JID, EarthGang, & Measuring Metrics That Really Matter
Song of the week: Steve Lacy - Mercury
Steve Lacy is the vibe this week.
This has been on my playlist for months but I caught a vibe to it the other day. It’s been stuck in my head, so hope y’all enjoy it too.
And now for today’s piece…
Rapper Juicy J went viral recently due to a videp clip he posted requesting that all rappers gather together for a sit-down meeting.
Why?
Because rap music is down 40%.
Sales aren’t what they were a year ago, albums haven’t been charting as high, and it’s time for a “Come to Jesus” meeting about how to keep the culture alive.
Admittedly, this has been a tough year for Hip-hop culture. But it’s also a great time to talk about something that applies heavily to Hip-hop as a genre and marketing campaigns too.
That subject is:
Measuring The Things That Really Matter.
Anytime you work on a project or do a post-campaign breakdown detailing how your creative performed — whether its involves editorial content, a radio ad, or a social post a magical acronym gets attached to it called a
KPI.
The Key Performance Indicator.
Marketers and clients alike often find ourselves in the position asking…
How well did our creative perform?
Did they really watch us? For how long?
Did we get a return on our investment?
These are great questions, but are they the ones that really matter?
Because, how do you measure relevance? How do you truly measure something that may not be measurable yet?
Think about music again for a sec…
In the music industry, we often think the most successful artists are the ones we see the most. These are the artists with the biggest songs on radio, and the ones doing interviews on primetime stations.
However, there is one metric that doesn’t get talked about enough that measures true success, and that’s
HARD. TICKET. SALES.
Y’all know the phrase “money talks, bullsh*t walks”.
The reality is that the streaming era is full of cap.
you can make the numbers do what you want.
You can make the audience data say what you want.
You can even make the campaign a success even if it was an abject failure.
What you can’t fake is 3,000 bodies in a room screaming the lyrics to your song.
That’s real impact.
All of which brings us to two artists over-index in this very important KPI:
JID & EARTHGANG.
Both artists are members of J. Cole’s record label Dreamville, and they’re also Atlanta natives.
Shoutout to JID he’s from the Eastside (I got some beats for y’all, holla at me!!)
These two musical acts are a perfect example of why measuring the right things matter.
Here are few gems (💎💎💎) I’ve picked up from their journey that I hope come in handy for you too.
💎 #1: Being In Tune w/ The Underground Trumps Data
It’s easy to measure stuff like brand sentiment, share of voice on social blah blah blah.
Again, we’re all using the same tools, making them say what we need them to say when we need them to say it.
But the craft should be about looking deeper.
When J. Cole signed JID & EarthGang, he pulled up to their house in Atlanta to vibe with them.
No security, no superstar sh*t, just pulling up to see if they vibed.
Everyone in Atlanta knew about Spillage Village (the collective that JID & EarthGang formed together), but if you checked the numbers you might think they weren’t deserving of a shot at the big time (just yet).
But Cole didn’t go down there with a chart full of streaming data.
He went down there on instinct and trusted the vibes.
THAT’S LOOKING DEEPER.
Remember, data is historical and SOMETIMES predictive. You have to ask yourself what else is going on that the data might not account for?
An even more important question is: Are the important things, the cultural, category-defining events even measurable right now? Odds are they aren’t.
The real sh*t flies under the radar — that’s why people love the underground (artists, apps, secret menus etc.)
Data is cool, but it doesn’t REALLY know what’s next. Get in the trenches, B.
💎 #2: Real KPIs Do Away with The Cap
Again — you can fake the numbers, but you can’t fake impact. It’s immediately evident upon inspection.
If you look at the trajectory of their careers, both JID & Earthgang did the complete opposite of their competition.
Rather than chase radio hits and streams, they built up their touring business.
As a fan (and hopeful collaborator — another shameless plug, guys), I remember every Summer for the past 5 or 6 years, JID & EarthGang would tour Europe faithfully & the fruits of their labor are now being realized.
At a time where many mainstream artists are cancelling shows, struggling to fill venues, and not seeing as many streams they’re doing more than fine.
Take a look below at a picture from Barry Hefner — JID’s manager.
He received a plaque for ticket sales on JID’s last tour, which is a feat that many of artists around him can’t do.
💎 #3: Vanity is just that… Vanity
It sounds cool to say a song or video has a million streams, or that an influencer has “X” amount followers.
But what happens when decisions — mostly fueled by engagement rate, or follower count, lead you to an influencer/campaign that fails to deliver or connect with the intended audience?
Think about the stories that have come out over the years about influencers with large followings who couldn’t move product.
The point is this: Social media numbers are vanity metrics.
That “1M” looks dope on the top of a profile, but it doesn’t necessarily translate to impact.
Conventional media often says otherwise, but if that was the case every human being with a 1M+ followers would be ultra successful financially (a lot of them aren’t).
Focus on trusting your gut and what people around you feel — that’s the true measure of effectiveness.
The numbers are just cool to look at.
EPILOGUE
The bottom line is to remember that no matter your craft, you’re engaged in a creative act.
The right data can be incredibly helpful — it helps make informed decisions, tells you where to focus your resources, and in a lot cases it does dictate performance.
But we have to remember… these are just numbers & figures.
Focus groups are flawed, AI platforms are biased, and often people don’t really know what they want until you show them.
The best we can do is ask ourselves what KPIs really matter and focus on those, because the numbers don’t really tell the whole story.
Get some Spillage Village in ya life.
Peace.