If you’re like most of America you’ve diligently (or hopefully) worn your mask, social distanced, maybe went to the liquor store a few too many times, and most likely–watched a TikTok video. Chances are, you also probably saw one with Vietnamese American Michael Le in it.
Also known as “Justmaiko”, Michael Le started posting dance and tutorial videos on his YouTube channel in 2016, while at the same time also posting to Musical.ly (which would later merge and consolidate into TikTok). Over the next four years his presence would grow on social media as he kept posting more dance tutorials and different types of content featuring his family and friends.
Currently he has 1.71 million YouTube subscribers on his Justmaiko channel, and 2 million Instagram followers, and while that may sound like a lot–they pale in comparison to the newly minted 20-year-old’s 36.3 million followers on TikTok, where his channel likes are close to 1 billion, and he’s one of the most popular male stars on the platform.
To put those 36.3 million followers into perspective, compare Le’s followers to “traditional” celebrities:
- Will Smith: 33 million
- The Rock: 27.9 million
- Kevin Hart: 17.2 million
- Selena Gomez: 21.3 million
- Justin Bieber: 16.5 million
- Nicki Minaj: 4.7 million
On one hand, this shouldn’t be a surprise because TikTok wasn’t intended for the aforementioned generations–at least not initially. But to have more followers than The Rock and Will Smith speaks volumes about the popularity of the app, the generation that supports it, and the carefully culled content that Le puts up.
In addition to his own channels, he’s recently become a part of Shluv House, a collaboration between four other content creators (including his 5-year-old little brother Jonathan). With Le being a driving force behind the collaboration house because of his following, the newly created group already has close to 3 million followers since debuting their first TikTok video on May 28th.
With Skechers, Motorola, and Bang energy drink endorsement deals, as well as collaborations with stars like Jason Derulo, Michael Le looks to have a long future ahead of him on the social media platform.
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