Viral Marketing in Hip Hop
Gone are the days of rappers using traditional advertising to promote their next album. A few years ago we used to see artists buying billboards doing numerous media appearances. That type of traditional album promotion still happens but is not as prevalent as it was. In this blog post, I dive into how artists have changed how the gain attention for a new album or song.
Soulja Boy Tricking the Internet
The first artist I can remember being smart using the internet to virally marketing his music was Soulja Boy. During the late 2000s we just started seeing a boom of people switching to digital music over physical CDs. So what Soulja Boy did was name his songs after top songs of the time. People would think they were downloading 50 Cent In Da Club but really downloading a new Soulja Boy song. You can see more about that in an interview here.
Rae Sremmurd Mannequin Challenge
Last year Black Beatles by the duo Rae Sremmurd was a hot song but it didn't really take off until we saw the viral Mannequin Challenge. This challenge saw a group of people standing frozen while Black Beatles played in the background. This viral challenge was done by everyone and caused the song to explode on the charts beyond its general hip hop audience. Either Rae Sremmurd are geniuses who organically planned the challenge or they were extremely lucky to have this become a cultural phenomenon. No matter how it got its start the viral challenge took this solid single and elevated it to heights the group couldn't have imagined.
Future Mask Off
The biggest hit from Future's new album has spawned numerous viral videos where people put the flute-heavy song over a video showing someone playing a woodwind instrument you can see a compilation of them here. Future has embraced these hilarious videos by reposting them constantly on his social media channels.
In conclusion, rappers have realized that if their song takes on a second life view a challenge or viral videos/jokes it will result in more album sales. It's clear that hip-hop more than any other genre of music is savvy to embracing social media to amplify their new music. From Crank Dat to Watch Me Whip to various memes hip hop is always trending.
Soulja Boy Tricking the Internet
The first artist I can remember being smart using the internet to virally marketing his music was Soulja Boy. During the late 2000s we just started seeing a boom of people switching to digital music over physical CDs. So what Soulja Boy did was name his songs after top songs of the time. People would think they were downloading 50 Cent In Da Club but really downloading a new Soulja Boy song. You can see more about that in an interview here.
Rae Sremmurd Mannequin Challenge
Last year Black Beatles by the duo Rae Sremmurd was a hot song but it didn't really take off until we saw the viral Mannequin Challenge. This challenge saw a group of people standing frozen while Black Beatles played in the background. This viral challenge was done by everyone and caused the song to explode on the charts beyond its general hip hop audience. Either Rae Sremmurd are geniuses who organically planned the challenge or they were extremely lucky to have this become a cultural phenomenon. No matter how it got its start the viral challenge took this solid single and elevated it to heights the group couldn't have imagined.
Future Mask Off
The biggest hit from Future's new album has spawned numerous viral videos where people put the flute-heavy song over a video showing someone playing a woodwind instrument you can see a compilation of them here. Future has embraced these hilarious videos by reposting them constantly on his social media channels.
In conclusion, rappers have realized that if their song takes on a second life view a challenge or viral videos/jokes it will result in more album sales. It's clear that hip-hop more than any other genre of music is savvy to embracing social media to amplify their new music. From Crank Dat to Watch Me Whip to various memes hip hop is always trending.
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