You may know La’Ron Hines best as a TikTokker who asks preschoolers “are you smart?” before challenging them to answer a history or science question they then proceed to reply to nonsensically. When the pandemic hit, he left Los Angeles and went home to Mississippi to help his mom out at her daycare center, where his “Are You Smart?” series was born. Now, sitting pretty at more than 9 million followers, Hines’s TikTok fame has taken him to the Golden Globes and MTV’s Wild ‘n Out. He was named one of Forbes’ Top Creators of 2022 and even invited to the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Before TikTok fame found him, Hines had racked up 800,000 followers with singing videos and comedy bits of his own, and he’s ready to get back to his first love: performing. His first single, “Web of Lies,” dropped in December. “I went into it knowing that I had a lot to prove because I didn’t want to be another one of those social media influencers that had a song because they could,” he tells Mashable. “This is something I truly loved, that I always pictured myself doing.”
“Web of Lies” references “early 2010s, dancehall, and Caribbean music… I love a lot of that music and culture,” he says, smiling. “That style of music makes you want to move. I wanted to make music that makes people feel good, that makes people want to dance.” Hines also has a new Snapchat Original show, La’Ron in a Million, that premiered on Feb. 4. “I’m trying to show people more of me,” he says of his latest endeavors.
And one of the best ways to get to know people is asking them what they like to watch on YouTube. Here are the videos Hines has been digging lately, in no particular order.
1. Learn 5 Easy Flips ASAP – How to Do Without Just Sending!
La’Ron: I looked up flipping because one of my dreams is to be in a Marvel film in a role that requires me to do stunts. Like Karate Kid, Cobra Kai stage fighting or tricks. I want to know how to do that stuff myself because I feel like people [are more likely to hire you] if you can do your own tricks. I got into jujitsu and am trying to learn fighting styles and boxing. I know they have actual stage fighting classes here in LA but I feel like the real deal is the basics, the groundwork you need to have before you try stage fighting. You have to know how to throw a punch.
Mashable: After a Marvel role, what’s another big goal?
I want my own show that I have a lot of control over or can produce and star in. There are so many creative people that are producing and starring in shows: Tyler Perry, Issa Rae, Quinta Bronson. My friend Marsai Martin has her own production company and just did a movie with Paramount+. I’m just super proud of her and all those other people. I truly look up to [them] because they know where they’re going.
I saw Quinta Brunson in a CoverGirl commercial the other day while I was watching TV, and I was like, OK!? Go Quinta!
I love Quinta, and her rise to success is so inspiring to me. If you were on social media in the early 2010s, you knew Quinta’s face, and you remember her from Vine and the Buzzfeed videos. To see her be this major piece in a show that’s doing so well, starring in it as the main character and on the production side [is amazing].
She and Issa are both incredible like that. I don’t know how they sleep. They’re doing everything all the time. Both Issa and Quinta came up as creators on social media platforms: Quinta on Vine and Issa on YouTube. So they are actually very good templates for you.
I’ll never forget, I saw Issa in New Orleans in July at Essence Fest, and she was just running around everywhere. I was like, “I want you to know that when I sleep tonight, I’m sleeping for the both of us.” That’s another reason why I look up to them. People get pigeonholed into [being] a social media personality. I was doing acting and music before the pandemic and when everything paused, I was blessed with the opportunity to create a following through my content. I wasn’t able to do a lot of acting or music but I was able to develop a platform. That doesn’t take away from what I was doing beforehand. And that’s really what I want to show people, it’s why I have a lot to prove.
2. Chlöe – “Pray It Away” (Official Video)
Chlöe Bailey is my top-tier celebrity crush. I would leave anybody, anything in the world if Chlöe Bailey told me, “Come here.” She’s extremely talented, has great music. She’s a super intense performer with great vocals. She does it all. I respect that about her. And of course she’s beautiful, too.
Is this you shooting your shot?
This is me shooting my shot at Chlöe Bailey! The funny thing is I’ve met Halle, but not Chlöe. I was at Megan Thee Stallion’s Halloween party and I walked past this couple dressed up as Avatars and I had to look hard for a little minute like, “Is that Hallie?” And it was her and her boyfriend? So I go up and introduce myself. We talked for a little minute and danced and she was really cool [and] really nice.
What were you dressed as?
Blade the vampire hunter. That’s me shooting my shot at Marvel again. Marvel and Chlöe! I’ll drop my email down below [laughs]. Anyways, I just love the music video. Chlöe’s a brilliant artist, the way that she captured the sound of traditional church music but made it smooth R&B. I love that.
You may be too young to remember this but in Hilary Duff’s “Come Clean” music video, she was surrounded by all these candles and Chlöe’s video jogged that memory for me. Were you a Disney kid?
I think I did see that! I was a big Disney kid growing up, Disney is the reason I want to be in entertainment. My main inspiration was Zack and Cody. Oh my gosh, I want it to be their triplet so bad, you couldn’t convince me I wasn’t Zack and Cody’s long lost triplet. I wanted to be the Frankie Jonas of the Sprouse twins.
You want to be the Frankie Jonas, really? He’s like the least known Jonas Brother.
But he’s still a Jonas Brother! His brothers are so iconic, it makes him iconic by association. He’s super talented, too. I met Frankie back in 2018. I did a tour, and he was one of the acts and he’s a great performer. I’m telling you, you can tell. I see a lot of his brothers’ mannerisms in the way that he performs. He’s right up there with them.
3. Beyoncé & Bruno Mars Crash the Pepsi Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show | NFL
I’m a really big fan of both artists 100 percent, but Beyoncé does it to me. She’s the epitome of an artist. She has everything and is perfect to the point where she makes it look so easy but you know it’s not because when you try to do it yourself, you look a mess. She was so good that I almost forgot for a second that there were other people performing.
Right, this was a Coldplay concert!
Yeah! Coldplay did amazing, but Beyoncé captivated the screen when she came on. I feel like that’s what upped it a little bit more is because she had that live band in Coldplay and Bruno Mars came in to add to it. All those elements together made it one of the best suitable performances I’ve ever seen for sure.
Do you think Rihanna might top them or what do you think? (Editor’s note: This interview took place before Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime performance)
I love Rihanna so much. I think she is going to do great. She’s going to come out swinging because this is her comeback moment already. I think I’m more excited to see what songs she performs.
What’s on your setlist?
My favorite song of hers is “S&M.” Everything where she had red hair, that era. She should definitely take it back to “Pon de Replay.”
You don’t think “Umbrella?” I feel like she has to have some rain element.
“Umbrella” would be a good finale song. How I look at it, the way that people looked at Prince and Michael Jackson is the way that we look at Rihanna and Beyoncé, with Rihanna being Prince and Beyoncé being the Michael. Prince and Rihanna have that same demeanor of hardcore, savage-mode while also being avant garde. Prince never fails to tell it how it is and I get that same vibe from Rihanna. And then Prince also had a rain element in his Super Bowl Halftime performance, so if Rihanna did rain that it would be a full circle moment. And then in Beyonce’s 2016 Halftime performance she had the same kind of outfit that Michael had for his. So that’s where I’m seeing the parallels.
As performers, Beyoncé and Jackson were both known for precision, and Rihanna and Prince are more about the vibes.
Yes! Oh my gosh, I’ve had that comparison in my mind for years, and I’ve been waiting to tell somebody.
4. Usher – “You Make Me Wanna…” (Official HD Video)
Usher, oh my God. I modeled a lot of what I do after Usher. I remember when I was 15 years old I first started writing music. I had a show coming up. I didn’t have a choreographer or a band. I would watch Usher videos just to learn moves to do on the stage, the day of the show, because I didn’t want to go out there and just be boring. I knew what I wanted to do, I just didn’t have the resources to do it. So I would drill myself watching Usher videos and I definitely think he is one of the greatest performers, too.
Have you had any formal dance training?
When I moved here [to Los Angeles], I started dancing at Millennium.
Are you in any of the Millennium dance videos on YouTube?
I’m in a couple. I just posted some on my page from a Matt Stefanina class I took. He’s one of my favorites, for sure. I really got introduced to Matt when I moved to LA. That was like late 2017, early 2018 when I first got into the dance scene. I watched the Millennium video because they would come up on my YouTube, right? So I would know all these choreographers but I never knew the name of the studio. When I moved out here, a producer I was working with was like, “You should definitely go to Millennium.” I’m like, “Yeah, I’ll go for sure.” I walked into the room and was like, “Wait a minute… this looks so familiar.” I looked up the class schedule and was like, “OK, whatever Matt Steffanina is teaching next we’re signing up!” But it was all sold out.
That’s what I’m wondering! How can they possibly have enough dance classes or space? The studio is so popular.
It’s crazy! I got into the dance scene in the height of when it was popular, when the Millennium videos were popping off. It was hard to get into the dance class, and I could I can only imagine how it felt to be a dancer that was already there grinding it out for years and having all these new people come in taking up the space. I can just imagine I was probably making people upset. If you’re watching this and you were in Millennium during that time frame that I was there, I truly apologize if I was in your way in any way shape or form.
I’m sure you were very polite.
I was actually kind of scared during my first dance class, I’m not gonna lie. Because you get in your head. You think “I can’t dance, people are looking at me.” No one is looking at you. That’s the thing you kind of have to get out of your head because these are professional dancers, and they go to classes so that they can get better. As long as you do anything extremely out of pocket, no one’s staring. If you miss a step, no one cares.
This is all so interesting to hear because you really were hustling in that scene L.A. before your TikTok account grew exponentially during the pandemic.
Right, I was still getting used to it. I was in the early development stages of it, I guess. When the pandemic happened, I had around 800,000 followers on TikTok. I kind of felt like I was getting my feet wet. I was starting to get my leverage, to actually feel an incline but then it just paused altogether. So I’m very grateful for what I did on social media because it gave me an outlet to continue what I was doing.
5. Will Smith And Martin Lawrence Go Sneaker Shopping With Complex
I love complex sneaker shopping videos. I can binge them all day, it’s one of my guilty pleasures. I think it’s because I live vicariously through these people because I’m a big sneakerhead. People go on [the show] when they’re promoting something, so they’re trying to talk about that mainly, but I’m not listening. I’m looking at what shoe you’re picking up. That’s the only reason I’m watching.
I’ve watched a few of these and obviously the best-known one on the internet is when Bella Hadid was on and she said, “Homeboy can get it.”
I think one of my favorites was the Tyra Banks episode. You feel her energy, and she’s such a light to be around. Another dream of mine is to be on the show. I want to be like, “This is La’Ron, this is Complex, and we’re going sneaker shopping!” It just feels it feels right, it’s on brand to me, personally.
