It was the height of summer when seven-year-old Tariq declared: “For me … I really like corn” – and promptly became an internet sensation. His video interview with Julian Shapiro-Barnum, host of web series Recess Therapy, went viral, as his description of corn as “a big lump with knobs” and general enthusiasm for the vegetable racked up views around the world.
“What do you like about corn?” asks Shapiro-Barnum in the video, which was shot at Smorgasburg, a weekly food festival in Prospect Park, New York. “Ever since I was told that corn was real, it tasted good,” says a gap-toothed Tariq, seemingly bemused by the sheer existence of corn. “But when I tried it with butter, everything changed! … I can’t imagine a more beautiful thing! It’s corn!”
The whole exchange is undeniably cute and the subsequent musical remix by The Gregory Brothers made it catchy, too: It’s Corn – which will have you breaking into “It has the juice! It has the juuuuice” at any and every mention of corn – has been viewed more than 100m times on YouTube and TikTok, gaining celebrity fans including Kevin Bacon, Lupita Nyong’o and Kristin Chenoweth. Shapiro-Barnum and Tariq have each received a third of the song’s profits.
Recess Therapy’s original YouTube video has now been watched more than 10m times and its “Corn Kid” Instagram reel has had 30m views. As Shapiro-Barnum puts it: “It kind of took over for a minute.” Did the 23-year-old always know it would be such a hit?
“No, I didn’t,” he says. “Recess Therapy has had other viral videos in the past but it had never gotten to the point where literally everybody I knew was sending it to me. I started seeing it everywhere; it became its own entity.”
The pair stayed in touch – via Tariq’s mother, Jessica – and last caught up about six weeks ago. But since making his name as Corn Kid, Tariq has been busy: he attended the LA premiere of Robert Zemeckis’s Pinocchio (“Who’s Tom Hanks?” he replied, adorably, when asked if he was excited to meet the actor), starred in a Chipotle ad and taste-tested corn-themed foods on The Drew Barrymore Show. He also joined Cameo where, according to the New York Times, he sold personalised video messages for $220 and became the most viewed profile on the platform.
In September, Tariq was named South Dakota’s official “Corn-bassador” and, for Thanksgiving, he partnered with corn brand Green Giant and food charity City Harvest to give out 50,000 tins of corn in Brooklyn, where he lives. He also appeared on a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“Honestly, I think he’s just been really excited to do all of these fun things that, for a seven-year-old, are amazing,” says Shapiro-Barnum, keen to reassure those who have expressed concern about the youngster’s sudden rise to internet fame. In September, Tariq’s TikTok, which has now amassed 866,000 followers, even had to reassure fans that Corn Kid was alive and well, after rumours spread that he had been killed in a shooting. “His family makes sure he still has normality,” says Shapiro-Barnum. “They have handled it beautifully and with grace, and he seems like he’s having the time of his life.”
The Recess Therapy host recently met show fan Michelle Obama, and still interviews children for the series. Do people shout “Have a corn-tastic day!” in the park? “I don’t get asked to say any of the ‘It’s Corn’ catchphrases, but I’m sure Tariq does. I think he loves it. He’s a kid and kids like to repeat the same thing.”
Meanwhile, Recess Therapy has launched a range of It’s Corn merchandise and Shapiro-Barnum was recently named as one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30. “Now people say: ‘I was a fan before Corn Kid!’,” he says. “If anything, it’s made our job easier because parents are more aware of what we do. But one of the core values of the show is that every kid has a voice; that’s not changed.”
And does Tariq still love corn? Is it perhaps easier to eat now that he has both his front teeth? “He loves so many things, so many vegetables!” says Shapiro-Barnum. “I’m sure he still loves corn but it would be remiss of me if I didn’t say that he loves broccoli, too.” I can’t imagine a more beautiful thing.
