Meet Elliott Keen: That Asian Guy Who Went Viral for Having Long Hair

For guys to have long hair isn’t exactly the most common thing. Although it has been becoming a growing trend, not many guys could stand to leave their hair past shoulder length.

When Elliott Keen aka the Jellyfish went viral last year, it seems like guys with long hair ain’t that bad after all.

Prior to going viral, Elliott has always shared his hair journey with everyone. The Australian shares hair care tips, hairstyle ideas and tutorials for men, and even shares some fun vlogs of his adventures.

Malaysians will be delighted to know that the YouTuber actually has Malaysian heritage!

xtra got in touch with Elliott to get to know more about the young man.

His parents are actually from Malaysia but they migrated to Australia many years ago.

“I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia as the second child to migrant parents who originated from Kuala Lumpur.

“My parents moved to Australia in the 80s and I was born in the 90s.

“I grew up in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne with my mum, dad and older brother. I spent my entire childhood here, completed high school, a bachelor’s degree and now I’ve just started my Master’s in Speech Pathology.”

Some might have thought that he would not know anything at all about his Malaysian heritage but Elliott visits the country once in every two years and he really loves it here.

“My favourite part of Malaysia is visiting my family, but in general I absolutely love shopping in Malaysia.”

Besides, roti telur is his staple when over here.

“I can honestly eat 10kgs of that in one go.”

Though he can’t exactly speak Bahasa Melayu, he can understand quite a bit thanks to learning Indonesian during his school days.

Of course, Elliott’s name is pretty common but what’s up with the nickname jellyfish though?

He answered,

“On social media, I go by Elliott Keen. My YouTube channel is called ‘akatheJellyfish’ because since I was 5, I had the nickname Jellyfish.

“In Australia it’s part of the culture to shorten every word or name. I wanted a shortened nickname too, but the best my cousins could come up with was just substituting my entire name with Jellyfish.

“My whole life I’ve been known as the Jellyfish. So, when I made my channel, it was a good fit.”

Elliott would often post video tutorials about his hair or video logs of some special things he’s done.

Because men with long hair are pretty uncommon, and men with long hair who post videos about that are even more rare, Buzzfeed soon picked up on his channel and featured him in one of theirs.

akatheJellyfish instantly went viral!

“Gaining the following I have now on social media or going kind of ‘viral’ in a sense is pretty cool. It’s good to know that people appreciate the content I’ve made in the past.

“In a way, it’s an indicator that what I was creating was something of interest.

“But, I also like it because my level of popularity honestly isn’t that big. So, I can still go about my daily life without feeling a huge attachment to the numbers.

“Meeting fans or ‘viewers’ in public from time to time is cool though.”

Unfortunately, being kinda unique has also attracted some horrid haters onto his channel.

“The amount of curse words I’ve had to delete from my videos is insane. People can really be creative when it comes to insults.

“Funny though, I only get attacked for my long hair by trolls online but in real life all my friends and family (mostly) love my long hair!”

Speaking of which, Elliott explained that growing his hair long wasn’t something that came to him on a spur. He’s actually always wanted long flowing locks.

“I started growing my hair out because I knew I always wanted to since I was young. I thought it looked awesome.

“But, due to school regulations it was not allowed. So, once I left high school, I began my hair journey. I don’t plan on cutting it anytime soon!”

With such a beautiful mane, you’d be surprised to learn that he only washes his hair once a week. Though he doesn’t use any special shampoo or conditioner, he does use an array of after-wash products to protect his hair.

Check out Elliott’s hair routine here:

Aside from sharing his love for hair, this man also truly enjoys music, Overwatch, Boruto, Star Wars and Marvel movies. He also loves to go rock climbing with his friends.

However, something that he is most devoted to doing is going to church.

“Most weekends, you can find me at church which is basically my second home. I spend a lot of my time there.”

Lastly, Elliott just wants everyone to stay focused on doing good things.

“Social media is great and there are so many benefits that have come about since its inception. But, it’s important to remember that numbers don’t equate to a person’s worth.

“Find what you’re passionate about and create something beautiful.”

Let’s keep that message in mind and don’t forget to check out akatheJellyfish on all major social media platforms. Elliott uses the same handle for every platform for ease of finding him.

For your convenience, here’s his Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

Meanwhile, watch how the Jellyfish’s hair changed from over time. You’ll be surprised to see the amount of different colours he’s had on his hair.