Ugandan content creator Yash Popy, real name Yasin Majid, says playing female characters in his skits brought him significant criticism and disrespect when he was starting out.
The TikToker built recognition around his distinctive role-playing content, including performances in which he dressed and acted as a woman. While the formula eventually opened doors to bigger collaborations and opportunities, Yash Popy says it was not always received positively.
According to the creator, the criticism became frustrating at a time when he was still trying to establish himself.
“At times, it becomes frustrating. We do this content for enjoyment and sometimes to get money, but we used to be overlooked because of the roles we play,” Yash Popy said.
He said the criticism went beyond people simply questioning his creative choices.
Yash Popy recalled being subjected to what he described as “sex-shaming” whenever people saw him dressed in a gomesi for his skits.
“People look at me in a gomesi and start sex-shaming me, and that affected my female audience because females never respected my craft,” he said.
The creator said the reaction pushed him to work harder rather than abandon the formula that had become central to his content.
He eventually focused on demonstrating that the characters were part of his professional work rather than something audiences should use to define him personally.
“I had to prove to them that it is business,” he said.
Over time, Yash Popy said the same people who had criticized his approach began accepting and applauding what he had built.
What had initially been viewed by some critics as embarrassing, according to his account, eventually became a business model that other TikTok creators later adopted to make money.
Yash Popy’s career has since expanded beyond his early skits, with his content earning him collaborations with bigger names and opportunities outside Uganda.
His experience has also shaped the advice he gives other content creators: remain consistent with the creative formula they believe in, even when the early response is negative.
His message is straightforward—criticism can come quickly when a creator does something unconventional, but consistency can give the work time to find its audience.
For Yash Popy, the female characters that once attracted ridicule ultimately became part of the formula that helped turn his creativity into a business.