The 8 Best YouTube Channels You've Never Heard Of

Empty Lighthouse is a reader-supported site. This article may contain affiliate links to Amazon and other sites. We earn a commission on purchases made through these links.

If you want to be a celebrity these days, the fast track to stardom is at the click of a mouse.

YouTube has had a prolific influence on pop culture, and even though it hasn't always been for the best (Justin Bieber), it is an undeniable force in main-stream media.

It used to be that if you wanted to be a singer or an on-air personality, you had to work your way up the ranks for decades, or at least have well-connected parents.

Now you just set-up a YouTube channel and join the ranks of your fellow peers.

The real puzzle is trying to break-through the over-saturation that is YouTube. Building an audience on the video platform is just as hard as working your way up the ranks.

And in most cases, you only have the first few seconds to rope in an audience.

So in order to help attract new followers, YouTubers often create trailers to their channels, much in the same way that network TV shows do.

So most of us have heard of the big stars like NigaHiga and iJustine, but here is our short list for the best under-covered YouTube stars:


Michelle Glavan

From her channel: Expect music, funnies, and lots of people breathing on camera... I hope.
Dive into the channel



SmoothieFreak (Akilahh)

From her channel: Hi Youtube, It's Akilah...Obviously! This is where I post vlogs about everything-- moving to New York, my natural hair, social commentary, song covers, tipsy book reviews, collaborations, pop culture, social media, etc.!
Dive into the channel



Drink and a Beat

From his channel (short and sweet): Drink and song pairings.
Dive into the channel



I Hate Being Single

From his channel: I Hate Being Single is a youtube channel with a sitcom and weekly called vlogs called The Real Rob by channel creator Rob Michael Hugel.

Check for new uploads every Wednesday afternoon!
The web series stars Shannon Coffey from Random Ass Girly Channel and other New York Comedians and actors from Upright Citizens Brigade, College Humor, MTV, VH1, Tooken, 30 Rock, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and Comedy Central.
Dive into the channel



Mike Falzone

From his channel: Comedy, Music, and Advice You Didn't Ask For. New Videos every Tuesday and Friday.
Host of TweetTap on #waywire. Author of the book Never Stop Shutting Up.

Dive into the channel



Brothers Green Eats

From their channel: Brothers Green explore a world that is hungry to learn how to cook without all of the fancy gadgets, pro kitchens and expensive ingredients.

Whether you love the idea of fast food and are looking for homemade options, want to get that extra inspiration to get in the kitchen regardless of what your skills are, or just love the shit out of watching glorious food porn at its finest, Brothers Green are here to satisfy your Underage Eating needs.

Come laugh with us, come cook with us, get your stoner friendly food on and lets see how wild, weird and crazy delicious we can get.
Dive into the channel



Gunnarolla

From his channel: Andrew Gunadie, aka 'gunnarolla', is a video producer and musician based in Toronto.

He has gained international popularity thanks to videos such as 'Canadian, Please' and 'The Comic Sans Song'.

Andrew has built an impressive, engaged following and he has traveled across North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia in support of his channel.
Dive into the channel



PogoBat (Dan Brown)

From his channel: A little more about me: I've been at the YouTube game since 2007 making party trick tutorials, video blogging, producing avant-garde variety shows, choose-your-own-adventure musicals, interactive YouTube gameshows, giving the internet control of my life for eight months, and most notably teaching the world how to conquer the Rubik's Cube (http://bit.ly/1ggmJxz).

Over the years I've racked up a YouTube award, a Webby, and over one hundred million YouTube views.
Dive into the channel




These YouTubers all have less than 500K followers, which puts them into the 'emerging' category. We'll have to watch these personalities closely over the next few months and see which ones emerge.