CONTENT CREATORS TO KNOW: ZHANÉ ALIYA
Zhané Aliya
Zhané Aliya is a content creator based in the Nashville area of Tennessee. One glance at her and you’ll see that she’s not your average beauty influencer. With a following of 41k+ and 1.5M+ likes on TikTok, Zhané is bringing her own flair to the fashion, lifestyle, and DIY beauty content niches while also inspiring others to be themselves and speaking in-depth about her experiences as a Black creator who is navigating and positively challenging the platform’s ever-changing algorithm.
BY: TIARA STARKS
SHEER: So let's just start from the very beginning. What made you want to make a TikTok account?
ZHANÉ ALIYA: So, to make a long story short, I'm 25 going on 26. I wanted to be a content creator since I was 14 years old. I wanted to be a YouTuber. And I think the end of 2020, I came around. I finally downloaded TikTok. I think sometime in 2020, I maybe posted a little travel vlog, and then I guess that kind of changed the algorithm of TikTok, and I was able to see more beauty, hair, and fashion content. I was like, okay, you all are doing it so I was like, okay, I want to do it. But obviously it's been a while and I was procrastinating on putting out content. I think around the end of 2021, I was like, all right, let me just do it. The video is only a few seconds long. I could do that. I don't know what exactly inspired me to make a TikTok account, but that's kind of like, how I got into it. This is actually my second.
SHEER: Oh, okay. Is there a secret account that we don't know about?
ZA: It's not really a secret. It's just, like, I started there, and then it was, like, really small. I don't think it has passed 100 followers. I thought “Maybe I need to start over because people are going viral off the first video and I'm not doing it.” So I started a separate account.
SHEER: So you said that you wanted to be a content creator, and then you saw that there was a lot of momentum happening for people on TikTok, and that kind of basically inspired you to want to move to there. When you got there and you were posting, was it consistent viewership in the beginning, or was it kind of like a slow build until what it is now?
ZA: Neither. I think I started the current TikTok that you probably follow in January 2021. I was maybe getting, like, 100 views, 200 views, and I think March, I posted a hair video that blew up. I don't know. I think that video has, like, over a million views, and then that kind of got the ball rolling. I was getting like 1k followers.
SHEER: I always feel like whenever I follow beauty content creators, I noticed some of them talk about how they just were posting consistently, and just one blew up and then just kind of, like, changed the trajectory of everything they made. But I did want to ask, because I know you from your DIY wig styling tutorials. Was that, like, a series that you felt was going to be, like, your main staple of content, or did it just kind of happen based on the reaction of your followers?
ZA: Basically the reaction of the hair content, because I never wanted to be a hair content creator. It was never, like, a thing in my mind. I was like, Imma be a fashion content creator. The people who know me in real life know I dress and I do creative things. I had, like, a couple of videos blow up on TikTok, but that hair video blew up. So I was like, okay, let me do more of this. I didn't even know what a hair influencer or a wig influencer was until maybe, like, a couple of months into the wig. and the hair content doing great. Then I started getting the brand deals, so I was like, “all right, well, this is where the money is at.” This is what I'm focusing on, because this is what's growing, and this is what is bringing the money in but I still never feel like I’m at my biggest vision of what I can be as a content creator. It's not just hair. It's never just hair but for right now, yeah.
SHEER: I know that you also do your “get ready with me” videos. I think those tend to do really well, too, because you said you like fashion and then you have the hair [content]. I really like how you're able to kind of be in both niches, because I do see people are in one niche and they try to get out of it, and it's kind of hard. It seems like you're doing really well in both, which is really cool. Was there a video that blew up that you were very surprised that blew up?; That you're like, “oh, wow, I didn't realize this did really well.”
ZA: Outside of the first hair video that kind of popped all this off, I have a few about decor. I mean, as you can see, I had a few of those kind of do really well and I was surprised. But in the most recent one, I have these shelves, like these Target bookshelves, and it just blew up. I've never really been a consistent content creator, not as much as I should be or want to be, but I was kind of going through this funk. I was like, okay, let me just record me putting the shelves together. The video blew up on TikTok. It blew up on Instagram reels. I think it's almost at, like, half a million on Instagram Reels. TikTok people are in the comments, like, “where's the update? I didn't put anything on this shelf. So I planned on putting shoes and stuff. I still haven't done it. I'm like “girl, I haven't done it.” That was the most surprising thing because I was like, well, maybe I should wait until I have more stuff to put on it. Usually if I have a “before” video, they’ll do good.
SHEER: Yeah. So that one wasn't necessarily planned, but it did really well. Anyway. The algorithm is so interesting with that, where it's like, oh, my gosh. And also, I noticed you do some trendy videos, but you tend to have a very unique style to how you make your content. How do you balance doing those TikTok trend videos with your regularly scheduled content?
ZA: I don't know how many. It's not a lot. I'm definitely not over 10 TikTok trends on my TikTok page. I don't really like the TikTok trends. For me, they just don't do well. I don't know, I just can't get into them. I feel like they really work for a lot of people but for me, by the time I get around to doing it, I'm tired of seeing it. There's no passion behind it. Yeah. So I don't really try to balance. I mean, I might do something, like trendy, like a hairstyle or something. I feel like I'm always so late on stuff like that, but I kind of just go with what I'm feeling so there's no balance. Like I said, I'm not consistent. Maybe if I was consistent, I would have more of like, “okay, this needs to be more authentic. This needs to be the sponsored. These need to be the trends.” But there's no balance at all.
SHEER: But it works. I mean, again, the algorithm kind of moves how it wants to move. As a black creator, as a woman creator, do you see that there is, I would say, a lean towards non=black creators who do similar content, because I've definitely seen white creators do “get ready with mes” and “do my hair”, even though it's not obviously the same styles and everything. Do you notice when you're watching videos outside of your page that there are people who are kind of blowing up with content that's not as strong?
ZA: Definitely. So even on my most viral video, I don't know if it has anything to do with me putting on a wig, even though some white [and Asian] creators do wear wigs, make wig content, but my video can have like a million views and the comment [section is] full of black girls. Like, I can see my notifications. These are black girls and black women. Like once in a while if I do something so niche, like I did a hairstyle that was kind of anime inspired, so it'll get pushed to that side of TikTok. But at the same time if it blows up enough, I can see other demographics on that specific TikTok.
But definitely the way the TikTok algorithm is set up, they're only pushing it out to certain people, which on one hand it makes sense, on the other hand, it kind of doesn't because other people can relate to something I'm doing. I mean, maybe not necessarily a wig video, but something else because I definitely follow other creators of different backgrounds and demographics, for sure.
SHEER: You were speaking to [the fact that] there is something that everyone can pull from your videos even if they aren't wearing a wig. So it is really interesting to see when you do see the engagement and the types of users who are engaging and it's like, “oh, I wonder why it's only these specific people and not others.” Especially when it's getting pushed out. Like you said, you have a couple of videos that are like over a million, so you wonder how that works.
ZA: But also adding to that question, usually I see the videos that are getting pushed out towards other demographics are usually videos where I'm not showing myself, you can't see my face. So I do definitely think face, skin tone recognition, all that plays a part in the algorithm. But like, videos where I'm building shelves or I'm just putting lights on the wall where you can maybe only see a little bit of my hands and those are the videos that are blowing up.
SHEER: I feel like it's definitely a struggle with black content creators. You're definitely one of many who have probably shared this publicly because it is true and I think that it's something that needs to be taken into consideration, especially with the future of TikTok and everything that's going on with the app and with monetization and all of that. I know you said in the beginning that you wanted to be a content creator and then you moved to TikTok because you saw there was a lot of momentum happening. Where are you based and where are you from and are there any content creators prior to TikTok? Like maybe from a couple of years ago that you took inspiration from?
ZA: Originally I'm from New York. Me and my mom moved to Georgia when I was like seven. So I grew up in kind of the surrounding Atlanta area and then now recently, in the past, like two, three years, I live in Tennessee, like 30 minutes outside of Nashville.
SHEER: So you have that Southern influence, but you're also from New York, so you kind of get both sides. I really like that one video I actually wanted to point out. It was the Velcro Rollers one that you recently posted. I love that video so much, and I really think that should have blown up. I want to know your process of doing that video because I just was really mesmerized by it, and I was like, I kind of want to do this one week.
ZA: Yeah, I just feel like my favorite content creators, that was one of the trendy things, using Velcro. I really like Alias Faye and just some other people on TikTok in general. Not even just black hair influencers. I'm seeing white girls and other demographics. They're using velcros. I need to try it. And obviously I'm going to try on a wig so I'm like, all right, let me try it. Because also it's like you only want to see, which is kind of like why I'm like, I'm more than just hair content. You can only watch so many videos of somebody glueing a wig on.
ZA (CONT’D): What can I do to make it more creative? So I'm always trying to add more things, trying to do something a little different in the videos.
SHEER: I really could see that because I've never used Velcro Rollers before. My mom always used rollers, but I've never used those. So I was like, oh, this is so cool. I want to do this. Now that you've grown pretty tremendously, what do you see as the trajectory of your page? You said you don't want to just be known as a hair page or a fashion page. Where do you see yourself expanding to? What other type of content would you like to do right now?
ZA: A big thing on top of getting consistent is sharing my personality more on TikTok. I think I checked [I have] 40.7k [followers], and I feel like I would have never known you were following since 10K. I have so many followers now and it's like I'm not getting to know them, I'm not engaging with them. I'm like, “okay, you're also not posting content to engage them to get to know them or for them to get to know you” So definitely trying to incorporate that. I'm still doing hair sponsorships and trying to incorporate more talking content.
I definitely want to do more “Get ready with me’ and fashion content. What niche I fall into is me talking and expressing myself and allowing myself to be more vulnerable and transparent on TikTok, which is somewhat hard because it's a short amount of time. Definitely focusing on that because I feel like I might have to, especially recently with my views going a lot lower. I'm like, I'm not using my following, I'm not using my platform. I really need to put myself out there more to really capitalize and grow on this platform.
SHEER: You definitely have the personality and I think that you would do really well with those types of posts so I'm looking forward to seeing those. Do you have any advice for anyone who actually wants to do something similar? Whether it's creating content on TikTok or YouTube, what do you say to those girls who look just like you?
ZA: I would say just make the content. Just put it out there. Don't worry about being consistent. Like, I've gotten this far without being consistent, but don't worry about being consistent. Don't worry about making it look perfect. It's going to look ugly. In the beginning, my first videos, I'm like, what was this? I'm like taking it down. Yeah, don't worry about any of that. Just take action and do it.
Even when I got my first hair deal, I didn't know how to put on the front of a wig before people started sending me wigs or paying me to put on wigs. So there's no reason not to start. There's no reason for whatever excuse you can come up with to not do it. It's not a thing. Most of the reasons are excuses. There’s no excuse not to do it. If you want to do it, just do it.
SHEER: Just do it. I love that.
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Photography by Nabila Wirakusumah
NYALLAH is known for blending elements of neo-soul, R&B, hip-hop, and West African rhythms while exploring themes of self-expansion, transformation, and love. With their latest project, R+B, recorded in phases spanning a near-death bike accident and an eye-opening trip to Costa Rica, R+B navigates relationships, desirability, and self-awareness from a black queer perspective. Through enchanting vocals and vulnerable lyrics, NYALLAH reminds us that desirability is not love and our liberation lies in de-centering ourselves and prioritizing collective care.