Eman Kellam

Last updated

Eman Kellam
YT1D0492 - Eman Kellam.jpg
Olaniyan in 2020
Born
Emmanuel Kellam Olaniyan

(1997-11-27) 27 November 1997 (age 27)
South London, London, England
Education BRIT School
Occupations
  • Presenter
  • Journalist
Years active2012–present
YouTube information
Channel
Subscribers125 thousand [1]
Views16 million [1]
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers2020

Last updated: 13 January 2025

Emmanuel Kellam Olaniyan (born 27 November 1997) is a Nigerian-British comedian, media personality and television host better known as Eman Kellam. He is best known for his presenting work and his own YouTube web show British Slang With Eman Kellam.

Contents

Personal life

Olaniyan was born and raised in South London, to parents of Nigerian origin. He attended Forest Hill School, [2] and then The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology where he studied Broadcasting and Digital Communications. [3]

Career

YouTube

Olaniyan started creating content on his YouTube channel "EmansBlogs" in 2012. [4] He created video blogs in his kitchen. In 2014 he uploaded his most viewed video, "Pranking My African Dad", [5] in which at 16 years old he pranked his father by telling him he had impregnated a 14-year-old girl.

This video has had over 500 Million views across the internet (9 Million on his YouTube channel as of April 2025) and has been discussed and shared across various platforms including WorldStarHipHop [6] and Bossip. [7]

Olaniyan and his father are often credited as key figures in African meme culture because their prank video has spawned several one liners that have been used in African music, comedy and films. [8]

French Montana collaboration

On 5 November 2016, French Montana released his album MC4 on the Apple Music show OVO Sound Radio. [9] The show was curated by Noah "40" Shebib and Oliver El-Khatib who founded OVO Sound radio with Drake.

Olaniyan and his father featured on the show via an intro skit on French Montana’s MC4 album entitled "Check Come". The skit was taken from Olaniyan's "Pranking My African Dad" video. [9]

Lifebabble, CBBC and BBC "Own It"

In January 2016, he appeared on the CBBC Channel on Lifebabble. [10] [11]

In February 2018 Olaniyan appeared on the same channel as a guest presenter to promote "BBC Own It", a new online learning resource commissioned by the BBC aimed at 9-12 year olds. Covering a range of topics that would relate to children growing up in the digital age. Own It launched nationally on Tuesday 7 February 2018. [12] He then made several guest presenting appearances on the channel along with featuring in other CBBC shows.

YouTube Black Voices

In January 2021 YouTube announced the international list of creators of the inaugural YouTube Black Voices Class of 2021, of which Olaniyan was a UK class member .

Some members of the class of 2021 were also featured in the September 2021 issue of British Vogue in which Olaniyan was also included. Quote from British Vogue feature "As YouTube expands its diverse community, the Class of 2021 are the new figureheads in the making to follow. Prepare to watch those featured here go stratospheric". [13]

TikTok's "One's To Watch"

In October 2024 TikTok announced their list of "Creators To Watch" for Black History Month 2024 in which Olaniyan was listed as one of eight. [14]

British Slang With Celebrities Series

Olaniyan produces a "British Slang With Eman Kellam" series on his YouTube channel. In it he asks predominantly American actors to try and figure out the meaning of linguistics commonly used by youth in the United Kingdom. ("Multicultural London English") also known as MLE. [15]

Celebrity guests include Gabrielle Union, Denzel Washington, Childish Gambino, Regina Hall, Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya and Issa Rae. [16]

Olaniyan has been given praise by Vogue Business for his "authentic style" in which audiences have gravitated towards across various different platforms. [17]

British Slang with Eman Kellam

British Slang With Eman Kellam - Episode List'
Episode NumberGuest/s featured in EpisodeRelease Date
1Unge1 July 2015
2 Ben Hardy, Tye Sheridan, and Alexandra Shipp 24 May 2016
3 Dave Franco 8 August 2016
4Nathan Zed24 August 2016
5 RJ Cyler, Dacre Montgomery, and Ludi Lin 16 March 2017
6 Becky G and Naomi Scott 23 March 2017
7 Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites 24 May 2017
8 Demetrius Shipp Jr. 30 June 2017
9 Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan 25 July 2017
10 Gabrielle Union and Ajiona Alexus 6 May 2018
11 Childish Gambino and Phoebe Waller-Bridge 19 May 2018
12 Denzel Washington 11 August 2018
13 Shameik Moore 9 December 2018
14 John Cena 13 December 2018
15 Zachary Levi 22 March 2019
16 Regina Hall, Issa Rae, and Marsai Martin 7 April 2019
17 Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith 2 February 2020
18 Keke Palmer 19 June 2022
19Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer8 August 2022
20Gabrielle Union and Jaboukie Young-White 24 November 2022

Eman Kellam & Friends

On December 14th 2024, after a 2 year hiatus, Olaniyan premiered a spinoff of his show "British Slang With Eman Kellam" on Tiktok & Instagram in which he hosts a chat with Hollywood actors released in short form snippets.

Episode 1 featured Aaron Pierre (actor) & Kelvin Harrison Jr. and was well received across social media. [18]

Eman Kellam & Friends - Episode List'
Episode NumberGuest/s featured in EpisodeRelease Date
1 Aaron Pierre (actor) & Kelvin Harrison Jr. 14 December 2024
2 Wunmi Mosaku 15 April 2025
3 Michael B Jordan & Miles Caton 16 April 2025

Music career

2021

Olaniyan released his secret debut EP "For The Summer" on 10 June 2021. [19]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014Will You Kill Me Now?TobyShort Film
2017Action PointShorts (uncredited)Feature Film
2021Music, Trial & Trauma: The MovieProducerShort Film
2024The Sidemen Story(Himself) Cameo AppearanceDocumentary
2025Gone ClearVerbaliserShort Film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014 Right This Minute [20] Himself1 episode
2015The XperimentHimself1 episode
2016 - 2018LifebabbleHimself26 episodes
2017 Inglorious PrankstersHimself1 episode
2018BBC "Own It"HimselfTeam Own It Member
2018 CBBC Channel HimselfGuest appearances
2019 All Over the Place HimselfSeries 9
2020 Monday Night Football HimselfGuest Appearance
2022Unapologetic with Zeze Millz & Yinka BokinniHimselfSeries 2, Episode 1
2023ITVx's Tell Me Everything You Know AboutHimself3 Episodes

Discography

Extended plays

TitleDetailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
UK
For The Summer
  • Released: 10 June 2021
  • Label: Independent
  • Format: Streaming, digital download
-

Songwriting credits

YearTitleArtistRoleAlbum
2016"Check Come" French Montana Writer MC4 (album) [9]

References

  1. 1 2 "About EmanKellam". YouTube.
  2. Chandler, Mark (18 October 2013). "Forest Hill's Emmanuel Olaniyan, 15, becomes Young Mayor of Lewisham". News Shopper . Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  3. "Inside The BRIT School, Croydon's very own fame academy | Croydon Advertiser". www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014.
  4. "EmanKellam". YouTube. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  5. PRANKING MY AFRICAN DAD | @EmanKellam. EmanKellam. 15 February 2014. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022 via YouTube.
  6. "LOOOL: African Father Was Ready To Beat The Shxt Out Of His Son During This Prank! You Will H'end Up In Mcdonass". WorldStarHipHop . Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  7. "African Dad Prank: Son Says He Got A 14-Yr-Old White Girl Pregnant "Aabo Wa… Oh, My Days Jesus!" [Video]". Bossip . 16 February 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  8. "Instagram".
  9. 1 2 3 Richardson, Nikita (5 November 2016). "French Montana Features "Pranking My African Dad" Video On MC4". The Fader . Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  10. "Lifebabble - CBBC - BBC". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  11. "Lifebabble (TV Series 2016– )" . Retrieved 7 October 2017 via IMDb.
  12. "Own It - A place to help you boss your life online - Own It - BBC".
  13. "Vogue 2021 Article". PubHTML. British Vogue.
  14. "Celebrating Black History Month on TikTok".
  15. https://www.york.ac.uk/language-linguistic-science/research/projects/mle/what-is-mle/#:~:text=MLE%20is%20a%20dialect%20of,relatively%20high%20level%20of%20immigration.
  16. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaSgmlsYiNCToEuI8QcsutavrWZoX7Ttihttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaSgmlsYiNCToEuI8QcsutavrWZoX7Tti
  17. "Instagram".
  18. https://www.tiktok.com/@emankellam/video/7447948586286927137
  19. "For the Summer". Spotify .
  20. "Pregnancy Prank Pushes Dad Over the Edge". rightthisminute.com. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2017.