Toronto hip-hop artist Akintoye uses TikTok to spin pandemic boredom into fame
Global News
Akintoye, a rapper and freestylist, is one of the artists to make TikTok's Black Trailblazers list for Black History Month.
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In celebration of Black History Month, TikTok is spotlighting the contributions of its Black creators by amplifying their talents through the second annual Black TikTok Trailblazers list. On that list is Toronto rapper Akintoye (@yeahitsak), known for his clever and relatable rhymes.
Akintoye got started on the social media platform shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. A performer since middle school, he’d already been uploading some of his short rap videos to Instagram.
But it wasn’t until a group of junior high kids he was working with shamed him for not being on TikTok that he decided to give the platform a go.
“I was 20 at the time and they made me feel old,” he told Global News with a laugh.
It turns out pivoting to the platform was a great decision. Shortly after COVID-19 started, an asthmatic Akintoye found all his usual performance venues shuttered and he had no desire to leave the house. His first video, a response to another rapper’s challenge, did some “insane numbers.”
“At the time, I’d never seen anyone outside of my friends acknowledge that I made music so when I was getting, like, 10,000 views, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never seen numbers like this in my life. This is insane.'”
As it turns out, 10,000 views was a relatively paltry number compared with some of the impressions he’s garnered more recently.