(disclaimer: please pardon the all-lowercase. it’s late, i’m tired, and listening to liveloveasap.)
as much as i try to avoid it, i stay up-to-the-millisecond on what is happening in hip-hop. other things, too, no doubt, but my select few firehoses of hip-hop news (which often isn’t really news to begin with) usually remains open in the form of Chrome tabs that are constantly refreshed.
while we’ve grown accustomed to the overexposure to daily data that the democratized content landscape provides (this IS a CTR world, remember…) a tipping point occurred at random yesterday: about 2944 7-8 mixtapes* hit the web yesterday. one … after … one … like some digital waterboarding.
at first, i cringed at the fact that i was actually being encouraged to digest most of what i absolutely knew wouldn’t be palatable to my Brooklyn-ass Brooklyn sensibility. however, i forcefully reverse-engineered my short-term thinking to unrealize these posts and tweets as forthright endorsements, but as something else in my brief time on the client-side I’ve grown accustomed to inspecting- capabilities presentations.
when you think about it, the modern landscape and capes (as we sometimes call them) have very similar mechanics: you (over)agressively promote + get the right cosign > people finally hold court > you get the floor > if you’re lightning in a bottle, you level up.
boom. the drake-onian formula. the cudian equation.
looking at it from that perspective allows for two things to snob-deep enthusiasts like myself:
-ability to listen objectively and with a clear mind to allow for context.
-empathize with those who might actually enjoy it if you particularly don’t. music is becoming more and more of a communal phenomenon, and it isn’t worth the time, energy, (or grumpy reputation) to argue with the crowd.
from an agency’s POV, capabilities are the first line of communication to a desired audience, but in order to truly break through, timing, tastefulness, and relevant differentiation are the perfect storm of “leveling up”.
hopefully, a harmony bestows itself on the digital landscape, and artists and publishers alike can perfect contextual delivery of their content.
*please be advised that I am not a proponent for the primitive use of the term ‘mixtape’. in fact, it pisses me off, often times. can we figure out a modern term?