TikTok Couple Ling and Lamb Talk Building Their Brand and "Very Accidental" Start (EXCLUSIVE)

With almost 4 million followers on TikTok, content creators Taccara Lawanson and Yinka Lamboginny Lawanson, who go by the names Ling and Lamb, have taken the social media platform by storm. The comedic pair first went viral after Lamb asked his American wife to try a dish from his home country of Nigeria.

Since garnering a following, the relatable couple showcases their daily lives and invites their followers to witness their hilarious pranks and reactions to new experiences.

In an exclusive interview with Distractify, Ling and Lamb opened up about their viral videos, including what's next for the TikTok couple.

Check out our Q&A below. (Editor's note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)

Distractify: Can you talk about the first time you realized one of your videos was going viral?

Ling: Yeah, so it's funny, it actually started out as a complete accident. In August 2020, Lamb had me try a Nigerian dish from back home. And he wanted to record my reactions, because we've always recorded each other in the past, always just documenting our experiences with one another. So this was no different. And he got my reaction. And he was just like, 'Let me just post it to TikTok.' We had just downloaded it. ... And we went to bed and woke up and it went viral. Basically, we were very surprised by it. And we were just like, 'Wow, maybe we have something here.' ... But it was all accidental. Very accidental.

Since your video went viral in 2020, can you talk about how your content has shifted in the last few years?

Lamb: We started with food. But then, for us, our life does not just revolve around food. So over time, we started introducing other aspects of real-life situations, like real things that we go through in our relationship. So it started off as food, but then it expanded into lifestyle, relatable, fun ... nothing dangerous. ... I will say we've truly, truly expanded being able to like incorporate, you know, lifestyle, and all of that into what we you know, what we have and grow from here. It's simple. What we do is experiential as we grow in our life, in our business, as we expand, anything that happens to us is part of our growth; it will just naturally be documented. And hopefully, it continues to resonate with, you know, millions of people around the world.

Lamb, you have posted some hilarious reactions to American traditions. What is something that shocked you the most about living in the United States?

Lamb: Well, the first thing and it's still shocking me is the credit system. Where I come from, if you don't have cash, you can't buy anything. You know, then I come to America, people are buying cars without paying for it. People are buying phones without paying for it. People are buying houses without paying for it. ...So for me, it's the biggest culture shock. You can't buy a car in my country if you don't pay the full payments you can't buy a house if you don't pay [the] full payment.

Ling, what is maybe the hardest dish or activity that you had to convince Lamb to try?

Ling: The hardest thing I've had to convince Lamb to try food-wise, it's crazy, the word even leaving my mouth right now, but trying to get him to try pizza, which is my favorite food. ... He won't try it. He thinks that cheese is tasteless, and I'm still kind of like having questions in my head.

Lamb, you also released a song in 2022 titled, "Count Your Blessings." Can you talk about that and your

Lamb: "Count Your Blessings" is a song I wrote at a point in my life where I was confused. Being in a new country, I was having a lot of doubts inside of me, it felt like I was in a dark space at the time ... things were not going as smooth as I thought it would be. I'm far away from home. But then while I was complaining, and literally crying, you know, it felt like I just had a very quiet voice that said to me 'look around you and just count your blessings.' ...Don't allow what you're expecting, you know, rob you off or distract you from appreciating what you already have. And then I just opened my mouth and the song came out.

What are your future goals or plans for 2023?

Ling: We're really hopeful for great 2023. It's off to a great start. And we're just looking to like you said, you know, just grow our brands, grow our community, keep, you know, cranking out really great creative content. And, we'd love to, you know, one of our goals is to eventually get on the road with with a show. That's that's a goal for us. So, you know, 2023 we're definitely going to keep working really hard. And we're excited for what's out there.