ikwara said he got to know about The Shade Room recently when his video was featured on the website’s Instagram page. “I got to know The Shade Room when I was featured there. It was actually big, many people have been calling me. Some call through direct calls others call through the DM and I appreciate them,” he told Jalang’o.

Ikwara disclosed that he came across Tik Tok through his friends whom he met just a few months after getting to Nairobi from his hometown in Busia. “I came to Nairobi to hustle and in the course of working that’s when I interacted with people who had downloaded Tik Tok and that is when I decided to also try it,” he noted.

He downloaded the application, and started using it late last year when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak in the country. “I downloaded the app in mid-2020 but I was not active until late last year. I saw people mourning and I wanted to make them happy. I saw it is a free app where people can express whatever they want and reach people across the world. That is when I decided to try and I went viral,” he added.

Ikwara also recalled how he reacted after his video went viral, disclosing that it hit over 2.5 million views and 411,000 likes. “Immediately I uploaded that video I switched off the phone and after a few hours I checked. It was the first video but it got more than 300,000 views,” He added, after going viral with his first video, it gave him moral support to make more content. “From there that is how I got the moral to do more videos. So everyday I make four videos or at least two and on bad days I make one video,” he added.

On dancing to most international songs, Ikwara explained that he picks those songs so that he can reach people worldwide and deliver the intended message. “I wanted to pick a videos that can reach many people outside our continent, it should be something that can be picked by everyone all over the world. That’s why you see me dancing to alot of International videos, when I pick local songs, I have to mix it with other songs so that everyone can get a message,” he said.

Ikwara also reacted to award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o for posting him, noting that he felt he had won an Oscar award. “People tagged me to go and check. What I can tell Lupita is, by posting that video she made me feel like I’m at the Oscar’s.”

On how his mum’s reaction towards his dancing, he said, “When I told her, she could not believe thats what I’m doing right now. Unfortunately, it happed during lockdown and she was back in the village. I used close friends at home to go and show her the videos and she didn’t have words to say.”