Rap music is unarguably the most sensational genre of music. On the face of it, music and marketing may seem like 2 very distinct fields with not much correlation, but some of the most popular rappers have employed the most unique marketing strategies to achieve fame in this industry.
Many famous rappers do not have a degree in business, but despite that fact, they have managed to make their music blow up.
Whether or not you like rap music, if you’re an aspiring musician, regardless of your genre, you cannot overlook these 10 marketing lessons from various popular rappers on how to blow up.
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Building a large loyal fanbase: Chance the Rapper
Chance the rapper is undoubtedly the most talked-about rapper at the moment. He is known and doted upon by rap music lovers universally.
Signing on with a record label and then selling your music is the conventional path most artists tend to take. But Chance decided to do things differently.
He has made his great music freely available for everyone to enjoy. The idea behind this move is that he wishes to create a loyal fanbase and thereby build his credibility. When you give away valuable content for free, your audience will notice and will definitely be grateful for it. This will not only make you popular, but you will also be liked by your listeners.
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Being authentic: Chance the Rapper
Many of us tend to idealise our favourite celebrities and therefore put them on a pedestal. But when we see their authentic and unfiltered self, we get to relate to them.
On Chance the Rapper’s Instagram, we can see him sharing pictures with his daughter, his family, his childhood photographs and so on. By doing this, we see Chance’s homely side.
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Creative independence is the most important thing: Chance the Rapper
As mentioned earlier, Chance the Rapper did not sign on with any record label. This allowed him to make decisions about his music on his own terms. Whether it is monetizing his content or coming up with it.
He gets to have creative independence and create the type of music he actually wishes to create.
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Adapting to the growth in the internet culture: Drake
Whether or not you like rap music, you know who Drake is. He is undeniably one of the most established rappers in the music industry. All his songs and albums perform incredibly.
The main reason behind his success is that he has accustomed himself to the modern marketing techniques in today’s growing internet culture. For instance, memes. Everyone has seen his incredibly famous meme template.
By sharing his content in meme format, he stays abreast with the younger generation. The generation that favours meme content. Statistics show that meme based content is shared exponentially more than regular content.
Another rapper who uses these modern marketing techniques is Lil Nas X. His relatable sense of humour makes him universally liked.
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Constantly evolving: Mac Miller
Late rapper Mac Miller was known for constantly evolving his music. Throughout his career, he did not only stick to rapping, but also explored other genres like jazz and funk.
He also collaborated with artists of other genres and provided his audience with different types of music.
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Endorsement: Mac Miller
Mac Miller’s authenticity and his will to evolve made him liked by his peers too. Many other artists have shown the respect and admiration they have for the late artist. This further built his credibility.
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Exposing your mistakes: Eminem
Renowned rapper Eminem believes that in today’s civic minded society, admitting your flaws is encouraged.
Artists who are willing to admit their flaws and embrace them thereby connecting with their audience on a deeper level become more recognized.
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Know your audience: Eminem
Eminem gained instant recognition and achieved a lot of fame primarily because he recognized his audience. A large part of his listeners consisted of young adults. Therefore, he tailor made his music for them, making him more relatable.
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Collaboration increases listenership exponentially
This marketing technique has been used by nearly every rapper in the music industry. From older rappers like Eminem to new age rappers like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.
When artists collaborate with other artists, they get twice the audience. For instance, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B are two of the most popular rappers in the industry, each of them having a huge fanbase. When they collaborated for the hit song WAP, both of them gained 10x more recognition.
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Creating a brand personality
Some of the most famous rappers have created a unique identity for themselves. Something people remember them by. Nicki Minaj is known for her quirky clothing and bold hairstyles, JayZ is known as the hustler and so on.
Artists should not only brand their content but also themselves.
These marketing lessons have helped countless popular rappers and will slowly and gradually help you too.
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