Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
TikTok, a video-sharing social media networking service that encourages individuals to be their own creators, has racked up around one billion users around the world and continues to grow.
The 15-second-or-less video creation app, owned by ByteDance, has users sing, dance, act, or meme to the backdrop of pre-recorded audio clips or songs, making everyone feel like a star. It is available in more than 150 countries, in 75 languages and has been downloaded more than 123 million times in the US alone.
As of last year, Bloomberg stated that ByteDance has been estimated to be worth more than $75 billion. And according to Esquire Middle East, TikTok describes its appeal as the following: “To capture and present the world’s creativity, knowledge, and precious life moments, directly from the mobile phone. TikTok enables everyone to be a creator, and encourages users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos.”
One such user was 26-year-old Abdulla Abdulhakeem, known across the kingdom as Confait, a Bahraini-Seychellois rapper that is signed under the Outlaw Productions recording Hip Hop label.
His TikTok friend, @k.aa.rh, had suggested he create a song for the app and Confait decided to give it a shot.
“The most interesting thing about TikTok to me is the sound of any video on TikTok can be used by anyone else on the app, which makes it easier for creators to start challenges. I really enjoy making TikToks. It’s fun for me. I’m into filming, editing and acting so apps like this allow me to showcase that.
“I’ve always wanted to do something with Fortnite’s dance moves so I thought I’ll write a song and choreograph a dance to it! It’s made up of a mix of popular dance moves from the video game, put together by me.”
His song and dance challenge, called Fortnite Dab, went viral and racked up a whopping 1.8 million views. It also won him the award for TikTok Arabia’s Most Popular Original Song in 2019. The awards were announced at TikTok’s end of the year ceremony on New Year’s Eve in Dubai. It was his first award in his musical career.
He said: “I knew it was going to be popular but I honestly did not expect that. I was surprised when I heard I was nominated for the award and I was even more surprised to hear that I won it! I appreciate TikTok for acknowledging me. It is an honour. Just by seeing people doing the challenge and having fun doing it was already a win for me.
“I actually wanted to name the challenge Fortnite Dance but I think I accidentally wrote Fortnite Dab and now it’s stuck.”
Confait, who had to stop going to school when he was in the eighth grade due to his family moving around a lot, started rapping in 2007. He then took up a dancing job where he performed on stage and he was hooked.
“That’s when I knew I wanted to make dancing my career,” he explained. “I performed in many events after that and continued to write and rap as a hobby until one day I decided to take it seriously. So here I am today, a signed artist under Outlaw Productions.”
His ultimate dream is for his music to reach as far as possible; making people want to get up and dance as well as lighten up someone’s mood. He advises aspiring artists to get out of their comfort zones and see what happens. As for him, perhaps a few fun challenges are in his future. He said: “Dance videos or comedy videos, you’re basically going to see a lot more of me but definitely more music. Official music is coming soon! I’ve been in the studio with the team lately and we’ve been working on some projects.”
