Reporter
carisa.lee@cnc3.co.tt
It seems like the fictional online character “Ezekiel”, portrayed by social media entertainer Jamel Sampson in his skits, does not care about everyone’s opinion that he should be punished.
Guardian Media spoke to the character via telephone yesterday and he said he’s “untouchable”.
“No, no nobody can’t do me nothing, nobody can’t touch me or else pressure, pressure, pressure does buss pipe, that is what my mom does say,” the six-year-old character said.
But he’s not complaining about the traction the videos depicting his bad behaviour have been receiving. The youngster said it was a chick magnet.
“Oh oh, I does get girls with it so I happy. I does get birds, birds, I does get birds in social, La La,” he said.
And although there is video evidence, viewed by millions of people online, that shows just how stressful Ezekiel’s behaviour is to his family, he said he has never done anything wrong.
“I don’t know what you talking bout, I don’t know what you talking bout, I don’t give no trouble, my mommy say I is a good boy sometimes. Oh oh,” he said.
Ezekiel’s creator, whose stage name is Certified Sampson, revealed that he pulls inspiration for the character from his younger cousins, who seem to get into similar trouble.
“Just by seeing some of the trouble that they give and you see some of the characteristics that they have when they get caught, almost like they don’t know what they just did, or is a mistake, but I feel like some kids definitely know what they do,” he explained.
Sampson, 28, who usually freestyles the scripts for his daily videos said the term,
“Oh, oh” came from him being spontaneous but now it’s a song that people look out for “Ezekiel” to make.
He said he got “La La” from Elmo’s World.
“I got that from one of my baby cousins, they like Elmo nah, so that ‘la la la’ so I just did it in my own way “La La” and from there when you hear that, the narrative I wanted for that sound was that every time you hear it, trouble is brewing, trouble is coming, everybody needs to take cover because something is going to happen,” Sampson explained.
The social media entertainer, who has been creating online content for nine years, said Ezekiel’s character is not new but was recently revived.
“A lot of people think Ezekiel is a brand new character that just came out of the blue, but Ezekiel had been around for about six years and as of recently, I decided to change, sort of the narrative of that character and sort of build over that character in such a way it’s relatable to masses,” he explained.
Sampson has approximately 985,000 followers on TikTok, just over half a million on Instagram, and almost half a million subscribers on YouTube. He said he plans to one day take his productions to the big screen.
He said no matter how big his fanbase, the goal is always to make people laugh.
“I doh let it control me in that way but I am aware of the amount of views and people who see it,” he said.
He is particularly loyal to Trinbagonians, the ones who first found him funny.
“They gave me the chance and they are the ones that have me in a lot of opportunities I am in,” Sampson said.
He is also thankful to his mother for the encouragement.
“I feel very, very grateful because my mom always tells me the same way something come is the same way it could go so be grateful, be humble. I truly appreciate all the support,” he said.