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Introduction
Michael Dapaah, who has made a name for himself with his stage name “Big Shaq”, is an English comedian, rapper, and social media personality. He is best known for his single titled “Man’s Not Hot”, which went on to be a worldwide viral sensation.
Early Life
Dapaah was born on 10th August, 1991, in London, England. He comes from Ghanaian descent with his mother and father coming to the Britain for a better life. He has mentioned that a funny family is one of the reasons that comedy comes so naturally to him. His father, Dr. Joseph Dapaah has even been mimicked several times in some of his skits. He also has a younger brother and an older sister.
He realized very early on that he had a big passion for comedy. He worked for Vodafone for a couple of years but realized that he had the potential to do something that was a lot more creative and made the leap, which has paid off handsomely today. His family was in the middle of being skeptical and optimistic but when Dapaah proved the success he was having, they were definitely convinced.
He mentions Mo the Comedian to be a big inspiration for his career. They are also close friends today. Some of his other role models include Stevo The Mad Man, Eddie Murphy, and the late, great Bernie Mac. Dapaah has been active in comedy since his days earlier than University. Therefore, it took him many years before he became an overnight success.
Career
At first, he wanted to gather a following on social media but the pace of growth was very slow. He used to do many comedic skits in different platforms, however they weren’t gathering mainstream attention. But, Dapaah continually put in the work and it was only a matter of time before he would get a breakthrough.
This breakthrough eventually came when his mockumentary series called SWIL(Somewhere in London) started garnering attention on YouTube. Later on every episode had started to garner more than half a million views, which was a very big milestone.
But his viral success would come up with the character Big Shaq. This would reach a lot of audiences in the UK and the US. This was followed up by the single “Man’s Not Hot” which was a very big success with elite celebrities praising the piece of work. Part of him growing his brand exponentially was also the success of “The Ting Goes” meme.
From Observation, it can be found that Dapaah was very smart in utilizing this fame in the most effective way possible in order to stay relevant and build a personal brand around it rather than seeing the audience fade over it.
Michael Dapaah Net Worth
Michael Dapaah’s net worth is estimated to be $500,000. Dapaah is a very smart influencer who knows how to build an audience. His videos are so engaging because of the fact that they are very relevant and mentions how these characters are relatable regardless of the country that we reside in. The “Man’s Not Hot” single has been turned into a business as he even sold merchandise relating to it which quickly sold out.
The future looks very bright for Dapaah as he has been seen hanging out with DJ Khaled, who admired his work by calling him a “legend”. Drake has also praised his work and Dapaah says that he would love working with him on a project in the future. He is also open to a collaboration with rapper Lil Yachty. Because of the popularity of his “The Ting Goes” meme, he has even had the opportunity to work in several live performances, something he might concentrate more on, in the future.
Personal Life
Dapaah once wrote in a Facebook post back in 2010 when he was not famous that I am gonna be a superstar! Watch me”. Today, he has achieved just that. He has been crowned as “Comedian of the Year” at the African Pride Awards in 2017. He also has a great relationship with star Stormzy, and they might seem to collaborate in the future.
