Kountry Wayne is coming for Tyler Perry’s crown — he’s earned his role as the heir apparent.
Parallels between the two men are inescapable: Like Perry, DeWayne Colley had a hardscrabble upbringing in rural Georgia, with an imprisoned father and dabbles with crime that, if not for good luck and timing, could’ve easily resulted in the world not knowing that he exists.
Also like Perry, Wayne’s early creative output – a brief stint as a rapper – didn’t pan out well, though both men evolved until they found their sweet spots.
In the early 2000s, Perry was the first to exploit a previously untapped market – Black Christian women – which he leveraged to build a multimedia film and television business that made him a billion-dollar-net-worth mogul.
Wayne, 36, has tapped into that same market, but his approach is more contemporary: His short videos, which have gone viral for years, evolved into an ongoing soap opera – told in many parts – that are racking up millions of views and leaving him in a lane of his own.
So, who is Kountry Wayne, and how is he taking Black digital media by storm?
Wayne the visionary
Wayne posted his first internet videos on the now-extinct social media platform (and TikTok predecessor) Vine in 2014. His comedic takes on life, family and dating — which largely consisted of him talking directly into the camera in his drippy southern drawl — landed him his television debut on Nick Cannon’s “Wild ‘n Out” in 2018.
The next few years saw him in various straight-to-streaming film roles, as well as a co-hosting gig on the BET+ reality series “I Love Us.” But he found his true wealth – literally and financially – through his short skit videos on social media.
From the beginning, Wayne recognized the “secret sauce” that has frequently caused his videos to go viral: Write on topics that keep Black folks in perennial debate, like dating, cheating and navigating baby mama drama. His comments sections are typically on fire because viewers are frothing at the fingers to let their feelings be known, regardless of if they even bother watching the full clip.
It’s no surprise that one of his most popular YouTube videos focuses on the topic of women cheating.
As Wayne picked up fame, more celebrities started popping into his skit videos, including southern rappers T.I., Yung Joc and Lil’ Boosie. But he crossed into new territory when he started shooting and posting his serialized videos.
Whereas Perry perfected the Black soap opera in feature-length format on stage, film and television, Wayne chopped it up in bite-sized skits that people can consume in 3 to 4 minutes – enough time to stand in line at a grocery store or wait in a car for your kid to get out of school.
The skits is that they aren’t dry like your mama’s “General Hospital” or “One Life to Live” – they’re relatable, gasp-worthy, hilarious and unabashedly Black melodrama.
Among the ongoing storylines is drama between Anthony (Anthony O. Dalton) and his wife Amber (Amber Tai Hemphill). Amber apparently slept with their friend Wayne before they were married, but Anthony (who is not spotless clean by any means) only just found out and is going on a mini-rampage, bringing friends and family into the mix.
It all includes tears, threats of violence, side-eyes and pretty much everything Black folks want from a messy, cheesy tale.
These productions couldn’t be more pared down: there’s no splashy website or pricey paid promotion. The videos are shot on iPhone and Wayne insists very little editing happens before they’re posted. The Atlanta-area locations are likely not rented, and there’s no star trailers or obtaining permits to block off streets.
Of course, the acting isn’t Julliard-graduate-caliber work – ad-libs rule the day and it doesn’t feel like script memorization is essential to their success – which might deter many from entertaining them. But Perry has spent his career swiping away similar critiques like flies on the way to the bank because both men recognize that relating to the audience that they built – Christian Black Americans from around the way – is more important than anything else.
In fact, during their “Club Shay Shay” interview earlier this month, Shannon Sharpe told Wayne that he adopted Perry’s strategy, which Wayne quickly affirmed.
“He took his own money and understood the importance of his people,” Wayne said. “Tyler Perry got more money than Will Smith and he got the biggest movies in the world,” he said. “If you feed our people, you gotta slow walk them to new content.”