Over the last few years Lil Nas X has shot to fame with the likes of his chart-topping hits such as ‘Old Town Road’. He made history for the “longest-running No. 1 song in history, having occupied the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks”.
There is no doubt that Lil Nas X has found a way not to only create good mainstream music but he has embraced and harnessed the power of the internet. He truly knows the best ways to go viral and create a good online presence and in this post we want to make sure you can learn from the master himself by breaking do key things Lil Nas X does that you can add as a musician to your skillset.
1) Building on Social Media with Memes and Mainstream Appeal
Over the years Lil Nas X has built a good presence across several social media channels but starting out on twitter he would post up memes and comical ‘short but sweet’ tweetable content that would lean into reshares and discovery of himself. That core idea that there had to be something relatable and of value was tapped into by the superstar and he harnessed this as best as he could. In Nas’s words:
“I’d post a funny meme and get 2,000 retweets. Then I’d post a song and get 10.”
Even with the release of his record breaking song ‘Old Town Road’ he knew for it to reach a wide audience the appeal had to be wide too. Comedic content is relatable and can also be viral so pairing this with a Soundcloud link meant a creative match.
When Lil Nas X did release the song he didn’t just tweet out the link he made a meal of it with this tweet:
(13) nope 👶🏾 on Twitter: “country music is evolving https://t.co/BEZIw3TE8l” / Twitter
2) Choosing a Niche and Making the Most of it
No doubt when ‘Old Town Road’ came out there were some heads that turned saying… “is this really country music?”
Well you would be right in saying so and Billboard would agree with you as they took it down after he had charted on the country charts. Knowing where your niche is doesn’t mean you will always stay in that niche it just means that you are starting in a less competitive space. When I have worked with artists it has always been about where their audience is not where the industry is going. Finding a less competitive and fanatic space really does mean you have a better chance of success. If you can find 1000 avid fans or even 100 that will buy and help out with anything you post or sell, you really have made a great foundation to build from. Every artist finds a niche, now is the chance for you to find yours and that’s what we do with our members over here at HyperTribe.
3) Deliver Value and Then Ask for Promotion
Long gone are the days of just dropping a link or a CD and everything going viral. There was no mistake that Lil Nas X orchestrated his virality and hats off to him for doing so, it is not an easy task. It is well known that by warming up his audience with comedic and interesting content he is developing a database of relationships. Knowing who to go to and who could remake the songs into a format that would spread like wildfire is one of Lil Nas X’s talents.
One of the most viral moments was this meme that was posted not by Lil Nas X but by a fan he had sent the song to.
Lil Nas X had “made friends, made them laugh, and built an audience. Then he packaged his song in a way that fit into their life. The rest is history.” This was the true formula that needs to be applied across your own music promotion. What can you do to help and grow?
Do you need a bit more on this and learn how to monetise correctly? Why not join HyperTribe and let us do the work with you? Join as a member today.
A little ask from us: If you enjoyed this content and feel like you learnt something new, support our work by sharing on social media. @hyper_tribe
