Bella Poarch, 25, holds the record for the most-viewed TikTok in history.
Poarch’s biggest claim to fame is her wildly popular lip-syncing videos. One video in particular of her mouthing the song ‘M to the B’ by Millie B became an online sensation, attracting over 700 million views.
It was only 10 seconds long, but Poarch’s simple video made her one of the biggest breakout stars on the app.
Poarch, who once worked for the US navy, found herself embroiled in controversy after followers noticed she had a tattoo similar to the Japanese Rising Sun flag, which is a symbol of Japanese imperialism.
In September 2020, she apologised and had the ink covered up.
Then, in May 2021, Poarch released her debut single ‘Build a B—‘.
Speaking to Vogue, the influencer-turned-musician said she faced some obstacles due to the origin of her fame.
“It’s not in my favour that I started out as an influencer and people think I’m just starting to make music when, actually, I’ve been doing it my whole life,” she said.
“And I know there’s a lot of hate and negativity recently about TikTokers making music. But at the end of the day, I don’t give a s—. I’m just doing what I love to do.”
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