Salomon Jolimere, known as “Salo,” stands out in any room he enters because of his six-foot-three-inch stature, loud voice, lankiness and booming personality. The Montclair State University exercise science major has 6,300 followers on Instagram, which features comedy videos that include him going to different New Jersey college campuses.
In his videos he performs dances and skits that represent his Haitian pride. Duke Brown, a senior business administration major with a concentration in marketing, spoke about Jolimere’s attitude toward life.
“If I could choose a word to describe Salo, it would be animated,” Brown said. “He’s always goofing around and having that good outlook on life.”
Brown and Jolimere have an ongoing Instagram skit called “Coach Duke,” where Brown teaches him different dances to get through situations such as Christmas Caroling.
Steven Darius, a senior business administration major with a concentration in sports marketing, helped Jolimere create a dance challenge last year titled, “Horses in the Back.” Darius also had positive words for Jolimere.
“Salomon’s aura is always positive, upbeat and full of energy,” Darius said. “It always makes you want to be energetic.”
Jolimere usually greets people by their Instagram username and a hug. If someone doesn’t have an Instagram, he will still greet them loudly by their first name.
Jolimere started consistently posting videos on his Instagram last year after he met his favorite YouTubers DDG and Deshae Frost in Miami.
“They’re not like superheroes, they just put a lot of hard work and dedication into what they do,” Jolimere said.
Jolimere now consistently posts videos on Instagram and YouTube in hopes of becoming a successful entertainer to pay off his parent’s mortgage. He remembers how much he wants to provide for his family any time he feels unmotivated.
“I’m so passionate about making videos,” Jolimere said. “It feels like it’s a part of my life now. If I’m not posting, I’m doing something wrong. It’s one of my top five priorities out of everything I do.”
Jolimere’s determination to be successful on both platforms outweighs any negative feedback he receives.
“Haitian pages repost a lot of the Haitian content that I do and there was one page that reposted me,” Jolimere said. “On my page, it was getting a good reaction but then on their page, I checked and there was a whole bunch of hate comments.”
A skit Jolimere produced in the summer of 2019 based on Haitian parenting did not sit well with the followers of a popular Haitian content Instagram page. In the video, Jolimere cursed at his friend who was portraying his mother which is considered highly disrespectful in Haitian culture.
“None of these people know who I am and their first impression of me is a minute and a half video online,” Jolimere said.
Salo’s father as a cartoon. In Haitian Creole, “Ou Fou?” means “Are you crazy?”
Photo courtesy of @salo.thesav | Instagram
Jolimere is continuing to build his brand as a content creator for Instagram and Youtube. Recently, he designed shirts of his father’s reaction in a prank video where he let milk overflow in a cup and onto the floor. He knew his parent’s reaction would be camera-worthy.
“For Instagram, I want to hit 10,000 followers by the end of the year [and] become a brand ambassador for a couple of brands,” Jolimere said. “For Youtube, I’m praying to get monetized by the end of this year. You need like 1,000 subscribers and a certain amount of watch time for that. That’s my main goal.”
