AboFlah keeps looking directly into the camera. He can’t help it—the YouTuber has collected 50 million subscribers and has spent most of his life streaming. For most people, a camera lens is intimidating and cold. For AboFlah, known as Hassan Suleiman in the few hours he spends offline, it is more comforting to look into it than to ignore it.
We have our conversation in the studio of 8Flamez, the company he cofounded alongside Eyad Siyam and Saad Sarwar to manage creators and build infrastructure for the creator economy. It’s a massive, white-walled space scattered with props, furniture, and recording equipment, ready to film at any moment. He arrives on time but slightly annoyed at having missed an appointment earlier in the day. He’s not one to miss an appointment; or even an email, as I later find out. His inbox has a measly 17 unread emails.
Online, he is frequently compared to IShowSpeed and KSI, both of whom he has collaborated with. But his defining moment goes beyond any clickbait; his charity livestream, where he spent 12 days locked in a glass box in Dubai, raised $11 million for refugees and broke two world records for the longest livestream video and the most viewers for a livestream charity donation event.
Seated on a beanbag on the floor of his studio, he talks the way he streams: fast and unfiltered, in long unbroken runs that he occasionally interrupts to apologize for. He does this before, during, and after our conversation.
At 50 million subscribers and with a company, a cartoon character on the way, and a target of 100 million subscribers ahead of him, he is thinking about what comes next.
He speaks in Arabic, his speech threaded with the expressions of faith—Alhamdulillah, Inshallah, Bi’ithnillah—that punctuate many of his answers, and which I’ve kept intact.
CARLA SERTIN: Tell me about the cartoon you’re planning with Spacetoon, Slayman. Why go with this concept?
HASSAN SULEIMAN: I love cartoons a lot. Spacetoon … I was born and raised watching Spacetoon. So as soon as they proposed the idea of me being featured as a character, I loved the idea. I mean, it’s a really beautiful idea, so I took part. So now Slayman is coming out, Inshallah. I expect it will release on Spacetoon at the beginning of next year or at the end of this year. And I’m very excited. I hope people like it, Inshallah.
TV is very traditional media, and you’re a streamer–
Yeah, it will be a new experience. But I expect, Inshallah, it will be a really great experience.
Why? Because my audience is mostly young and loves entertainment. And Spacetoon—and the character Slayman—will be a beautiful story that conveys a beautiful and nice message in an entertaining way for the young audience. So, Inshallah, they’ll love the idea.
Look, TV is not like social media; it’s different. That’s why I refused to go into acting, because I don’t really like acting that much. I refused things like, for example, being a TV presenter or doing a specific program and following the TV system. Because on social media, it’s much more relaxed. More spontaneous. You’re more yourself. You can do any idea. If I wake up today with a weird idea, I can do it on social media. In TV, you need a lot of approvals, a lot of things; it’s complicated.
I got carried away talking. I’m going to talk a lot. Forgive me, I will talk too much. Stop me if you want to change this up.