Indie Content Creators: Slice of Toast
Carlos Tejeda
Entertainment Reviews: Most people take their bread with some butter, jam or maybe a side of hard-boiled eggs. Though it seems the YouTube sensation, Korey Coleman, takes his Double Toasted . The online media series which was started by Coleman himself covers everything from pop culture and current events to movie reviews, video games and “strange happenings across the world” as stated on their YouTube homepage. Standing at 137 thousand subscribers and their most popular video receiving more than 1.5 million views, they’re sure to take over YouTube one video at a time.
Along with Korey, members of the team such as Martin Thomas, Chris Herman, Oz Greene Jr, and Korey’s wife, Miss Mia all add to the topic at hand and provide a different perspective to bring forth to the table. Quite frequently, the team will also invite guests and conduct interviews; one of my favorites being their interview with Keith David who’s known for his supporting role as Bishop James Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama, Greenleaf. Korey discusses Keith’s many accomplishments and talents and goes on to praise him for his ability to “transcend race” when playing his many roles. Keith goes on to talk about the promise he made early on in his career to not play a stereotypical black man as portrayed in the media and has turned down several opportunities in order to stay true to his values.
Aside from their daily postings on YouTube, Double Toasted has their own entertainment based website which is home to several weekly audio podcasts. They can also be viewed streaming and archived video through a paid subscription. With so many ways to tune in, there’s no excuse why you’re not a subscriber to this media entertainment extravaganza.
Informative: When looking for a quick “How to” video, the internet provides an abundance of options to help solve any dilemma. With that being said, if you’re looking to be your own boss and make your own money without worrying about a typical 9-5 job, look no further than Elliot Choy. As a current junior business major at Vanderbilt University, he focuses his channel around college life, entrepreneurship, productivity and vlogs. With over 263 thousand subscribers, Elliot is paving the way for young millionaires to ultimately live a successful life.
With all the “get rich quick” schemes, this young college student certainly puts his money where his mouth is. In one of his videos, Elliot uncovers a common question: How much money do YouTubers make? Here he discusses the reality of pursuing a career as a YouTuber and uses several successful YouTubers as an example such as David Dobrik who has a following of 14.3 million subscribers. Elliot shows real numbers of David’s financial lifestyle such as the 250 thousand dollar Ferrari he recently purchased. You may be wondering how he was able to afford such an expensive vehicle? A 20-second shout out. By doing so, David automatically received 125 thousand dollars towards the car. Elliot even mentioned how David was entitled to more money due to the large amount of viewers who watched the video.
From the looks of it, Elliot is not far from David Dobrik's status and YouTube is only one of Elliot’s sources of income. He also had a thing for photography and film and is quite talented at it as one may see. As a master of the entrepreneurial mindset, Elliot is truly someone you’d want to keep an eye out for. The next time you find yourself looking for an economics 101 class to enroll in, save your time and money and click the link.
Lifestyle: Anyone interested in picking up the new, improved and shiny iPhone 11? Before you do, I’d be sure to check out technology guru, Arun Maini’s take on it. Host of his YouTube channel, Mrwhosetheboss, he spills all the details on what these big technology companies DON’T tell you. With his channel just shy of 3 million, this should be everyone’s go to before stepping foot into Apple or Best Buy.
After hitting 2 million subscribers only 7 months ago, Arun uploaded a video titled, Mrwhosetheboss - Draw My LIfe - V2 which discusses or rather draws out his experience of being a YouTuber, the highs and lows that come with the career and what he’s learned from it thus far. Straight out of college, Arun decided to go full time in the YouTube business. Five and a half years into YouTube he explains that he had never worked for any type of tech company yet was being flown out to all different parts of the globe to attend these events simply based off the content he created. Arun covered everything on his channel; phone comparisons, unboxings, reviews and even some new technology that we may see in the future such as robots. He is an inspiration to many and someone to aspire to. Nonetheless, he openly admits that it was difficult to appreciate all these different milestones because he became so caught up in being the best; being first. He had not set aside time to truly appreciate his accomplishments and states the hard-honest truth: “YouTube is lonely.” Arun suddenly learned that he needed to take a step back and learn to live in the moment.
The growth of this channel is insane and not something we see often. As the UK's largest tech Youtuber, Arun reveals that he doesn't have it all figured out and is still learning as he progresses in his career. Though he plans to use his mistakes as a template to produce better and more thorough content for his viewers.
Social Commentary/Gossip: Leah Gordon and her “Black Girl Commentary” have a range of content from her hair and beauty tips to her vlogs, storytimes and discussions of current events. Not only is she funny and witty but she discusses real issues that plague our society especially on the topic of colorism. With 137 subscribers tuning in to hear her speak her truth, it’s no surprise her most popular video rolls in at about 370 thousand viewers.
In one of her recent videos just posted last month, she discusses the interview held by Charlemagne Tha God and the cast of the early 2000 sitcom, Girlfriends. The interview mainly focuses on black women and dark skin representation in the TV industry. Girlfriends was one of very few shows especially during the time that showcased black successful women. These issues are brought to light in the show and address the struggle of any black woman trying to make a comfortable living. Leah brings up how she wishes the topic of being a dark skin woman on television was more a focus during the interview as she feels it’s a topic that is often overlooked. In another video, Leah also touches upon the experience of the NAACP award-winning actress, Gabrielle Union, and her upbringing. Leah highlights Union as someone who has struggled with her own self-worth growing up yet has blossomed into someone who refuses to keep her mouth shut and calls out hate against the misrepresented.
Leah also seems to be one who speaks up against hate and has the conversation that everyone refuses to have. Similar to Gabrielle, Leah, as well as all people of color in the media industry, carry a huge responsibility of breaking the stereotypes that are associated with someone simply because of the color of their skin. As a public figure, you hold a great amount of power to set the standard and lead by example so that we may put these controversial matters to rest.