Who’s That “Cookn” Behind Those “Fat Boi” Shades?

At the start of the school  year, it hasn’t been uncommon to walk through the halls and hear frequent discussions of “Fatboi Cookn” or even see Fatboi himself, walking around and advertising his channel. Some students excitedly shout his name across the hallway, or turn to their friends to repeat the iconic title, but others just shake their heads in dumbfounded curiosity.

David Padilla is a ninth grader at McClatchy and, unknown to some but famously to others, an amateur Youtuber. His alter-ego, cleverly named “Fatboi Cookn”, started out as an Instagram gag, and eventually turned into a Youtube channel when, after a few months, he felt inclined to get his content onto a more widely viewed platform.

As for his very unique and standout handle, he explained that, “I spelled [Fatboi] differently because I felt it added more to the comedic effect.” Many McClatchy students apparently agree, as a variety of students from all four classes know who he is.

“He is definitely very confident,” says Josie Powell (‘19) when asked her first impressions. “He’s legitimately funny, in a real way.”

Fatboi associates the big day of his commencement into internet entertainment as being the day before his birthday, mid September. It was then that he created a YouTube channel with his friend and cameraman, Cameraman Jones, who doesn’t like his name to be public because he doesn’t like being the cameraman.

When walking around school, Fatboi can frequently be seen with his signature oversized black sunglasses, decorated on each side with the words “Fat” and “Boi” respectively. He also wears a large hoodie that he designed himself, and can be heard shouting “Peep my merch!”, while eagerly sharing the link to his merch store.  

Although he has had the account for only a month, he has gained 168 subscribers, and has nearly six hundred views on his most watched video, “Fat boi cookn (gone right)”. His sporadic yet laughable content is composed entirely of cooking videos, featuring his own creative recipes that require canned chili, Hot Pockets, pizza rolls, and other freezer foods of the like.

When asked specifically about his channel and the audience he creates his content for, he claimed, “I wouldn’t recommend it to children. It’s got dogs, cussing in Spanish, it’s just my stupidity that I turned into something I can be proud of.” Which, in the end, isn’t that what life’s all about?

Correction: Fat Boi Cookn currently has 200 subscribers on YouTube.