Kareem Rahma (born July 15, 1986)[1] is an Egyptian-American comedian, artist, and media entrepreneur. Rahma is one of the founders of Nameless Network, a media company started by a group of former Vice employees.[2][3] Rahma is a senior advisor to XTR.[4] Previously, he worked at The New York Times.[5]
He has been nominated for three Webby awards including Best Individual Performance[6] alongside Sam Morril and Trevor Noah, Best Longform Comedy,[7] and Best Short Form Comedy[8] alongside Trevor Noah and Ted Lasso.
After college, Rahma worked as Head of Audience Development at VICE which was "kind of like a marketing role, kind of like a digital role, it's kind of a content role, it's kind of a little bit of everything."[10] In 2021, Rahma and Andrew Kuo co-founded the podcast company SomeFriends, which is focused on elevating BIPOC stories and talent, with the mission of entertaining everybody.[11]
As Growth Editor at the New York Times, Rahma produced the outlet's first vertical video, a profile of Ryder Ripps that was available through Snapchat.[12] After leaving the Times, Rahma (along with Alexandra Serio and Max Nelson) started a Kickstarter project called NYC.TV to bring public access TV online.[13] This project brought short documentary films to The New York Times website in a project called Made With Kickstarter.[14] The effort eventually led to the Nameless Network.
Rahma left the New York Times to pursue "my dream of entrepreneurship" in a venture which was a "Vice meets Vox meets NowThis news".[10] It was in this role that Rahma realised: "I was not a good entrepreneur, not a good business person I should say. Good entrepreneur. Not a good business man."[10]
Rahma created "Museum of Pizza," a pop-up immersive art exhibition focused on pizza.[15][9] In 2010, he launched SheWearsYourTee.com, a marketing effort wherein Tanaya Henry became a walking billboard.[16]
Entertainment career
Rahma is known for combining branded marketing and creative works. He has served as producer and executive producer for several films, including "Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped Abroad," and "Ferguson Rises," both of which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival.[17][18][19]
In 2020, he published a collection of poetry called "We Were Promised Flying Cars," a book of haiku about the future.[20] The book, which has been described as dystopian, was promoted through a series of Cameo appearances by celebrities, including Gilbert Gottfried and Anthony Scaramucci.[2][21]
In 2020, he developed and produced "The Revolution Will be Televised," a video installation piece about police violence in the wake of George Floyd's murder. The video piece was projected onto the side of the Mill City Museum for several nights in June 2020.[22][9]
Since 2022, Rahma has run a popular TikTok series, Keep the Meter Running.[23][24][9] In the series, Rahma enters a cab in New York City, asks the driver to take him to their favorite spot in the city, and keep the meter running. The most viral video of the series has almost 8 million views on the app.
Also in 2022, Rahma starred in Nicolas Heller's short film Out of Order, which debuted at the 2022 Tribeca Festival.[25][26][27][9] In 2025, he appeared in Poker Face – Season 2, Episode 9 “A New Lease on Death” and Episode 10 “The Big Pump” as a new tenant in Charlie’s building. [28]
SubwayTakes
Rahma began an Instagram series, SubwayTakes, in 2023.[29] In it, Rahma wears a 'big suit' and interviews people in the New York City subway, using a microphone clipped to a MetroCard.[30] The series does not feature random 'people on the street' but a cast of Rahma's friends, acquaintances and public figures. Most notably, the series featured Charli XCX, Cate Blanchett, and Tim Walz.[31]
SubwayTakes includes branded content and has featured takes paid for by Google, Hulu, StreetEasy and H&M. Rahma worked closely with Google on the take about "Android Users as Better Lovers": "I said let's bring her back and let's incorporate any message you want to do into this video. And so we developed a take together with the brand, with the talent."[10] As well as working with brands independently of the show, Rahma told Forbes in 2024:[10]
"It seems like brands have a really cool time and they trust us to do our thing. So any brand that comes to us, we will figure it out. Some just want us to do whatever we want and they just want the collab post [...] Others want product placement. I did one with Totino's Pizza Rolls where I was eating Pizza Rolls for no particular reason but it was really funny. And I was actually excited to do it because it was the first time we did product placement. I actually pitched the brand that. They said let's do the take about snacks and Pizza Rolls. I said what if we do the take about whatever and I'm eating Pizza Rolls."
Personal life
Rahma is married to Karina Muslimova.[32] The couple welcomed a daughter in February 2024.[33] He is Muslim.[34]
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