YouTube’s cool, fun 29-year-old aunty Khadija Mbowe gives their take on various pop culture events from the comfort of their bedroom. Ever since the Gambian-Canadian-American artist uploaded their first video to the platform, questioning how to spend their time during the pandemic, their channel has taken off, gaining thousands of views.
As their channel evolved, the video essays began to brush on topics such as race, gender, sexuality, and other aspects related to personal identities. Khadija’s 456K subscribers and other frequent watchers have helped a handful of videos garner over 1M views, namely the reign of the slim-thick influencer, an overview of how the slender yet curvaceous body type gained popularity; race-baiting, queer-baiting, colorism, featurism, and performative diversity, which explores issues with the popular Netflix series Bridgerton; and why do all these influencers have the same face, a video dissecting racial ambiguity on social media apps.
Why do all influencers seem to have the same face? Aunty Khadija Mbowe has ideas that over 1M have viewed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYQcCZ5kHDs&t=25s #ContentEntrepreneur #Creatoreconomy Share on XThe musician turned content creator has had personal struggles throughout their professional career, which prompted them to stay informed on a plethora of injustices. Khadija once told Opera Canada, “Conversations about racism and exclusion were never meant to be easy and young singers know that. It is why we turn to the internet, allowing us some freedom to scream into the void of our cellphones what we dare not say in a public master class.”
Khadija earns revenue from their Patreon account, with monthly subscriber plans of $2.50, $4.50, or $11.50 to receive anything from a credit in their video to exclusive/ private vlogs.
YouTuber Khadija Mbowe's hardship dealing in the arts gave them the bandwidth to speak against the unjust. #Stan #YouTube #ContentBusiness Share on XWhy we’re a Stan: Aunty Khadija Mbowe’s history dealing with hardship in the arts gave them the bandwidth all to proudly speak against anything they deemed unjust on their YouTube channel.
About the author
Shameyka McCalman is a wordsmith whose work often centers around fashion, art, and other creatives of color. She earned her communications degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston and enjoys sifting through clothes in local vintage shops, frequenting nearby plays, and gazing at exhibitions on view in museums.