For the comedian and musician, the road to success was winding. Now Rahma is making a living on being himself.
By Emilia Petrarca
Photos by Eric Helgas
Published
For Issue 04: Hacking It, Byline teamed up with Urban Outfitters and Dickies to highlight individuals who have paved their own paths and unlocked new levels in their respective industries. These creators defy the system by making their own rules, and in other words, they're Hackers.
It all started, as so many great American success stories do, at McDonalds. Kareem Rahma, age 14, wanted a car for his 16th birthday, so he got a job working for the fast-food chain in the suburbs of Saint Paul, Minnesota, where his family moved from Cairo, Egypt in the ‘90s. For two years, he clocked in every Monday through Thursday after school. It was there that he learned the value of hard work—but also not to take it too seriously.
“I remember this one time, I was making a Big Mac…” Rahma says. “It's supposed to be: bread, patty, bread, patty, bread. But I did: bread, patty, bread, patty, bread… patty, bread, patty, bread… And then I shoved it all into the box. When the guy opened it, it shot out like a slinky, which was funny.”
In the end, Rahma made enough money to buy himself a purple Dodge Neon, which he outfitted with sheepskins and a big muffler. “My parents were not in a position to buy me nice things,” he explained. “So, if I wanted something, I had to get it myself. And I did.”