Best rapper on each social platform

Most rappers (and musicians, comedians, and performers in general these days) are social media savvy.

In fact, they do the rounds on social media before you ever see them in the mainstream now. By that measure, every mainstream rapper is social media savvy.

But let’s look at the cream of the crop on different social platforms.

YouTube

Rap is prevalent on the most viewed YouTube videos of all time. Both Gangnam Style, Despocito, and Uptown Funk are rap adjacent, but Wiz Khalifa is the winner with his Charlie Puth single.

Next, we have a category of rappers who got famous from YouTube, dubbed YouTube rappers. Of that category, my favorite is Harry Mack.http://thoughtforyourpenny.com/culture/music/10-times-harry-mack-took-freestyling-to-another-level/?amp

Mack struggled to sell albums, so he filmed himself walking the streets and freestyling to random crowds. It’s a great series called Guerrilla Bars.

Then the pandemic happened, and everybody had to adjust to virtual performances. Mack took to Omegle, where he did personal performances too random people.10 Times Harry Mack Freestyles Changed the Game (Coronavirus Edition) – Thought for Your PennyHarry Mack is the best freestyle rapper on the planet. If you don’t believe me, hit up his YouTube channel to see the magic happen.https://www.google.com/amp/thoughtforyourpenny.com/culture/music/10-times-harry-mack-freestyles-changed-the-game-coronavirus-edition/%3famp

In doing so, he figured out a formula that really hit and grew his audience for Twitch and YouTube livestreams. He now has over a million followers and keeps going.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the place to rise up as a rapper with a social following. Trippie Redd, Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty, Doja Cat, 21 Savage, and countless other rappers blew up initially here.

SoundCloud is a bit harder to blow up on now, and it’s far from the only social music platform. Spotify Greenroom, Bandlab, and others are building audiences, and they’ll inevitably launch their own regional stars who have a shot at mainstream success.

Twitter

Twitter has a lot of infamous rap moments, like when Whataburger tweeted to Meek Mill to offer to show him what real beef is after he lost a meme war to Drake.

TikTok

DJ Khalid made a lot of money on apps like Tiktok and Snapchat. And Lil Nas X, Dababy, and others had viral songs on the app.

I would give the win to Drake though, whose In My Feelings challenge was just the first of many to dominate the internet.

Instagram

Love or hate him, 6ix9ine is the king of rap Instagram. He broke a record that still can’t be touched at 2 million simultaneous viewers on Instagram Live.

Tekashi 6ix9ine Breaks Record for Most Viewers on Instagram LiveRapper Tekashi 6ix9ine broke the all-time record for the most viewers on an Instagram live on Friday. The 24-year-old garnered two million viewers.https://www.audacy.com/articles/tekashi-breaks-record-for-most-viewers-on-instagram-live

Of course, he did have some problems along the way, but he’s always been able to draw a big crowd online. His Clubhouse appearance this summer was my most viewed YouTube video this year.

And he’s not the only one who made a splash on IG during the pandemic. Torey Lanez arguably avoided cancellation for shooting Megan Thee Stallion because of his success from demon time on Instagram live.

What Is Demon Time? Instagram’s ‘After Dark’ Craze, ExplainedIn every city across the country, strip clubs, lounges, bars, and concert venues are closed with no concrete reopening date in sight. But if you think deep-pocketed patrons have stopped doing walkthroughs, making club appearances, and showering money on dancers, you would be woefully mistaken. As the old adage goes, desperate times call for desperate measures, and celebs like YG, Kevin Durant, Meek Mill, Dame Lillard, and Jake Paul have simply traded bottle service and roped-off VIP sections for a new kind of after-hours spot—Demon Time: Instagram’s new network of digital strip clubs, where clout will get you in the door and cash (or, more specifically, CashApp) is still king. With new live users coming online every night, tens of thousands of dollars being spent, Instagram still trying its best to shut the whole operation down, and no end to quarantine in-sight, we felt it was only right to give you a full breakdown of social media’s notorious new pastime. What Is Demon Time? If you have to ask, you’re already too late. But at its base level, Demon Time refers to late-night Instagram Live streams featuring a rotating cast of women—usually made anonymous by a ski or superhero mask—performing for hordes of thirsty viewers. Demon Time is the smiling purple devil emoji personified. Think table dances at your favorite strip club, but surrounded by streaming heart emojis and an Instagram audience in the hundreds of thousands. Instead of throwing dollars at the camera—although, make no mistake, it has been done —Demon Time viewers are encouraged to tip dancers on CashApp, giving out-of-work strippers, who, as independent contractors, have largely been left out of unemployment benefits , an opportunity to keep making money in the midst of the ongoing crisis. While dancers are on camera, their payment info is pinned to the top of the comments section, with some women taking home upwards of $4,000 in a single night—all from the comfort of their own home. Basically, if you’re up past 1 a.m. on a Tuesday staring at your phone in the dark while a woman twerks on IG live to YoungBoy Never Broke Again… you’re on Demon Time. How Did Demon Time Start? Demon Time’s success on IG Live is largely due to its promoter, Justin LaBoy. LaBoy is a former international pro basketball player turned New York nightlife professional and Instagram meme page administrator who thought up the idea the same way most quarantined social media sensations have started, at home, bored, and alone. But instead of leaving heart eyes on a model pic or sliding in DMs, LaBoy invited some of his 60,000 followers to join him on live streams with exotic dancers and poured a glass of red wine. Like that, Demon Time was born. “We all need to be making money right now, especially if you’re what the world considers a ‘non-essential worker’ and you lost your job,” LaBoy tells Complex. “These women shouldn’t do this for FREE. The rest was history. The women who went live made nothing less than $1,0https://amp.www.complex.com/life/demon-time-instagram-strip-clubs-explained

These are just some of the most notable and notorious examples, but everybody involved in the music industry needs to be social media savvy.

Performers need social media followers to get gigs these days, and you’re going to have to add that to your repertoire to survive. Musical talent isn’t enough.

That’s why I help musicians and other creators learn to navigate the industry.

Is notoriety good for branding?Let me tell you the story of Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G. He branded his body of work as notorious to the point that his Biopic was called Notorious. Biggie broke through into the mainstream in the early 1990s, and his career embodies the gangsta rap of the era. Both his life and death will forever be tied to the life and death of fellow rapper Tupac Shakur. These two men defined the music industry in the first half of the 1990s, escalating a media-created East Coast/West Coast feud that escalated into war. While the negativity is what got glamorized by the media, both men are well known for being philanthropic activists who did arguably more net positive for their communities than negative. The community Biggie represented was very underrepresented in the media at the time. He was a hero to a lot of people, and I’ll never forget when the party broke out to his music during the man’s funeral procession. The antihero is a powerful image in our culture, and we often admire people for notoriety. Biggie and 2Pac were also the precursor to Eminem and the Attitude Era of professional wrestling. Stone Cold Steve Austin defined this era with his anti-hero persona. The world was tired of watching American heroes like Hulk Hogan fight cheesy foreign enemies. We wanted to see someone beat the crap out of their boss. Tell me you’ve never wanted to chug a beer, kick your boss in the stomach, then drop him with a stunner before bouncing up to throw two aggressive middle fingers in his face. No? Well you’re a better person than I am. Congratulations. This is probably why I’m so notorious myself. And I’m not alone. There’s a million of us just like me Who cuss like me, who just don’t give a fuck like me Who dress like me, walk, talk and act like me And just might be the next best thing, but not quite me Even in modern times, notoriety can add up to a lot of success. It may not be for you, but 6ix9ine is living his best life and has seen a lot at the young age of 25. But we can hardly blame the new generations for pushing boundaries, and it’s certainly not limited to the genres I’m sticking to. Comedian Lenny Bruce was just as likely to get arrested at a performance as any gangsta rapper and much earlier. Don Rickles is a notorious insult comic who pulled no punches against President Regan. One man’s notorious villain has always been another’s chivalrous hero. Robinhood is an old example of a mythical antihero. He robbed the rich and gave to the poor, so, like many real-life criminals like serial killers, etc, some love and some hate him. The Robinhood app use this story to explain its app. It then became notorious for another reason. When Reddit’s WallStreetBets community targeted GameStop, AMC, and other heavily shorted stocks for a short squeeze, the company Robinhood gained notoriety for cutting off trading. It went back on its promise to rob the rich to give to the poor by literally doing the opposite. In doing so, it became notorious in a lhttp://typo.today/is-notoriety-good-for-branding/