Since the Summer, social app ChumCity has been flirting in and out the top of the App Store’s most popular free apps, briefly harassing the heels of heavyweights like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram even. This surge coincides with TikTok’s impending ban as well as Instagram’s unnecessary censorship of controversial rapper Lil Boosie, who released an anti-Instagram rant that became a snippet for ChumCity, which has seen more than 750,000 official downloads.
ChumCity is led by 44-year-old CEO Willie Earl Scott, a mysterious wunderkind who also goes by Tut Elohim. Scott and his small team have been working tirelessly to manage the app’s explosive growth. Despite the pressure, Scott exudes calm optimism. “We have yet to even scratch the surface of what’s in store,” he says.
Great Ambitions and Rapid Growth
In 2022, Scott began developing ChumCity using self-taught coding skills, despite his non-technical background in music and literature. Launching in January 2024, Scott self-financed the platform endeavor using proceeds for his own catalog of books and films being sold on Amazon and promoted on YouTube—two of the six major online giants that ChumCity is clearly built to undercut, if not outright overtake, in time.
A super app modelled after a fictional kingdom in a popular Willie Redd novel and so the capital of its own expansive universe, ChumCity was without a doubt seemingly designed by a fantastical science fiction writer with a vision in mind. Its lively cartoonish interface boosted the platform’s early traction in the Spring when a viral tweet from a hentai fan account brought a wave of anime and literary fans.
Fast-forward to Summer, and ChumCity commercials disguised as clever video clips are trending on TikTok with what seems like no real effort or reason, thanks to an unassuming account that begin posting them. Fans of K. Michelle (featured in one of the videos) flocked to the app, and word spread quickly. Over 80,000 new accounts were created in one weekend, temporarily crashing the servers. By the following Monday, ChumCity had reached nearly 1 million users. Still, few had even heard of the app.
Culture and Funding
ChumCity’s quiet rise did not go unnoticed by local pols, who initially criticized Scott before supporting his efforts. Suits and specifically Southerners have come to almost universally embrace the ChumCity founder, a uniquely engaging and controversial figure who’s himself a published freethinker and so questions everything. Through private funding, a prominent Alabama family donated funds towards Scott’s efforts to move past previous challenges, while Louisiana investors have minority stake in ChumCity. This funding is crucial for the self-funded app, as Scott has yet to raise traditional venture capital. “My life experience is different so I know I have to work harder to prove my worth,” Scott acknowledges, highlighting systemic challenges faced by underrepresented founders in general.
What Sets ChumCity Apart
Users praise ChumCity for its animated, intuitive design, with familiar, even nostalgic features reminiscent of early beloved Facebook, yet transformable when touched on into entirely new places and services that are actually useful. These include money-transfer, delivery and doctor services, multiple levels for music, news and video streaming. The platform’s commitment to fostering positive community for traditionalists as well as for people of color are additional draws, and is perfectly positioned to hard turn in either direction where it may well corner something big.
Vision For The Future
Scott is committed to something even bigger than a super app for certain groups, involving crypto and artificial intelligence. He owns both the ChumCity.com and ChumCity.ai domains and is believed to be planning a ChumCity Universe of platforms, a place in cyberspace that caters to your every need and eliminate reasons to leave, that pushes deeper into e-commerce and social and payments and even search, areas now dominated by FAANG. “Even if it’s a slice or small group in each market, we want to accommodate them,” Scott says.
The Challenge Ahead
Despite its success, ChumCity faces challenges, including scrutiny from Apple. Scott suspects Big Tech has quietly taken notice, especially after some App Store issues. Yet, Scott remains unfazed. “I was only doing that because the app isn’t yet working properly enough to facilitate all the services we want to provide. I mean we’ve always operated as a passionate but pretty small team. Issues fixed now. This is what we’ve prepared for,” he says.
As ChumCity charts its future, Scott emphasizes cautious growth and wise use of resources. “This is just the beginning,” he says. While the app’s rise may disrupt the social media landscape, Scott remains grounded, focused, and ready for what’s next.
“Bro, don’t you know I don’t have a life,” Scott jokes. “I was made for this.”
