Photo: luzitanija/Adobe Stock
Steps from their home in Morogoro, Kili Paul and his sister Neema film lip-sync and dance videos set to Bollywood songs in their Maasai clothes that regularly go viral in India. Kili Paul started creating content in 2019 with a small number of followers which has ballooned to nearly ten million followers on Instagram, one of the highest followings among content creators in Tanzania.
Paul’s viral videos have gone beyond Instagram to tours of India. In 2022, he made guest appearances in the mega-reality TV show “Bigg Boss 16” and in India’s version of Strictly Come Dancing “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10”. Kili Paul has also received recognition from India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and honored by India’s High Commission in Tanzania.
Stellar lip-syncing aside, what makes this Tanzanian brother-sister duo so popular? The Paul siblings are a good reminder of the “feel good” nature of cultural appreciation, when done right. It is a delicate balance that can easily veer into cultural appropriation. However, with the correct mix of respect and admiration, cultural appreciation content is fun.
Kili Paul’s video belongs to a broader family of feel-good cultural appreciation content, such as the “Oluwa-Mark” videos (Timo Hendriksen, a Dutch content creator dancing to Afrobeats on TikTok is one example) and every video circulating on WhatsApp of non-Africans speaking fluent Swahili/Igbo/Xhosa/any African language. Of course, this type of media is not without valid criticism. Some argue, for example, that African dancers (who typically choreograph these viral Afrobeats dance routines) should receive the same if not more opportunities as their non-African counterparts for performing the same routines.
We like feel-good content. In an age of hyperconnectivity, Tanzanian dancers can create income from lip-syncing Bollywood songs. Dutch dancers can go viral performing Afrobeats choreography. Where Kili Paul stands out from many other creators is his ability to translate his viral videos into an engaged following by sticking to the cardinal rules of influencing: provide content constantly and evolve with the times. Kili Paul has built a career as a content creator, paving the way for others in Africa’s burgeoning influencer economy.
