How eating chips and bragging on Instagram got Elsa Majimbo a Fenty campaign

It was at the end of March, at the beginning of quarantine for many around the world, when 19-year-old Nairobi-based journalism student Elsa Majimbo posted a short, comedic video to her Instagram explaining that she doesn’t miss anyone in isolation. Relatable to many, the video went viral. Jumping from 10,000 followers to a global audience of 843k, Majimbo became a leading example of how to foster a cult following on the internet with only an iPhone 6, a bag of chips and a pair of tiny 1990s sunglasses. So much so that she’s currently nominated for an E! People’s Choice Award in the African Social Star category.

Those familiar with Majimbo’s style of comedy will know that she’s mastered the art of the monologue through the genius juxtaposition of being a “professional bragger” with lo-fi video quality, against a backdrop of bed sheets. In one video she announces she only has one job and that is “being sexy”, before laughing and putting on her shades.

In fact, so many of her videos feature her wearing sunglasses that Rihanna thought it only fair to send her several Fenty pairs, inviting her to create a video for the brand. The result is a hilarious video in which Majimbo jokes about being childhood friends with RiRi and deciding whether to take her photos for Vogue “standing up or sitting down”.

Majimbo once joked about fame being “a calling” and now that joke has turned into a reality—although, her family may not agree. “Oh my god, they treat me the same,” she beams over Zoom. “I expect some kind of status in this house now, but they expect me to cook and clean. I still wash dishes.” She also says her 16-year-old brother doesn’t find her funny.

Majimbo puts her infectious self-confidence down to being comfortable in her own skin. Growing up in Nairobi, she was surrounded by “people who were trying to impress others” and she never felt like she truly fit in. “I just decided to do my own thing because I didn’t have a choice,” she says. “I didn’t have a lot of friends so I picked up my camera one day and started talking into it, and it just felt so amazing and natural and raw.” From there, the format for her Instagram account was created and she’s been consistently posting videos of herself for more than a year since. The persona in her comedic videos is not an alter-ego, but her true self.

Beyond the videos

Majimbo is currently studying journalism at Nairobi’s Strathmore University. Though she doesn’t really feel that university is for her, not going was never an option. “In Africa, talent isn’t valued without education,” she says. “I would see all these people in Europe and the US saying that university isn’t for everyone and I was like, ‘I wish I could do that.’”

As for her creative process, Majimbo doesn’t record a video unless she’s feeling happy. “I wouldn’t force an idea,” she says. “I feel like it’s something that comes naturally to me and if I force it, I lose that magic.” She wants to keep her monologues unscripted. That said, she doesn’t want to make videos forever. The big plan includes acting, a podcast, a book and stand-up shows, starting with the rollout of her interview series Bedtime with Elsa on Instagram Live, where she chats with celebrities, including singer-songwriter Jorja Smith, right before going to sleep.

Despite her viral fame, Majimbo says that people have cast doubt over whether she would be able to make it beyond Africa. One journalist even told her that it’s hard and unlikely to move into the global space, despite her biggest audiences currently being in the US, South Africa, UK, and Nigeria, according to Instagram analytics. This has only made her more determined.

“I feel like dark-skinned young women never have the opportunity to represent Africa internationally and we’re always made to feel like we should never reach for such opportunities because we’ll never have them,” she says. “So the fact that here I am, my 19-year-old, young, dark-skinned self, and I’m able to do it and make people happy—I feel like it’s a chance to show other women in Africa that they can do it, too.”

As well as her Fenty collaboration, Majimbo has been named as a brand ambassador for M.A.C Cosmetics Africa. She describes her relationship with makeup as “healthy”, meaning she wears it only when she wants to. “Before, I couldn’t afford makeup, but I would buy it because it was planted in my head that I needed it to look better,” she says. “Now I’ve realised it’s not a matter of [using makeup to look] better, but just feeling like putting it on.” Her skincare routine is simple, although a little surprising: drinking water and avoiding oily food (something that doesn’t particularly align with the countless videos of her eating chips). As for her approach to fashion, she is a proud outfit repeater.

Looking to the future

Talking to Majimbo, it’s clear the way she plans to continue to navigate her new-found stardom will be through her strong sense of self, something that’s at the core of her videos under the comedic bragging. Her success comes from her ability to make others feel that it’s OK to ignore calls from friends and use Photoshop instead of actually working out for those quarantine abs, during a time when discussions about self-improvement were rife. As such, Majimbo’s story is one about being so sure of your value that the world can no longer ignore it.

“I’ve always been at the bottom of the food chain because Nairobi is very colourist, with men at the top and then light-skinned women,” she says. “People wouldn’t treat me the best and I grew tired of being told what I need to be when it’s not what I want, so I started manifesting myself out of that space and getting into one where I knew what I wanted.”

Keeping the integrity of her work and her desire to bring people joy at the centre of everything she does, there’s no doubt that Fenty and M.A.C won’t be the last high-end brands to recognise Majimbo’s online icon status. “The thing I love most about my videos is that they make people happy. You don’t need to thank me for being happy. You deserve to be happy. That’s not a privilege, it’s a right.”

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