Influencer marketing firm Whalar today launched The Crib Around the Corner, a content collaboration house specifically for Black TikTokers.
The house, located in Los Angeles, was named by its seven residents, all of whom moved in this week: Dare Ajibare (994K followers), Meish Bailey (3.1M), Dan Muthama (2.3M), Everett Noble (7.3M), Layla Qasim (2.4M), Stacy Thiru (1.4M), and Challan Trishann (3.9M).
Creators will live together through the end of July, and Whalar–in partnership with fellow influencer marketing company Thirteenth–plans to spend that time offering them “world-class mentorship” and access to exclusive brand deals, content strategizing, and production resources that will “help drive their careers forward and ensure creative longevity,” it says.
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Whalar also says the house is observing strict COVID guidelines. Residents are quarantining post-move-in and will be tested regularly. They also intend to make COVID a focal point of their collaborative content to spread vaccine awareness in the Black community, Whalar says.
@evcnobleWhat if you had the force?😂♬ original sound – Everett Noble🥺
As for the Crib’s creators, they hope the initative will boost their own careers and carve a path for other Black movers and makers.
“Black people are prejudged before anybody gives us the chance to show them anything about us. A lot of Black creators are set up for failure on the spot,” Trishann says. “We have to fight to be noticed.”
“We’re lowkey a force to be reckoned with,” Muthama adds. “Brands have always seen white creators as more marketable, but if they put people who represent others in the right rooms, it would spark a movement.”
“I joined the Crib because I felt like it was an opportunity to build my own career, and an opportunity for us as a collective to showcase young Black talent,” Ajibare says. “I understand the importance of representation and I feel like the Crib is going to be that for a lot of people.”
Digital talent vet Karyn Spencer spearheads the Crib as Whalar’s new CMO
Karyn Spencer, who’s worked with traditional celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks and prominent YouTubers like Casey Neistat and Emma Chamberlain, is leading the Crib in her new position as Whalar’s chief marketing officer.
She joined Whalar in Feb. 2020 as its first-ever SVP of partnerships.
“Whalar hopes to inspire and represent the future of leadership in the influencer industry,” Spencer says. “The Crib Around the Corner is a crucial example that spotlighting traditionally marginalized talent is not just a moral imperative, it’s a business opportunity. When you authentically engage with and equitably compensate creators of all kinds, their audiences follow.”
She adds, “We are encouraged that, after a year of pain and progress for the Black Lives Matter movement, there is more interest than ever before from brand partners who want to contribute to and collaborate with young, gifted talent like the Crib cast.”
