What happened to Tapir 590 and why do you blame Pharaoh Love Shady for his retirement?

It was 2019 and there was no Peruvian who did not repeat the viral phrase “What are you going to know you pe, mascot”, created by Oliver Ramos, popularly known as Tapir 590. This eccentric character earned a space on the web for uploading videos giving advice on how to become a millionaire and conquer beautiful women. Moreover, for boasting a life full of luxuries that, supposedly, was impossible for mere “mortals” to afford.

Like other characters born on the Internet, Tapir 590 was never intended to become famous, at least in the beginning. He became fairly well-known on Facebook for trying to sell old and fake sneakers at 590 soles in buy and sell groups. Once he realized he had the public's attention, he created a page to answer people who criticized him on social media.

Eventually, users called it “tapir”, as many claimed that it resembled the mammal mentioned. However, that hasn't been the only nickname it has received over the years. Vladimir Cerrón, Hypno from Pokémon, Penguin from Happy Feet, Puffy Cave, Kenji Fujimori from JB, Dolly from Ayudín and Alf from Cerro El Pino have been other of his funny nicknames.

His popularity reached the point that he was interviewed on radio and television programs, and he was even a special guest on Jorge Benavides' extinct program, JB's El Wassap. Not only did he animate Lima discos, but he also traveled to the province as the main figure of the events, where he was cheered by groups of young people who did not miss the opportunity to ask him to say his mythical phrase “Of course, mascot”.

“The most I've been paid was 25 thousand dollars. That happened outside Lima and more than that I can't say. What did I do with the money? Something similar happened to me than Mayimbu (losing money to women). I won my desire, like everyone else,” he commented in a recent interview for B&K Podcast, a digital space hosted by youtubers Benjadoes and Héctor Reg.

WHAT HAPPENED TO TAPIR 590?

Currently, Oliver Ramos has stopped uploading videos to his social networks such as Tapir 590 because he doesn't want to be copied by other Internet characters. According to him, Faraón Love Shady, a singer from Arequipa who has a large virtual community, has dedicated himself to imitating his style to become famous as him.

“I created the style of playing with the public and he has started doing the same thing, almost the same. Then I stopped making videos because if I didn't give ideas anymore, they would run out of it. Anyway, everyone knows me already,” he said on B&K Podcast.

In addition, Tapir 590 said that he is focused on his musical career as a reggaetonero, so he has changed his name to Tapir Malo, in honor of Bad Bunny, one of his great references. “I am producing music, but also animating birthdays, christenings and singing in discos,” he told NN Interviews.

On the other hand, Oliver Ramos also makes a living by selling his personalized greetings through WhatsApp. Prices range from 5 soles to 50 soles. A video call with him to “chat with the master of chacoteo” costs 40 soles. If you cross him on the street, a photograph with him is worth 10 soles and if he is in a good mood, 5 suns.

WHY DO YOU CALL YOUR FOLLOWERS “PETS”?

The secret has been revealed. As he pointed out for NN Interviews, he started calling users “pets” because he was fed up with the large number of people asking him for a greeting, especially when he began to gain popularity on social networks, since he could not memorize all the names of his loyal fans.

“I tell them that way because when I became famous, because I am, a lot of people talked to me. First they spoke to me 20 thousand and then they became millions, from all over the world, from various countries. I didn't know how to learn their names anymore, I'm a human being... To save me the trouble of memorizing, I baptized them as pets,” he said for the space led by 'The Cricke'.

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