Ryan Higa
Ryan Higa (born June 6, 1990), also known as nigahiga, is an American internet personality and former YouTuber. Best known for his comedy videos, Higa began making YouTube content in 2006 and became one of the platform’s most popular early creators. His main YouTube channel, nigahiga, was the most subscribed channel on YouTube during two periods: a brief 9-day span in September and October 2008, and a consecutive 675-day span from 2009 to 2011. This long reign as the most-subscribed channel has only been surpassed by a few major creators since. Higa was also the first person to reach the milestones of 2 million and 3 million subscribers on YouTube.
Higa launched a podcast in 2018 called Off the Pill, which has featured YouTubers and celebrities such as KevJumba, Andrew Yang, and Jeremy Lin. In 2020, Higa began streaming on Twitch, where he reacts to his past videos and broadcasts video game content, most notably in Valorant.
Higa has won a Shorty Award, has been named to Forbes Top 30 Under 30, and has been nominated for three more Shorty Awards, six Streamy Awards, and five Teen Choice Awards.
Outside of his content on YouTube and Twitch, he has also published a memoir, Ryan Higa’s How to Write Good, and appeared in feature films Tell Me How I Die (2016) and Finding ‘Ohana (2021).
Early life
Ryan Higa was born in Hilo, Hawaii, on June 6, 1990. He is of Ryukyuan descent and has an older brother named Kyle. In his youth, Higa competed in judo and holds a black belt. He wrestled at Waiakea High School, from which he graduated in 2008.
Higa studied nuclear medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, but later dropped out to create online videos.
YouTube career
Higa and Sean Fujiyoshi began posting YouTube videos of themselves lip syncing to songs in mid-2006 while attending Waiakea High School.They quickly expanded beyond songs, with a variety of other comedic pieces. Occasional guest appearances were made by Tim Enos, Ryan Villaruel, Kyle Chun, and Tarynn Nago.
On December 24, 2008, Higa and Fujiyoshi’s two most popular videos, How To Be Gangster and How To Be Emo, were removed due to copyright violations.On January 21, 2009, the nigahiga account was temporarily suspended and was required to remove more copyrighted videos. Because of this, nigahiga’s lip syncing videos were all removed (with the exception of You’re Beautiful, which was audio swapped),along with most of his other videos that included copyrighted music.
Since then, Higa started composing the music himself. How to be Gangster and How to be Emo were put back on nigahiga’s channel in late August 2009, only to be removed a few days later, along with How to be Ninja and How to be Nerd. In Spring 2010, How to be Ninja, How to be Gangster and How to be Emo were made public once more.
Ninja Melk, a 26-minute short film about ninjas, was released in August 2009. The plot revolves around a ninja master named Master Ching Ching sending his student Lapchung (played by Bryson Murata) to find a replacement, finding Higa and Fujiyoshi to catch the evil Bokchoy (Tim Enos) and his henchwoman, Gina (Tarynn Nago).
When Higa moved to Las Vegas to attend college, most of the nigahiga videos were solo efforts, usually featuring collaborations with other YouTube users. Since 2012, Higa has put together a production company, Ryan Higa Production Company (RHPC), which included Sean Fujiyoshi, that works together to make content for the nigahiga channel.In 2015, Higa’s production company was based in a studio in Henderson, Nevada.
In 2016, Higa and other YouTubers and friends created the parody K-pop group Boys Generally Asian. In mid-2018, Fujiyoshi left the group as he was moving to Sacramento, California, to live with his current girlfriend and pursue his degree in engineering.
Channels
The nigahiga YouTube channel was created on July 20, 2006, by Higa, Fujiyoshi, Enos, and Nago (known collectively as “The Yabo Crew”). By December 21, 2010, it had reached 3 million subscribers, becoming the first channel to do so. Higa has stated that his channel name was derived from a combination of “Niga” (にが), which he claimed means “rant” in Japanese, and his Okinawan last name, “Higa.”
However, he later revealed that his channel name was actually derived from a desire to encourage people to pronounce his surname correctly. He expressed regret that this may have backfired somewhat, but has refused to change the channel name over the years to avoid the implication that it was ever meant to encourage usage of the term nigga.
In 2011, he created a second channel, under the name HigaTV, where he posts video blogs and behind the scenes videos.
In 2012, Higa helped form the YOMYOMF Network, which hosts the online video-making talent competition, Internet Icon, of which he served alongside Christine Lakin and Timothy DeLaGhetto as main judges.
Boys Generally Asian
In 2016, Ryan Higa created a K-pop band with David Choi, Philip Wang, Jun Sung Ahn, and Justin Chon. It was called BgA, standing for Boys Generally Asian, deliberately inspired by the all-female band Girls’ Generation. Their first song was called “Dong Saya Dae,” which currently has over 16 million views on YouTube. The song was conceived as a general parody of all K-pop songs and featured joke lyrics, but unexpectedly peaked at number 2 on the charts.
official iTunes K-pop charts.In 2017, BgA released their second song “Who’s It Gonna Be”,a more serious song than the first, though with the same basis of being a parody. This song went one better than the first, reaching no. 1 on the K-pop charts.
Film and television
In 2008, Los Angeles–based producer Richard Van Vleet offered to help them create their first feature-length film. The resulting film, Ryan and Sean’s Not So Excellent Adventure, was directed by Richard Van Vleet and released on November 14, 2008. It was shown in sold-out theaters in Hawaii and California. The DVD was released on July 14, 2009, in the United States.
The film is about a down-on-his-luck movie producer, played by Michael Buckley, who is seeking out famous celebrities to make a hit movie in 30 days or risk being fired. He chooses Higa and Fujiyoshi after discovering the popularity of their YouTube videos. He invites them to Hollywood to make a movie. They accept the offer and encounter several amusing situations along the way.
Higa has also guest-starred on an episode of Supah Ninjas, playing DJ Elephant Head, a master plotter who uses his hypnotizing electronic music to make people fall asleep to commit robberies.
He appeared in the 2016 horror film Tell Me How I Die and in the 2021 Netflix film Finding ‘Ohana.
Business ventures
Victorious Inc. released the “TeeHee” app in April 2015. It was a community hub for fans of Ryan Higa and was monetized through “pre-roll ads, branded content, e-commerce, and in-app purchases.” The service was shut down in April 2017.
Higa published his memoir, Ryan Higa’s How to Write Good, in 2017.
Higa co-founded Ninja Melk, LLC in 2016 with Kathleen Hahn and Kyle Schroeder. Their titular energy drink launched in May 2019. The drink took three years to develop and is named after Higa’s short film of the same name.Higa uploaded a stop motion short film onto the nigahiga YouTube channel on October 19, 2019, to promote the drink.
Personal life
Higa endorsed Andrew Yang for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president. He identifies as an agnostic and has been diagnosed with ADHD. Higa is a fan of the San Francisco 49ers and the San Antonio Spurs.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 4th Shorty Awards | Best in Humor | Won | [51] |
| 2013 | 3rd Streamy Awards | Personality of the Year | Nominated | [52] |
| Best First-Person Series | Nominated | [52] | ||
| 2014 | 4th Streamy Awards | Entertainer of the Year | Nominated | [53] |
| Comedy | Nominated | [53] | ||
| Young Hollywood Awards | Viral Superstar | Nominated | [54] | |
| 6th Shorty Awards | Best Video Blogger | Nominated | [55] | |
| 2015 | 5th Streamy Awards | Comedy | Nominated | [56] |
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Male Web Star | Nominated | [57] | |
| 2016 | 6th Streamy Awards | Comedy | Nominated | [58] |
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Web Star: Comedy | Nominated | [59] | |
| 8th Shorty Awards | YouTube Comedian | Nominated | [60] | |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Male Web Star | Nominated | [61] |
| 9th Shorty Awards | YouTuber of the Year | Nominated | [62] | |
| 2018 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Male Web Star | Nominated | [63] |
| 2019 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Male Web Star | Nominated | [64] |
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Ryan and Sean’s Not So Excellent Adventure | Ryan | |
| 2009 | Ninja Melk | Ryan / Master Ching Ching / Lapchung | Also director and writer |
| 2010 | Agents of Secret Stuff | Aden | Short film |
| 2016 | Tell Me How I Die | Scratch | |
| 2021 | Finding ‘Ohana | Ryan |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Supah Ninjas | DJ Elephant Head | Episode: “DJ Elephant Head” |
Web series
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | I Heart Vampires | Corbin’s Friend | 2 episodes |
| 2012 | The Book Club | YouTube Ninja | Episode: “Letters of the Dragon” |
| 2013 | YouTubers React | Himself | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Single by 30 | Trevor | Episode: “Hold the Phone!” |
Discography
Singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| “Nice Guys” (featuring Chester See and KevJumba)[65] | 2011 | Non-album singles |
| “I’m Hardcore” (featuring David Choi and JR Aquino)[66] | 2011 | |
| “Bromance” (featuring Chester See) | 2012 | |
| “Clenching My Booty” (featuring D-Trix) | 2012 | |
| “What Makes You Successful” | 2012 | |
| “Swg” (featuring Golden) | 2012 | |
| “Ignored” (featuring David Choi) | 2015 | |
| “PreBeardy” (featuring David Choi) | 2016 | |
| “Millennial Love” (featuring Kina Grannis) | 2017 | |
| “Exposed” (featuring David Choi) | 2019 | |
| “8 Grapes” (featuring David Choi) | 2018 | |
| “Exposed” | 2019 | |
| “Get Introverted” | 2019 |
