Descended from the Mandingo tribe in West Africa, Karim garnered a sizable following online by uploading weekly videos of himself singing in the shower to millions of fans. He was subsequently chosen by a talent scout to compete in the X Factor USA singing competition, where he received a unanimous "yes" from judges Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato, and Kelly Rowland. After the competition, Karim moved to Los Angeles, CA to pursue a career in television. He quickly secured a recurring role in StartUp (2016), followed by a recurring guest star role in two seasons of Peacock/Netflix's teen drama One Of Us Is Lying (2021), based on the best selling book by Karen M. McManus.