In the past decade, a number of Black creators have become superstars due in no small part to their content going viral. Quinta Brunson, first known for her “Ooh, he got money!” meme, went from being a BuzzFeed phenom to a television powerhouse as creator and star of the ABC hit Abbott Elementary.
Jay Versace evolved from placing comedic clips on the now-defunct app Vine to becoming a Grammy-winning producer, getting placements in songs by artists like Tyler, the Creator and SZA. Jimir Reece Davis, a DJ who goes by Amorphous, took TikTok by storm with his musician mash-ups and has since gone on to collaborate with Kehlani, Kelly Rowland and Snoh Aalegra. And beauty influencer Jackie Aina has taken her massive YouTube following to retail stores, selling out eye shadow palettes and candles.
With TikTok emerging as the new frontier of social media since the start of the 2020s, more Black creatives and influencers are looking to dominate Hollywood as they bring their skills and talents honed on the app to the mainstream. Able to attract hoards of dedicated viewers as online wunderkinds, creators like De’Andre Brown, Cleotrapa West, Mikhaela
Jennings and La’Ron Hines have converted their TikTok fame into commercial success.
When Brown started his TikTok under the moniker “The Corporate Baddie,” his goal was to educate minorities about gaining access to the white-collar corporate ladder. But the Morehouse College alum also gave viewers a look at professionalism with a generational perspective.“When you consider social media and TikTok, there are a lot of creators who are within the corporate realm, but I think what makes my platform unique is that there aren’t a lot of Black creators who do this,” Brown says. “And as a Black creator who also makes content about corporate America, my perspective is unique because I do it from a Gen-Z…
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