One of the sounds by a TikTok creator that started as a “scrapped draft” has now secured him a paycheck from a big-name company.

On a daily basis, Black content creators show and tell their influence across social media. For instance, let’s take a look at Keith Lee — the TikToker has become known for putting his five million followers, as of this writing, onto the food they should try through his popular taste tests.

Khaby Lame has quickly become one of the most sought-out acts on social media. Now, a recent report from Forbes is detailing the big bucks that come with being the most-followed TikToker in the world. @khaby.lame It’s better to run ma g 🤣 🏃🏿‍♂️ 🦁 #learnfromkhaby #learnontiktok @TikTok @tiktok creators ♬ suono originale – Khabane lame

Khaby Lame is coming in hot as the newly most-followed TikToker. According to a press release, the Senegalese-Italian creator has signed off on a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange company Binance.

Seeing a Black woman break into the tech industry is always an accomplishment to celebrate, but what makes the win even more major is how they lift up others along with them. In the age of social media, the underrepresented group is not only sharing their experiences in their fields but also using their platforms to create a domino effect of Black talent going from sending in their resumes to signing job offer letters. Here are 10 Black women tech influencers who are working with big names like Google, Meta, and Microsoft that are teaching the ins and outs of the industry to help bring more of the community on board.

When taking a look at Mattaniah Aytenfsu’s resume, your first guess wouldn’t be that she had no prior experience within her pursued field going into her freshman year of college. While balancing being a student in college, the young science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) student worked with the likes of NASA and TaskRabbit — which eventually led to Google. At 24-years-old, Aytenfsu is a UX engineer for YouTube and a budding TikTok influencer.

Artist Vegalia Jean-Pierre’s journey as a TikToker opened up opportunities for her dream to build innovative products. In 2020, the Minnesota native launched her TikTok account, where she amplifies representation for the community through drawing Black cartoon characters, as well as social activism following the passing of George Floyd. Jean-Pierre’s social media presence — now at over 500,000 followers — landed the young artist a $50,000 TikTok grant to grow her innovative business, by.Vegalia. As previously reported by AfroTech, TikTok and MACRO awarded 10 Black creators, including Jean-Pierre, with $500,000 in grants. The young entrepreneur’s brand is her own set of digital brushes that draw Black hair textures including braids, curls, locs, twists and more. @byvegalia The curl brushes are for Procreate. Photoshop and CSP! What software would you like to see them on next? #brushbyvegalia ♬ WFM – Realestk  

TikToker Khaby Lame has now taken his talents to the metaverse — specifically Facebook’s metaverse. Insider reports that the second-most-popular TikToker in the world collaborated with CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a new promotional video for Meta. Lame is widely known for making things look easy and in the video, he teleports to various locations by touching his forehead. In just 21 seconds, he travels to a game of chess, a house, a cycling room and a beach. “Your home is your personal space, from which you can teleport to anywhere you want,” Zuckerberg said in the promotional video. “Teleporting around the metaverse is going to be like clicking a link on the internet.” The video went live on Oct. 30 on both Lame’s Instagram and Meta’s official Twitter account, with the caption: “No one makes jumping around the metaverse look easier than Khaby Lame.” No one makes jumping around the metaverse look easier than @KhabyLame https://t.co/Mw9iYqmeJg pic.twitter.com/vN7iWPGoZf — Meta (@Meta)...