Today I sit down with Fadel/MTLSayian, everyone’s favorite hype master as we discuss all things Twitter, Nintendo, and a bit about his personal life.
Sterling: Okay first of all, how are you? How was your birthday?
Fadel: 23!
It was great! Hung out with family, got some crazy happy birthday wishes all day by friends and family all over the internet, and had an amazing time. Though only 23, I’m old now.
I’m only 22, a young buck.
Enjoy it while it lasts
On your birthday, it honestly seemed like everyone on my timeline was talking about you and wishing you happy birthday. What was it really like to deal with that kind of attention? I’m not over exaggerating when it seemed like EVERYONE I know was tweeting at you.
Oh yeah, this year was insane. It’s hilarious how on something like Facebook I maybe got like five happy birthday wishes, and here on Twitter I got Hundreds of happy birthday wishes. I honestly never feel overwhelmed, because I love having all these people to talk to on here, but I feel unbelievably loved and appreciated by my friends here, and it’s days like my birthday that remind me so many people care.
And sorry for flooding the timeline, just wanted to give people some shine and appreciation.
No, don’t apologize; it was heart-warming! So people in real life don’t give you this kind of attention? Or do your irl friends meme you as well?
It’s actually kinda funny: if you see me on Twitter, you’d think I’m the most social, outgoing person ever, but it’s actually not the case. I have very few friends irl that I ACTUALLY hang out with and genuinely see often. I have a core group of maybe three-five people I love, which is where I go crazy as you see here! But that’s about it. In social situations, if I’m not comfortable with people I ironically get very quiet, which no one could picture here. Ha ha!
Has the internet helped you become more social? Because you do a lot of crazy shit. And from all the memes I’ve seen of you, you’ve had quite the glow-up over the years. Is that from being inspired by certain people/characters or just from wanting to live a more healthy lifestyle?
I’ve always been outgoing online. I adore taking pictures and videos of myself because I’m always so crazy and hyper I wanna share it around haha! [The] internet has always made me super social. I grew up playing games like Club Penguin and MapleStory, which we’re online multiplayer games, and right away it felt supernatural to just talk to strangers. I never felt weird or creeped out by it. I actually met one of my best friends through on an online game, and we’ve been friend’s almost eight years, so it’s done wonders for me. The internet is definitely my preferred social hub. And for the “glow-up” everyone has come to know here (thanks internet memes), it was basically because I spent all of high school as a fat kid, and I didn’t want the next chapter of my life (college) to be that again. So I wanted to start eating healthy and working out!
How do you feel about being such a meme? Because it’s almost contagious when you see these memes. Like when I first saw them, I was like “idk who this guy is, but everyone likes him, and it seems funny.” No matter what you do, it seems to get meme’d, and there’s even a WHOLE TWITTER DEDICATED TO IT. So do you do things hoping/knowing they will get meme’d, or does it just happen?
Oh my god, it’s been INCREDIBLE. It’s genuinely hilarious to be meme’d, taking me out of context, seeing the hilarious photoshops, videos, etc. The fact that things I do can make people laugh like that or inspire creativity is incredible. And I don’t get offended, so that’s a big help! There’s some things I post with the intention to be meme’d 100%, because I want to see what people can do. Other stuff happens when I don’t expect it, and people use that, which is even funnier. So it’s kind of a flow.
If there is one thing I’d attribute to your popularity, it’s that you reply to almost everyone that you can, no matter what they say. How much time of the day do you dedicate to social media? Because it’s damn impressive and almost inhuman.
And does it tire you out at all?
Oh yeah, that’s something I really pride myself on. I like to answer as MANY people as possible. I hate when I see people with tons of followers who don’t give the light of day to their friends or talk to them. I encourage people to reply to me, engage conversations, DM me, etc. If you don’t have a healthy community, then you’re just growing a number of followers that means nothing. I’m fortunate enough to still be in school and having summer break now, so it’s easy to honestly answer a ton of people. But even if I was working, I’d find a way. The only thing I that I hate is my phone is constantly dying. Never tires me out one bit. Always look forward to it
The thing about you and your community is just the level of insanity. I’ve literally seen you call people fuck faces, and people LOVE IT! Even when haters criticize you for it, people come to your defence and say they like it and it’s just friendly banter. Is the crude humour just natural and some people don’t get that?
Crude humour is legit what I live by. My personal philosophy has always been that swearing is caring. The more comfortable we are at swearing at each other is the more friendly we are together. And I think my friends here get that. It’s part of the overall experience amongst our group. Haters can’t get me 99% of the time because 1) they’re barely around [and] 2) when they do show up, everyone kind of rallies against them.
Do a lot of these fans also watch your YouTube videos on The GamesCage? Because as much as you’re on Twitter, you also run a YouTube channel that is growing as well. Is it hard to balance working on your channel and social media? And where do you want your channel to go?
It’s pretty hilarious how most people grow their social media thanks to their YouTube content, whereas it’s thanks to Twitter that my YouTube is getting traction. For me, Twitter is as much of an important content platform as YouTube. I’ve also started doing twitch streams which has [sic] been super fun because I get to interact with people live. It is tough to balance them, I’m trying to get better by scheduling YouTube/Twitch content so that I make myself post stuff, because I can easily get distracted. I know me! Honestly? My dream would be for my YouTube & Twitch to thrive in order for me to be able to just do this for a living, because that’s my dream.
A lot of people have called you the second Etika due to the level of hype you bring to your videos and live streams. What’s that like? Especially now that he’s gone.
Man, Etika’s death hit me hard. Probably the first-ever death…ever to personally hurt me. He was someone, even though the last few months had driven me and many people away, who I had looked up to and loved for years. I know some people don’t like when people say that about me because they say, “he’s gonna be his own person,” but I see what they mean when they’re saying it. Me and Etika are going be known for different reasons and personality traits. A lot of the ways we act intersect, but I don’t want to just do what he does because he did it. But it blesses my soul when someone even remotely compares me to him, because it means I bring them the level of joy and happiness that he was able to, and I hope I can do that for others as well.
Do you, yourself, ever struggle with mental health? It seems like such a prevalent topic with content creators nowadays because we can be so easily criticized.
Honestly? Never. I’ve been very fortunate and lucky to have never felt any negative thoughts, mental health issues, depression, etc. I’ve always been someone who’s laughing, smiling, and constantly positive. Sure there’s some bad days, but the way I look at it is that everything will be okay, and I count my blessings. But I’ve helped many people who have opened up to me about their mental health issues, and it makes me so happy because people should not be afraid to talk about it. Not talking about it makes things worse, because you feel like you’re alone when you don’t realize there’s plenty of people out there willing to help you if you just reach your hand out.
Maybe one day something will hit, but for me? I feel like it’s unlikely. There’s something about the way my brain and body acts that keeps me smiling and joyous.
You’re one humble dude. That’s for sure.
Ha ha, thank you! I do my best to be honest, kind, and understanding. We’re all equals here. No pedestal for anyone.
Going back to your birthday, a lot of what I saw was people sending you Mario Maker levels. The game seems perfect for your community and you’ve even made some levels really popular! Do you view it as a way to showcase people’s work? Or is it just about fun?
It’s a bit of both! I wanna highlight peoples levels and also have fun, especially when I stream people’s levels! I know they’ve laughed seeing me fail and scream over and over again. There’s a joy we feel in seeing people play/mess with the things we create. It’s a perfect game for my community.I’m forever grateful for it and can’t wait to see how it continues to grow.
I found the Mario Sunshine sand bird level because of you! Some of your tweets have really blown up!
Oh yeah, that tweet BLEW UP. Might’ve been seen by over one million people
You even get the attention of some famous people in the industry like Eric Bailey, Brian Altano, and even the Best Buy Twitter account. Do you ever get intimidated or star struck when interacting with these people?
Ha ha, Eric is something else! And honestly I do. I’m someone who genuinely gets that shock moment when someone big ever answers/sees my tweets. It’s something we all feel because we see these people on videos and content all over the internet, so when they answer it’s a “wow!” moment. Which is so weird when people think that of me. The amount of times I’ve gotten a DM that I answer right away and people say “oh wow didn’t think you’d actually answer” is hilarious and weird
Who are some of the people you look up to? They can also be characters like Goku
Goku is always my go to! He’s beloved, funny, silly, and also protects the ones he loves and need the help of others to strive. But in terms of real life people eh….I’d say content creators like Kinda Funny, Rogersbase, Shofu, Gamexplain in general! My dream is to one day be on a Gamexplain discussion. Ha ha.
Didn’t Jon Cartwright comment on the sand bird level tweet? You should have DM’d him! Mad respect for Gamexplain.
He followed me actually! But I didn’t want to ask because I don’t want to be thaaat guy.
You’re killing it dude! What else are you looking forward to this year games wise?
Oooooh, too many! Fire Emblem Three Houses coming right up, Astral Chain, Death Stranding, Pokemon Sword/Shield, Link’s Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion 3, and more!
Which house are you gonna be picking? And are you gonna bet both Pokemon games or just one?
Of COURSE IM EDELGARD. ALL DAY. And I think I might be picking up both since they’re doing exclusive gyms…..
And I might be getting a Switch Lite….I have a Switch obsession.
God dammit I knew you’d say that. Lmfao.
WHAT COLOR?
Probably yellow!
If they released a nice red one, I’d cop the money for sure.
Gotta do it.
Speaking of your love for Nintendo. People have said/meme’d you as this sort of PlayStation hater (which we know your not), but people occasionally give you a hard time because of it. What’s your response?
Ah yes, FADEL #1 PlayStation hater! My response is always if someone thinks I hate PlayStation then they really don’t know me. Criticism gets confused for hatred for a lot of people. I’ll never not voice my opinion just so that people don’t say something about me. I’ll always call out company BS when I see it, and PlayStation PR has been very bad lately (in my opinion), but I still love their games and want them to succeed. Even for Xbox! A healthy industry is good for all of us.
Alright, for my last question, what are some words of encouragement you’d give to aspiring content creators?
My best advice is to keep trying, don’t give up, and do something different, or give your own spin on it. It’s hard to be original in 2019, as many people cover most aspects of things, but what’s holy unique about YOU is your personality. So try to inject that into everything you do.
Follow Fadel over on Twitter @MTLSayian and join in on the madness, the memes, and all sorts of shenanigans. He also runs a YouTube channel called GamesCage if you want to subscribe to him. Thank you for reading.
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