BuzzFeed To Launch YouTube Channel For Its Black Culture Brand, ‘Cocoa Butter’ (Exclusive)

BuzzFeed is launching at month’s end a brand new YouTube channel for its five-year-old Black Culture entertainment vertical, Cocoa Butter. At the same time, the viral publisher unveiled its Fall 2020 show slate, which comprises returning hits like BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime and Worth It — returning for their seventh and ninth seasons, respectively.

Cocoa Butter was founded in 2015 by editors Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton to showcase authenticity within Black culture, BuzzFeed says, as well as to involve Black voices in every step of the creative process. Initially publishing content under the auspices of the larger BuzzFeed brand, Cocoa Butter subsequently became a standalone entity, launching its first Facebook Watch series in 2019 dubbed The Era. The Era examined notable Black cultural moments from the 90s, with appearances from Eve, Taye Diggs, Questlove, and Loretta Devine.

Today, Cocoa Butter lives on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and has spawned viral videos like Grandmothers Try Each Other’s Sweet Potato Pie

and Black Parents Play Never Have I Ever With Their Kids. The new YouTube channel, bowing on Oct. 28, will bring back both of these formats, Cocoa Butter supervising producer Ashley Jones tells Tubefilter, while introducing new originals like Advice From A Barber and an animated series dubbed Hairable Decisions.

“Cocoa Butter continues to provide a safe space to celebrate Black identity through bold, authentic storytelling,” adds brand strategist Chantal Rochelle. “Our content — whether enlightening or humorous — is pushing the boundaries, setting trends, and driving dialogue around Black issues, news, and pop culture in a way that encourages self-discovery. It’s Black-centric content by Black creators for a Black audience.”

In addition to Cocoa Butter, BuzzFeed’s fall slate will see two brand new originals join flagship series like Unsolved (whose sixth season garnered 33.2 million views across all platforms), Making It Big (which garnered 42 million cross-platform views last season), and Worth It — whose eighth season nabbed 21 million views.

In Haunted Beauty, for instance, host Lindsay Webster will explore how paranormal entities can occupy clothing items, marrying the virality of haunted experiences with the popularity of fashion makeovers, BuzzFeed says. Haunted Beauty premiered on Oct. 18 under BuzzFeed’s As/Is vertical for fashion and beauty. The company’s second new series for fall, Around The World, will showcase unique foods in terms of where they are consumed and how they are delivered. Around The World will bow on Nov. 22, just in time for Thanksgiving.

You can check out the full Fall slate, courtesy of BuzzFeed, right here:

• BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime — Season 7
  Date: Oct. 16 at 6:00 pm ET
  Where: YouTube, Facebook
  Talent: Ryan Bergara, Shane Madej
• Haunted Beauty — Season 1
  Date: Oct. 18 at 11:00 am ET
  Where: YouTube, Facebook
  Talent: Lindsay Webster, Joyce Louis-Jean, Maya Murrillo
• Chef Out of Water — Season 2B
  Date: Oct. 18 at 11:00 am ET
  Where: YouTube, Facebook
  Talent: Alexis deBoschnek
• Worth It: Food — Season 9
  Date: Nov. 1 at 11:00 am ET
  Where: YouTube, Facebook
  Talent: Adam Bianchi, Andrew Ilnyckyj, Steven Lim
• Making It Big — Season 3
  Date: Nov. 1 at 11:00 am ET
  Where: YouTube, Facebook
  Talent: Alvin Zhou
• Mom In Progress — Season 6
  Date: Nov. 14 at 11:00 am ET
  Where:  YouTube, Facebook
  Talent: Hannah Williams
• 10 People Style — Season 2
  Date: Nov. 21 at 11:00 am ET
  Where: YouTube, Facebook
  Talent: A diverse group of Youtubers/Instagrammers with a Fashion focus
• Around the World — Season 1
  Date: Nov. 22 at 11:00 am ET
  Where to Watch: YouTube, Facebook
  Talent: Inga Lam