This past month of August, the internet was taken over by a single kid’s love for corn. It was a video that features a black kid who was holding a tasty corn cob and explaining why it was the best thing ever. But, who is this kid? And where is he now? We will never know his full name or other personal information because the family has expressed that they sincerely want to keep the kid’s privacy. All we know is that the corn kid’s name is Tariq. Although we only know his first name, there are still some things that we can know about him from his interview as well as some things that we can learn from the kid’s perspective. So, let’s talk about it!
Tariq’s Interview in Recess Therapy
One hot summer afternoon, around July or August, Julian Shapiro-Barnum (the host of Recess Therapy) was walking around the park and interviewing kids about varying complex topics. But due to the extreme heat, they decided to take it easy and just play around with kids while asking easy questions. By the way, Recess Therapy is a web series that’s uploaded on YouTube and Instagram. The series focuses on talking to kids and interviewing them about their perspectives on life, and what advice they can give to adults. And while finding kids to play with and ask silly things, Julian and his team stumbled upon Tariq who was happily eating his corn on the cob. When they approached Tariq and asked him questions he happily obliged to do an interview. The interview started with Tariq being asked about what he thinks of corn and he replied, “I really like corn.” When asked why he likes corn, a funny reply came about, “Ever since I was told that corn was real, it tasted really good. And when I tried it with butter, everything changed.” Tariq then proceeded to show his love for corn by vividly describing the vegetable, and saying that he can’t even imagine something more beautiful than corn. Once the video of the interview was uploaded, it garnered positive comments from the viewers. One of the top comments really embodies what most of us do, “All it took was a young man talking about corn to bring millions of people together to laugh. The corn kid is a national treasure he must be protected at all costs.” Yes indeed, we need to protect this precious kid.
Effects of the “It’s Corn” Song Going Viral
After the interview went viral, the YouTube channel schmoyoho, created a song out of it and titled it “It’s Corn”. This immediately went viral on YouTube, and in just 1 month it had garnered 15 million views. And it became viral on TikTok too. As of this writing, around 1 month after the song was released, it had been used in more than 1.2 million TikTok videos.
Due to how viral it was, it attracted the attention of several celebrities and companies which invited Tariq to collaborate on a video. One of the most prominent figures was Mr. Beast. In their collaboration video, Tariq and Mr.Beast can be seen looking at each other eye-to-eye. And in between them, is a tasty and juicy corn which, after a few seconds, Tariq took a bite off. Aside from celebrities, the government also took interest in Tariq and his love for corn. In fact, the governor of South Dakota, one of the leading producers of corn here in the US, has named and honored Tariq as South Dakota’s Corn-bassador. During his visit to South Dakota, Tariq enjoyed seeing wide fields of corn and even a corn palace.
Lessons We Can Learn from Corn Kid Tariq
Aside from his love of corn, there are valuable lessons that can be found in his interview. One of which is his view about being the best. Tariq said, “Not everyone has to like it to be the best.” And indeed, these words are true, being the best doesn’t mean that everyone has to agree on it. It is the best because it is the best for those that truly appreciate it. So, if you’re feeling like your efforts aren’t really being appreciated by others, you can find comfort that your family and friends can see your efforts and to them, you are the best.
Another valuable lesson is that Tariq showed us that happiness can be found even in simple things, even a simple corn. He showed us how to do it: by appreciating more the things that we have by going into detail about why we like them. Remember how he went into detail about the things he appreciated, the corn’s taste, the knobs, the juice, the grease, and the energy that it gives.
A Sincere Wish for Tariq
A precious and delightful kid, that’s what Tariq is. And I really want the best for him. I personally hope that Tariq doesn’t get exploited because of his newfound fame. Instead, I wish for him to have a very corn-tastic life ahead of him-one full of love and appreciation.