Who’s Just Bait? Get to Know Social Media Brand IMJUSTBAIT
By Oni Abudu
If you’ve not heard of the social media brand IMJUSTBAIT (with 4.6 million followers on Instagram alone) then where have you been, my friend?
Created in 2014 by Anthony Robb (aka Antz), who’s just 22 years old, IMJUSTBAIT started out as an Instagram meme page that has skyrocketed to success within the past six years. (And if you’re the kind of person who does the maths on these things, yes; Antz was only 16 when he started.) Now with the aforementioned 4.6 million followers on Instagram, it is one of the most popular Instagram accounts for young people in the UK. But don’t be fooled into thinking that’s all there is to this company.
IMJUSTBAIT maintains a multiplatform presence with 78,300 followers on Twitter and 184,000 followers on Facebook, through which it releases a variety of content from music promotions to viral videos from users. It even has its own playlist, BaitList, on Spotify with nearly 200,000 followers.
Not only does the ‘imjust’ brand run widely successful social media accounts such as ‘imjustnews’ and ‘Imjustevents,’ IMJUSTBAIT even had its own line of vodka. Unfortunately, for those who’d like to purchase it, it isn’t being sold anymore. Shame.
From an Instagram meme page, IMJUSTBAIT is rapidly developing into a social media conglomerate, dipping its toes into different markets.
Having already made contributions to the popularity of several UK hip hop artists such as Dave, Deno, and Swarmz by promoting their music, Antz became one of the founders of the WEAREBLK record label, partnered with Sony music. Business Insider reports they have signed seven artists since their start 18 months ago and plan to debut them amongst other talented and popular UK acts such as Krept & Konan and Dappy. Following success with UK hip hop artist Swarmz’s single ‘Lyca’, it was licensed for £85,000 to Virgin EMI after a 50/50 no advance deal was made prior.
Music Business Worldwide has noted that WEAREBLK continues to do well, giving a special mention to the single ‘Who’s That What’s That’ by UK artist Niko B which has 20 million streams and stayed on the Official UK Top 40 for 11 weeks.
Don’t think the IMJUSTBAIT empire stops there. In an interview with Complex, Antz discussed how they’ve also entered the events market, having already delivered five events in different venues such as London nightclubs KOKO and XOYO.
Now extending to festivals, plans to host the Summer Crush Festival in Barcelona which included Krept & Konan, Mist, Nines, Steel Banglez, DigDat, and Jay1 in the line-up were well underway until, you guessed it, COVID-19 threw a spanner in the works for all festivals this year.
With so many new ventures from the IMJUSTBAIT brand, it’s no wonder as to why it’s getting more attention.