Kanye East: The Meme That Ruined Its Creators Life

Summary

The video script tells the story of Mike Manik, the man behind the parody persona 'Kanye East,' who gained internet fame in 2021. Initially disliked for his resemblance to Kanye West, Mike embraced the nickname and created a TikTok account. His content, including the 'Rap Your Comment' series and the viral 'Fortnite Balls' song, led to significant online success. However, this came at a cost, including the loss of friends, a six-year relationship, and even homelessness. Despite the challenges, Mike continues to create content, with plans to release more music and grow his brand, all while maintaining a positive outlook.

Takeaways

• 😀 Mike Manik, known as Kanye East, gained popularity by parodying Kanye West on social media.
• 🎤 His impersonation included reading Kanye West's tweets and rapping live on TikTok, which eventually led to a significant following.
• 🔥 The 'Rap Your Comment' series, especially the 'Fortnite Balls' video, went viral and significantly boosted his fame.
• 💔 The success of his parody account led to personal losses, including the end of a six-year relationship and friendships.
• 🏠 Financial success from his online persona allowed him to quit his job, but it also contributed to his homelessness due to a rent increase and lease issues.
• 🎵 Mike capitalized on his online fame by creating a YouTube channel and releasing music, including a song about 'Fortnite Balls'.
• 📉 Despite initial success, the novelty of his content faded, and he faced criticism and a decline in engagement.
• 💬 The public's demand for controversial content led to backlash and affected his personal life and relationships.
• 🏡 Mike faced homelessness again when his landlord increased the rent, and he couldn't secure a new lease without proof of income.
• 🚀 Despite setbacks, Mike continues to create content and plans to release more music and grow his brand.
• 🌟 Mike's story is one of resilience and creativity, showing that even in the face of adversity, one can find ways to adapt and move forward.

Q & A

Who is Kanye East and why was he popular on social media?

Kanye East is a parody account created by Mike Manik, who gained significant popularity on TikTok by impersonating Kanye West. He became popular for his parody videos, including the 'Rap Your Comment' series and his famous 'Fortnite Balls' rap.

What was the origin of Mike Manik's nickname 'Kanye'?

Mike Manik was called 'Kanye' in high school due to his resemblance to the rapper Kanye West, a nickname he initially disliked.

When did Mike Manik start his Kanye East persona on TikTok?

Mike Manik started his Kanye East persona on TikTok on June 21, 2020, with his first video as his new alter ego.

How did the 'Fortnite Balls' rap video impact Mike Manik's career?

The 'Fortnite Balls' rap video went viral, leading to increased views and followers. It resulted in 400,000 views on YouTube, over 1 million streams on Spotify, and a verified parody with 4 million views, significantly boosting his career.

What were some of the negative consequences Mike Manik faced due to his popularity as Kanye East?

Mike Manik faced several negative consequences, including the loss of friends, a breakup with his girlfriend of six years, and eventually becoming homeless.

Why did Mike Manik's girlfriend leave him?

Mike Manik's girlfriend left him, citing jealousy over his easy success and the money he was making from his viral content.

How did the TikTok community's changing attitude affect Mike Manik?

As the TikTok community's attention span is notoriously short, Mike Manik started receiving negative feedback, with users claiming he 'fell off'. This led him to create less 'Rap Your Comment' content and focus on other projects.

What was the situation with Mike Manik's landlord that contributed to his homelessness?

Mike Manik's landlord demanded an immediate rent increase from $875 to $1295 a month after discovering his TikTok fame, which Mike refused, leading to his eviction.

How did Mike Manik's best friend of seven years betray him?

Mike Manik's best friend expected him to pay for everything during a trip to California, which led to a confrontation and the end of their friendship.

What are Mike Manik's plans for the future despite his recent struggles?

Mike Manik plans to release more music, produce a mixtape, create more music videos, and continue growing his brand.

What message does Mike Manik have for his audience based on his experiences?

Mike Manik encourages his audience to pursue their passions and ideas without hesitation, regardless of what others may think or say.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Rise and Fall of Kanye East

The script introduces Kanye East, a parody account created by Mike Manik that gained significant popularity on TikTok in 2021. Initially disliked for his resemblance to Kanye West, Mike embraced the nickname and found fame online. His content, including 'Fortnite balls' and the 'Rapier comment series', went viral, but this success came at a personal cost, leading to the loss of friends, a long-term relationship, and eventually, his home. The paragraph details Mike's journey from being a high school student known as Kanye to becoming a TikTok sensation and the challenges he faced due to his online persona.

05:02

🏠 Homelessness and Betrayal

This paragraph delves into the darker side of Mike Manik's story post-fame. Despite his online success as Kanye East, Mike faced a series of personal setbacks. His landlord attempted to take advantage of his fame by demanding a rent increase, leading to Mike becoming homeless. He had to live in a tent before moving into a temporary apartment. Additionally, a trip to California with his best friend of seven years turned sour, resulting in the end of their friendship. The paragraph highlights the contrast between Mike's online popularity and his real-life struggles, including the loss of relationships due to perceived wealth and the pressures of maintaining his online persona.

Keywords

💡Kanye West

Kanye West is a renowned American rapper, singer, and fashion designer. In the context of the video, he is the inspiration for the parody account 'Kanye East' created by Mike Manik. The video discusses how Mike's impersonation of Kanye West led to both success and personal challenges, highlighting the complex relationship between fame and personal life.

💡Social Media

Social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube are central to the video's narrative, serving as the medium through which Mike Manik's 'Kanye East' persona gained popularity. The video illustrates the power of social media in catapulting individuals to fame and the subsequent impact on their personal lives.

💡Parody

A parody is a form of entertainment that imitates or mocks a well-known person or work, often for comedic effect. In the video, Mike Manik's 'Kanye East' is a parody of Kanye West, capitalizing on his likeness and public persona to create humorous content, which eventually led to significant online fame.

💡Viral Content

Viral content refers to media that spreads rapidly and widely on the internet, often due to its shareability and entertainment value. The video discusses how Mike's 'Fortnite balls' rap comment became viral, significantly boosting his online presence and fan base.

💡Personal Branding

Personal branding is the process of creating and maintaining a public image or identity, often for professional or commercial purposes. Mike Manik's 'Kanye East' is an example of personal branding, where he leveraged his resemblance to Kanye West to create a distinct online persona that attracted followers and commercial opportunities.

💡Meme Culture

Meme culture is a social phenomenon driven by the creation and sharing of humorous images, videos, and texts, often spreading rapidly on the internet. The video touches on how Mike's 'Rapier comment series' became part of meme culture, contributing to his online fame and the subsequent challenges he faced.

💡Influencer

An influencer is an individual who has the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience. Mike Manik, as 'Kanye East,' became an influencer through his social media presence, which led to commercial opportunities and a significant following.

💡Controversy

Controversy refers to a situation that causes disagreement and often heated debate. In the video, Mike faced controversy when he was asked to rap inappropriate comments during his live streams, which he refused but still led to backlash, illustrating the challenges of maintaining a public persona on social media.

💡Homelessness

Homelessness is the state of not having a home or a permanent place of residence. The video reveals that Mike's success as 'Kanye East' led to personal challenges, including losing his home and experiencing homelessness, which is a stark contrast to his online success and highlights the complex nature of fame.

💡Cameo

Cameo is a platform where fans can pay celebrities or influencers for personalized video messages. In the video, Mike Manik used Cameo as a source of income after his online fame, demonstrating how social media fame can translate into commercial opportunities.

💡Downward Spiral

A downward spiral refers to a situation that gets progressively worse. The video describes Mike's personal life as a 'downward spiral' after achieving online success, as it led to the loss of relationships and other challenges, underscoring the potential negative consequences of sudden fame.

Highlights

Kanye West's life and career have been spiraling out of control, drawing significant internet attention.

In 2021, a parody account named Kanye East, created by Mike Manik, gained popularity on social media.

Kanye East's content included parodies like 'Fortnite balls' and a 'Rapier comment series', which became viral hits.

Mike Manik's parody account led to personal losses, including friends, a long-term relationship, and even homelessness.

Mike was called Kanye in high school due to his resemblance to the rapper, which he initially disliked.

His first video as Kanye East was posted on June 21, 2020, reading famous Kanye West tweets.

Kanye East's content started to gain traction in January 2021, particularly with a video filmed in Paris.

Mike's 'Karaoke Kanye' live streams, where he rapped Kanye West songs, significantly increased his viewership.

The 'Rapier comment' series, where Mike rapped fan comments, became a cornerstone of his content and garnered millions of views.

The 'Fortnite balls' rap brought Mike to widespread attention and led to a successful song release.

Mike's success on social media allowed him to quit his job and also support his girlfriend financially.

The 'Fortnite balls' success led to increased pressure and requests for controversial content, causing Mike distress.

Mike's girlfriend left him, citing his easy success as a reason, indicating potential jealousy.

The TikTok community's attention span led to a decline in Mike's popularity, as they turned against him.

Mike faced homelessness after a dispute with his landlord who demanded higher rent due to his social media fame.

Despite hardships, Mike continued creating content, including a return to the Rapier comment series.

Mike's best friend of seven years betrayed him, leading to the end of their friendship over a trip to California.

Mike plans to release more music, produce mixtapes, and continue growing his brand despite his struggles.

Mike encourages others to pursue their passions, regardless of the opinions of others, in a message at the end of the video.

Transcripts

lately the internet has been flooded

with the name Kanye West

[Music]

as his life and career is slowly

spiraling out of control but back in

2021 there was another Kanye that took

social media by storm and that was Kanye

East the parody created by Mike manik

gained significant popularity on take

took in a short amount of time and have

resulted in Classics like fortnite balls

and his famous Rapier comment series

however this meme didn't just bring him

success because it also caused him to

lose friends his girlfriend of 6 years

and even made him homeless so to find

out why all of this happened I

interviewed him and his story is

incredible

thank you

before Mike Rose to fame he was already

getting called Kanye in high school as

he looked very similar to the rapper and

he absolutely hated it so when he made

his tiktok account he just wanted to be

himself but the more videos he posted

the more people would recognize him as

Kanye and eventually he decided to just

go for it Kanye North Kanye South Kanye

East defense gave him plenty of

inspiration for a new username but Mike

settled for Kanye East as he left on the

east coast and officially rebranded on

tiktok his first video as his new Alter

Ego got posted on the 21st of June in

2020 in which he read a number of famous

Kanye West tweets and more of these

parody videos followed not long after

now at first these tick tocks didn't

really blow up as they only got a couple

hundred views but my kept posting

consistently throughout the year and

finally found success when he asked this

fan base who was in Paris in January of

2021 as that video got over 960 000

views his growth was still inconsistent

at this point but more content start is

going viral and Mike came up with a

brilliant idea to progress his brand

even more karaoke Kanye he would go live

on Tick Tock and wrap people's favorite

Kanye West songs as he learned a lot of

them and sounded exactly like him but

people wanted more creativity and when a

fan asked him if he could rep using

their comments he jumped right into it

the concept was a huge success as his

life viewership went from 100 viewers to

500 viewers and to wrap your comment

series was now officially born with

millions of views his career started

skyrocketing but really found a new high

when he wrapped about one very special

comment and that comment was fortnite

balls OG fellow follower 5000 bars in

five seconds fortnite balls the clip

went completely viral and got spread

around the internet at a rapid Pace

eventually making it back to Mike in

real life around this time he was still

working at Arby's as a manager and only

did take took as a hobby on the site but

when fortnite balls blew up his

co-workers started coming up to him and

asked if he was the guy on under for you

page and this is when Mike decided to

make real work of this opportunity then

I looked at you know how many views it

got and I'm just like oh my God I'm just

gonna make it a song I didn't know what

fortnite balls was I never even played

fortnite he went to the manager's office

used bandlab some Apple headphones in

its microphone and recorded the official

fortnite Ball song in 20 minutes which

resulted in 400 000 views on YouTube

over 1 million streams on Spotify and a

verified parody getting 4 million views

as well Mike had now found the success

he wanted as every single rep your

comment episode was getting millions of

views but it came with a cost you see

fortnite balls was one of the Lesser

controversial comments made in these

live streams but people on the internet

are Reckless and often wanted him to rap

racial slurs or other hateful messages

he ignored them as much as possible but

often still got bent anyways which for

some reason made him even more love than

viral in the community as one YouTube

video about it even got 5.7 million

views Mike was a smart man and wanted to

capitalize on this attention as much as

possible as he created a YouTube channel

and started posting on there as well but

really accumulated most of his money

from Spotify streams Cameo and custom

song requests at one point he was making

so much money that he could quit his job

at Arby's and even did the same for his

girlfriend that also worked there but

that decision eventually backfired and

it was the beginning of his downward

spiral

like I said before Mike and his

girlfriend both quit their job but this

turned out to be the biggest mistake of

his life it started off as I'm bored I I

told her to get a girlfriend you know it

gives you a female friend she got a

girlfriend like a full-on girlfriend and

she left me for a woman

yeah yeah see full on full-on girlfriend

left me for a woman but that was not

even it because the reason that she gave

Mike for leaving him was that she didn't

like him making money that easily and

that it wasn't any hard work whatsoever

clearly showing massive signs of

jealousy so she cheated on you with a

girl because she couldn't have your

success yes now he never knew if that

was the real reason or just an excuse

but it meant that a six-year

relationship was now down the drain

because of the Kanye East success and it

didn't even stop there because the

longer the meme at the Rapture comment

series went on the more hate he started

getting and the tiktok community began

doing what they do best turning against

its creators the attention span of tick

tock users is infamously low and he

started getting the same treatment as Mr

blocky from the 19 fortnite card me

saying that he fell off and that they

were going to and follow him honestly if

anybody else feels like this guy right

here feel free please bye Mike started

doing less rip your comment episode so

since more videos that he wanted to make

himself which got plenty offense unhappy

but he continued following his passions

like creating more songs under his real

name Mike Manic and uploading more

personality based content on his YouTube

channel the hate really had a negative

impact on him as he now showed a more

genuine side of himself and he

eventually made a decision that would

Shock the World As Kanye is the musician

with officially quit Mike didn't want to

get sued by the actual Kanye West since

he gained a lot of attention and he also

gave in to people saying that he fell

off as he confirmed his decline in views

stating that it was time to move on Mike

had now officially lost his girlfriend

and most of his relevancy as Grange East

but luckily still had his Cameo income

in his apartment or Diddy because the

lease of his apartment was coming to an

end and when his landlord knocked on his

door one day he was left in shock so he

came to my door and he wanted he wanted

more money you know I was currently I

was paying like 875 dollars a month he

wanted me to pay 1295 a month and he

wanted that he you wanted that

immediately which was illegal the

landlord found out that Mike was Tick

Tock famous and demanded more money on

the spot which he said no to and this

meant that Mike's this was not going to

be renewed now this didn't seem to be a

problem at first as he was making plenty

of money from Cameo but Mike later found

out that his income wasn't enough for a

new apartment as he needed proof of

income to lease Something Mike now had

nowhere to go and was basically homeless

resulting in him having to live in a

tent on his family's property he was now

in a very weird situation as he had

enough money for food and other

necessities but didn't have a roof over

his head and it also caused him to

return with the Rapier comment series

and the Kanye East Persona luckily he

got out of the tent quicker than

expected and got into a temporary

apartment but the year wasn't done yet

and he would once again find himself

losing something a few months later in

October Mike started vlogging on his

YouTube channel in September as he was

going on a trip to California to visit

multiple Studios with his best friend of

seven years combining money together to

make it happen but this turned out to be

all lies and it caused their friendship

to be ruined he got it in his mind that

I was going to pay for everything and

when I confronted him about it he was

like but you know you got it you got it

I don't it really hurt me because it's

just like bro I did you know I'd do

anything for you I do anything for you

Mike decided to post an update about the

drama confirming that he officially lost

his best friend and it now became

apparent that his girlfriend and friends

were just with him for the money however

despite all of these circumstances Kanye

East kept entertaining and creating so

what is the situation like today

well Mike is technically still homeless

as of right now but will get his proof

of income statement in three months

finally allowing him to rent or buy an

apartment also he hasn't been too active

on a stick to ignore his YouTube channel

but is still making people happy daily

on his Cameo and memo which might

interest you as well he makes a lot of

custom videos on there for his fans so a

link will be in the description to get

one yourself which I think he deserves

for this incredible story on top of that

we know that Kanye West had a pretty

rough few months so far and I asked him

if it impacted him negatively as well

but this was further from the truth it

is actually affecting me in a positive

way because it's really helped me to

divide myself from him I had I had a

problem dividing myself from him you

know people was always calling me Kanye

or you know they thought that I actually

was Connie I still have people that are

on my Cameo that think that I am

actually Kanye people are starting to

call me the good Kanye and when I asked

him what his plans are for the future he

told me that he's planning on releasing

more music making a mixtape producing

more music videos and ultimately just

continuing to grow its brand it was a

pleasure to meet the creator of Kanye

East and the thing I love most about

these videos is that every person behind

these memes is always extremely positive

and just a genuinely great person to

talk with which I can once again say

about Mike manik as well his story has

been incredibly inspiring and he had one

final message for us to think about if

you're really holding on to something

and you really want to do it do it don't

don't hold on to it don't don't hold on

to the inside it'll never get done you

have to just go ahead and do it so this

year I want everybody to just whatever

you have inside any ideas do them push

them out it doesn't matter what people

think about it doesn't matter what

people say do it now this was the video

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