how do rappers build a local fanbase nowadays ?

[NigerianDonDada]

Big sean or dej loaf didnt have a buzz in the city. Its so many rappers with a buzz here i still dont know how those 2 made it

Sadly Record Labels don't care about local buzz anymore like they did in the 90s and early 2000s. It's all about building your internet buzz now. That how most of these rappers you see at the top (Drake, Kendrick, Sean, Cole, Wiz) popped off. It took Dej "Try Me" getting radio play in the Bay for her song to blow up. Sean's first 3 mixtapes (FF, UknowBigSean & FF3) is what blew him up online along with the Kanye co-sign.

 

[Raheem95]

Sadly Record Labels don't care about local buzz anymore like they did in the 90s and early 2000s. It's all about building your internet buzz now. That how most of these rappers you see at the top (Drake, Kendrick, Sean, Cole, Wiz) popped off. It took Dej "Try Me" getting radio play in the Bay for her song to blow up. Sean's first 3 mixtapes (FF, UknowBigSean & FF3) is what blew him up online along with the Kanye co-sign.

wait Dej had her song played in the Bay Area ?

and Kendrick did build a local buzz in Compton but then took advantage of the internet like any other artist should tbh. and the same with Wiz, he use to sell mixtapes in high school and promote shows in Pittsburgh.

i'll give you Dej, Cole, Sean, Drake tho.

 

[David_TheMan]

I think you build locally by doing local shows, and being around the local scene and interacting with it the community and fans.

 

[Chip Skylark]

This is tough to answer. It all depends on what type of rapper you are i think. If you are more of a trap club street rapper you have to be on the clubs and literally pushing your music in the streets locally but if you are more of a conscious artist I think it'll be best for you to network online and try to blow that way.

 

[NigerianDonDada]

wait Dej had her song played in the Bay Area ?

and Kendrick did build a local buzz in Compton but then took advantage of the internet like any other artist should tbh. and the same with Wiz, he use to sell mixtapes in high school and promote shows in Pittsburgh.

i'll give you Dej, Cole, Sean, Drake tho.

Yeah she said that the Bay was playing "Try Me" before Detroit started playing it. With Sean he was performing at the colleges in the state (2008-2010). He just didn't have radio buzz. It wasn't till "My Last" came out that the the radio stations started backing him.

 

[Gotright]

wait Dej had her song played in the Bay Area ?

and Kendrick did build a local buzz in Compton but then took advantage of the internet like any other artist should tbh. and the same with Wiz, he use to sell mixtapes in high school and promote shows in Pittsburgh.

i'll give you Dej, Cole, Sean, Drake tho.

for some reason a lot of detroit rappers got a lil buzz in the bay area

 

[LOOPY]

Shmurda blew off local buzz

Desiigner blew off local buzz

Sosa and Chiraq blew off local buzz

Meek Mill blew off local buzz

Fetty wap blew off local buzz

YG blew off local buzz

Future blew off local buzz

Young thug blew off local buzz

The streets will always decide who the community will accept

Now if you mo of a Makonnen, Quentin miller, Tyler the creator, Joey badass type of fella go head and use that lil internet there buddy

 

[Raheem95]

Yeah she said that the Bay was playing "Try Me" before Detroit started playing it. With Sean he was performing at the colleges in the state (2008-2010). He just didn't have radio buzz. It wasn't till "My Last" came out that the the radio stations started backing him.

colleges lowkey help artists gain a young fanbase. doing shows or just being on college radio is GOAT

 

[Unknown Poster]

how do they, it seems like they just try to blow up from Soundcloud or IG/Twitter vids. i remember Kash Doll from Detroit said Dej Loaf's music wasn't really played in Detroit that much, it didn't played in the clubs, etc. and that she blew up from Soundcloud.

With the internet you can bypass the local stage.

Mac Miller built himself off of facebook followers and next thing I know when Iw as living in Pittsburgh he was getting all of these placements in shows then he was eventually signed to Rostrum (responsible for Wiz Khalifa's success).

 

[Unknown Poster]

colleges lowkey help artists gain a young fanbase. doing shows or just being on college radio is GOAT

I used to do a college radio show and had rappers come in and do freestyles while I'd spin instrumentals on serato on the tables...it was fun. I'll still kill a freestyle if I get in that zone. Lol.

 

[Raheem95]

I used to do a college radio show and had rappers come in and do freestyles while I'd spin instrumentals on serato on the tables...it was fun. I'll still kill a freestyle if I get in that zone. Lol.

did people start fukking with them after hearing them spit ? cause most of the times, when college kids hear some good rap music or something then they become loyal fans and decide to listen to your shyt.

 

[Unknown Poster]

Here I see more rappers doing showcases and open mics. Once youre on soundcloud you lose what makes you local. I think more rappers need to get back building their buzzes in their region instead of crossing your fingers and uploading. It takes more grit and patience and you actually have to put yourself in front of other human beings so I can see why some people might find that too intense.

But let a nikka try me

The thing is, with the internet it's all about thinking globally and acting locally. I've managed to have people buying my music in Switzerland and in London as well as here in the states. You can go international with the internet and promote your music to anyone over the planet. It's a beautiful thing really. It's essentially making the world smaller but it presents alot of opportunities.

There are pros and cons to relying on internet music promotion as supposed to local grind and vice versa.

Say you do strike it big on the internet and manage to get that radio play, those big placements in festivals, a set at SXSW, etc....you blow up, then in your own hometown when peopel weren't really fukking with your music like that...now all of a sudden, people are fans of you like they was there from day one.

But then, there are those rumors floating around that because you bypass the paying dues stage that you're a industry plant...not that you managed to just grind hard on the internet and spark a flame.

And then you grind locally...by doing that, you establish a solid local fanbase. But, there's a trap to focusing on just the local grind, sometimes alot of cats never go past the local stage and stay local. They may open up for some national talent that comes into town, but they couldn't get booked outside of their market. I don't think it's as possible for bands, artists, rappers, etc to go from local to national to international as it was back in the day. There's too much competition and talent on a macro and micro scale, you almost have to do both if you ever want to make something out of your music.

Success in music is in my definition, being able to make money and live off of your work and not have to do any other side hustles. Or your hustles are involved in music.

 

[Unknown Poster]

did people start fukking with them after hearing them spit ? cause most of the times, when college kids hear some good rap music or something then they become loyal fans and decide to listen to your shyt.

Now, it's funny you ask me this. The people that freestyled on my show were actually some of Mac Miller's crew (he used to rhyme with two other people when he used to go by Easy Mac). When Mac Miller blew up though, his boys did not get on as much or share that same amount of fame and recognition. But they did get an article or two written about in newspapers, magazines, etc.

And they did manage to gain fans from that and show bookings and all of that at the college and at local venues when they would have shows.

I think nowadays when it comes to music, it's not just your following, but the whole package. You can do so much by yourself, but once you have a good amount of fans, followers, people interested in you that's where the success and the possibility of success comes in.

 

[NvrCMyNut]

Asap Rocky was the blueprint. Why grind locally when you can blow up virally to a far bigger audience. Had Fetty Wap made connections with certain bloggers & websites he would have blown up way sooner but instead he went the Atlanta route (strip clubs)

 

[Unknown Poster]

I think here where im at its the opposite. They get local love but can't blow up.

Depends on where you at. There are artists here in NYC that do the local grind but still can't blow up and probably never will.

I think really sometimes some acts aren't content being local, I understand the frustration. Now with music equipment being so affordable and accesible everyone is doing their thing and priming for peak position. It's a battle to even escape the local market and become national let alone international.

This is the difference between ATL, Chicago, and let's just say smaller cities that got rappers like Detroit, Cleveland, Philly, Baltimore etc...that are hot on forums like this, but are still struggling to break the matrix between local and national.

In ATL, it seems that support system is too deep. Every other rapper from there it seems like is "up next"...chicago has alot of talent too but they don't seem to put each other on.