Kenyan TikTok star Only Lit Boy opens up on singing on the streets

Voice projection is a skill famous TikToker Only Lit Boy had to learn in order to have the high pitch required to sing on the streets.

Born Edward Mbaria, Only Lit Boy practised voice projection in a field near his home every morning for a week, where he would shout and enjoy listening to the echoes.

With 4.7 million likes on TikTok and 736,000 followers, Only Lit Boy has become a figure on social media comedy.

For the uninitiated, Only Lit Boy bursts before a crowd wearing his trademark headphones and starts screaming lyrics of popular songs.

Driven by the urge to do something unique, Only Lit Boy began singing in the streets last year August.

Motivated by his dance mates, as he is also a dancer, Only Lit Boy’s video generated 1.2 million likes on Tiktok.

“The first singing video I did was Sipangwingwi. The views gave me the determination I needed to continue doing more,” he recalls.

However, even though people in the crowd were impressed by his stunt, Only Lit Boy says there was one man in a crowd who was disappointed.

“If you were my son, I would beat you so thoroughly in order to knock some sense in your head,” the man told him.

The 20-year-old performs in marketplaces in an unusual tone that has everyone looking at him since only he can hear the song.

“Being an altar boy who sang in church boosted my confidence of being around a crowd of people. When I was in primary as well as high school, I participated in drama festivals and that has been my stepping stone,” he told Nation.Africa in an interview.

Even though he does not earn yet for singing in the streets, Only Lit Boy says he has been approached by brands who want him to wear their merchandise while singing.

Only Lit Boy also wants to promote awareness of societal ills through his art, something that he has derived from seeing his peers and older youths get into drug abuse.

“From song selection, my team (of six dancers) and I choose which message we need to pass out there. I sing to pass messages.”

Better life

They shoot and edit their videos on their own. At first, they used phones but now they use a camera.

Through his social media pages, Only Lit Boy has been able to generate traffic and make people laugh, something he says is his driving force.

“The economy currently is tough and everyone is so fixated on what they can do to improve their living standards. Seeing people smile and laugh as I sing encourages me knowing that at that juncture they are not worrying about life hurdles,” he adds.

The actual of shooting his videos is his main challenge, he confirms. His team has to scout the location, get to the location and plan how the video will be done.

“Convincing people to be recorded also poses as a challenge because many a time people do not want to pause what they are doing.”

Despite the challenges, Only Lit Boy says that giving his mother a better life also makes him push through and work extra hard.

“In five years, I want to be an icon. I want to be a mirror of society as a young person,” he adds.

Only Lit Boy says that talent in Kenya pays only when an artist knows their skill and perfects it.

“My goal is to see happy faces and hear people say their day was made from watching my videos. That in itself pushes me to provide the content every single day.”

Only Lit Boy plans to take a break to restrategise and also bring something new to his art.

"The shift will help me be more creative and also add more followers to my content," he says.