Bart Baker

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Bart Baker (born May 5, 1986) is an American social media personality, musician, and comedian known for making parody videos of popular songs. Billboard has called him one of the most prolific creators of music parodies. He became famous on YouTube, where his own channel reached around 10 million subscribers at its peak, and he was also a top-earning figure on Vine and Live.ly.

Early life and education: Baker was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Albanian parents from Berat. He attended New Trier High School and studied film at the University of Miami. He started making comedy videos in his backyard with a green screen, inspired by The Lonely Island.

Career highlights: Baker’s first YouTube video in 2009, a provocative parody, drew about 100,000 views and encouraged him to keep going. He worked with friend Austin Smith until 2011, then joined Maker Studios. In 2013 his parody of Lorde’s “Royals” was temporarily taken down for copyright reasons but later restored. By 2014 he had reached a billion total views on YouTube. He released music through his own label alongside 26 Music, with the album Celebritease featuring songs like “Drake” and “Kimye,” which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Comedy Albums chart in 2017. Baker has appeared in the 2016 film Laid in America and launched a rap persona called Lil Kloroxxx in 2018, releasing videos on WorldStarHipHop.

Shifts and international work: In 2019, after YouTube demonetization changes, Baker began focusing on the Chinese market, translating and performing English covers of Chinese songs on platforms like Kuaishou and Douyin, and later moved to Shanghai to build his career in China. He returned to the United States in 2021 and indicated he would continue creating content, including occasional parodies, funded in part by cryptocurrency. His 2021 music video “PolyDoge” followed.

Other notes: Baker has collaborated with notable guests on his videos, such as Joan Rivers and Stan Lee, and has been involved with major talent agencies. He has also supported cancer-related charity work, inspired by his mother’s battle with breast cancer.