How independent hip-hop artists can use content marketing
Since then, rappers like Drake, Mac Miller and A$AP Rocky have all used free mixtapes to push their brand into the mainstream spotlight and cement extremely lucrative deals or partnerships with major labels. Tha Carter III went on to sell millions more copies, launching Lil Wayne to the very top of the hip-hop industry. Together with G-Unit and Dipset – two New York crews who pioneered the mixtape movement – Lil Wayne has influenced a whole new generation of rappers giving away their music for free. So the fact that Lil Wayne sold over a million units in his first week just speaks to the quality of his music, work ethic, dedication to his craft, ability to build a fanbase as well as the power of content marketing. It was 2008 a wildly different music landscape dominated by one-hit wonders, ringtone rap, singles that went platinum and albums that bombed. It wasn’t the peak era of Eminem, Nelly and 50 Cent where multiplatinum releases were dropping left, right and centre. It wasn’t 2003 anymore rappers weren’t going platinum in a week. Compare that to his previous album, Tha Carter II, which sold 254,000 copies in its first week. When released in 2008, Tha Carter III debuted at the top of the charts, selling 1,005,545 copies in its first week of sales.
Lil Wayne gained the audience’s trust by making sure that every 16 he spit was fire and that every mixtape he dropped was dope so that when the time came for him to sell his product – Tha Carter III – the fanbase he had cultivated over the years came out to support him. Ya dig? It was like, “Rap little niggas! Rap, rap, rap, rap, rap.” You know I mean? And then you got to watch niggas actually come in and do what they’re telling you to do, and become successful.
Baby and Slim-they made us rap from day one.