Labib Yasir And The Life Of A Content Creator
What is a content creator? What does it mean to be a YouTuber?
LA-based YouTuber and MMA fighter Labib Yasir (the Pakistani Playboy!) talked with us about his journey online and what it really means to be a content creator.
When he was sixteen years old, he went through a serious weight loss journey and he gained enough self-confidence to audition for the Teens React series for The Fine Bros. His career on YouTube was a snowball effect: after being a part of Teens React, he had a collaborative channel with someone and then created his personal channel.
There was a huge transformation from traditional media to digital content (like YouTube and Instagram) and there are new trends everyday.
Labib believes that it’s dangerous to constantly try and stay relevant and do things just because it’s trendy. If you do that, then you end up in the hands of the masses. If you create the trendy content, you’ll be relevant in the moment with all those numbers, but not necessarily for years to come.
His YouTube videos are things that are a reflection of him and his interests: his life, his friends, his training as an MMA fighter. It was his niche and he stuck to it, even if it wasn’t “trendy” or popular online.
Next thing you knew, YouTube boxing became popular and everyone was talking about Conor McGregor.
If you stay consistent with what you want, it will work out. At the end of the day, there are billions of people in the world and you’ll still get some people who fuck with you.
Still, when you’re creating your own content, you tend to get in your own headspace. You feel as if things should be accomplished on a particular timeline.
“What do I come up with next?” Labib wonders. He says there are hours that go into merely thinking about creating new content and that mental labor is work for the content in itself.
Making content online (Instagram and YouTube, especially) is a fast-pace thing, in comparison to the timeline of making music or movies. If you’re not vibing with something or if it’s not a reflective of who you are, it’s okay to take a break.
“Do what you want and don’t try to do the image of what you want. They’re 2 very different things. Whatever you have in your heart, do that. Don’t try to replicate someone or something or an idea you had,” he says. “Do what you want, that’s it. And you’ll be happy.”
