Rodney Umeh… Rise of top content creator

Succeeding in the Nigerian creative industry is tough, especially as a content creator.

For a sub-industry that is unregulated and has new participants entering daily, the content creation space has to deal with challenges such as the type of content to create, content distributor, content promotions, and conversion of their followership into revenue.

It is not every day that a content creator in Nigeria gets to build a sustainable stream of income from his creative gifts, and the few that achieve that milestone deserve commendation.

Rodney Umeh is one of the dark horses in the industry. Popularly known by the moniker, R0dn3y The Wisdom Man, he’s is one of the leading content creators on social media. At 20 years of age, the Abuja born creative has also earned the badge of being one of the youngest creators in the game.

Joining the industry less than two years ago, during the heat of the pandemic, Rodney has achieved the fame and engagement that many Nigerian content creators aspire to have. With over 138K followers on Instagram and over 2.1 million on TikTok, Wisdom Man is gradually stepping up big. For someone whose videos have gone viral on the Internet severally, Rodney is a huge player in the pop culture movement of the country.

Born on December 14, 2001, creativity to Rodney can be likened to the relationship between the lungs and oxygen; the two work together. Growing up in the capital city of Abuja, Rodney spent his free time participating actively in extracurricular activities ranging from the drama club in his school and the choir unit at church. However, it was the drama society that took most of his attention, because he liked to write short stories and drama scripts.

Year 2020 came and the world was hit with a pandemic. With everyone inside their homes due to the global pandemic, Rodney was forced to depend on social media to connect with the outside world. However, he soon became bored of watching comedy skits on the Internet, and this was where the idea to go into content creation was birthed.

“I was tired of watching other people’s contents. Not that I didn’t appreciate their works, but I got bored with time, owing to the fact that I had more than enough time on my hands. It was at this moment that something told me try out content creation. I believe this happened in June or thereabouts,” Rodney said,

Having the mindset that he had nothing to lose if he tried, he wrote the script for his first video and posted on his TikTok account, which he had created at the start of the pandemic.

“Since I could remember, I have always been providing comic relief to those around me in form of jokes or school plays or church dramas. So it wasn’t hard for me to stay in front of camera and do my thing.”

Encouraged by the positive reviews he got from his family members and close friends, he decided to create more videos, which more people found interesting as those in his circle shared the video across various social media channels.

The driving force behind Rodney’s growth in the content creation industry has been the fact that he creates relatable contents. Writing his scripts based on the Nigerian context, he gives his audience a good dose of laughter, from creating videos that mirror their experiences.

From videos on Nigerian parents to videos on classroom experiences to those on Nollywood and the music industry, Rodney brings back memories with his contents. And this has helped him warm his way into many Nigerians’ hearts.

Keeping his videos as short as possible and infusing dance steps and songs, he has been able to build a large followership on two social media channels -TikTok and Instagram- as people rush to his accounts to get a good laugh as soon as he drops a new video. In return, this has positioned him for brand endorsements deals with SMEs and big corporations.