Five Content Marketing Lessons We Can Learn From Hip Hop

My generation, (the ones stuck somewhere in between Gen X & Millennial) grew up during the rise of hip-hop. Hip hop, like all music genres, has evolved heavily since its inception. August of 1973, in an apartment building in the west Bronx, Clive Campbell or DJ Kool Herc, found themselves in front of a large group of partygoers. DJ Kool Herc manipulated turntables, isolating and extending what would eventually be known as the breakbeat (the part of a dance record where all sounds but the drums drop out). This unique sound paired with spoken interjections paved the way for some of the greatest rap artists of our times. When Rapper’s Delight dropped in 1979, rap was pushed into the national spotlight. America was hooked.

My parents (bless their souls) cannot understand the appeal of hip hop. To them, hip hop artists use the mic to produce lyrics that promote a gangster lifestyle. To be frank:

“Parents just don’t understand.”

Hip hop artists are wordsmiths, crafting the most mundane of messages into artful expressions. As marketers, we can learn a lot about crafting authentic content that engages our audience and sparks conversation — just as hip hop does. Outside of authenticity and positioning your voice as a badass in the industry — what can content marketers learn from hip hop?

“I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.” — Tupac in Reminisce

Innovate Don’t Recreate — Tell An Original Story

Copyright Infringement is a major issue in both the hip hop scene and content creation. Creating content that is stale or overdone will always fall flat with your audience. Find a topic that has yet to be discussed and research it until you know everything about it… then write. Just because your competitors are exploring the same topic doesn’t mean you have to. The best hip hop artists are the ones that tell a story that is true and relatable but has yet to be heard.

“I’m making music for the people. If y’all love the music, y’all gonna buy the music.” — Notorious B.I.G.

Create Content That Your Users Want To Read

A really great hip hop song aims to change minds, spark conversation, and encourage the masses to move their bodies to the beat. When it comes to content creation, the goals are not much different. A really great piece of content includes thought provoking points that position the Content Marketer as a thought leader in their industry.

While most pieces of content have very specific goals in mind: increased search rankings, lead generation, etc, the best pieces of content are written for the user. If you write a piece of content that is flooded with high ranking keywords, your users will notice and they will be less likely to come back for more.

“It ain’t about the dollar or trying to go fast, Unless you take pride in what you’re doing, it won’t last, Craftsmanship is a quality that some lack, You got to give people a reason for them to come back.” — Buck 65 in Craftsmanship

Believe In What You Write — Stay Original

For every piece of content we launch (blog, white paper, infographic) there are dozens of pieces on the same topic already in existence. Our users are drowning in content. As Content Marketers, it is our job to keep them afloat.

Think about some of the best hip hop artists out there — Biggie, 2Pac, Run DMC, or Tribe Called Quest — when their careers began, who could they be compared to? Nobody! They were unique and they created music that they would have wanted to hear. If your content sounds familiar, it will fall on deaf ears. Write content that you are proud of and that your users will find valuable.

“I’m far from being God, but I work God damn hard.” — Jay-Z in Breathe Easy

Content Is Your Long Game. Hustle Is Your Now Game — Peter Fields

Hip Hop artists are some of the hardest working artists of any genre. They’re not only busy creating new music, they own fashion lines, record labels, sports teams and more. On top of that they can often be found hustling the hell out of their brand. Most successful hip hop artists are busy promoting their music on social media, doing interviews on local radio stations, and morning TV shows.

Content Marketers need to hustle just as much as hip hop artists, posting their content on social media, emailing their target audience, and responding to comments. Your content isn’t going to just land on the lap of your target audience, it is up to you to invest in marketing your content to your network.

“Stop, collaborate and listen”

-Vanilla Ice in Ice, Ice Baby

Don’t Ignore The Power of Collaboration

Often times a truly great piece of content is passed through multiple layers of experts before it launched. In order to ensure that your content is valuable, share it with industry experts to get constructive feedback. As Content Marketers, we can get lost in the content, missing out on what the original goal was. Bringing in a second set of eyes can help us change our course before we fall too far down a rabbit hole.

Hip-hop artists are notoriously competitive often calling out other rappers by name in their songs. And while some of these feuds have made for some great songs, it’s when they collaborate that the real magic happens. Dr. Dre featured Snoop Dogg on his 1992 song “Nuthin But a G Thang” from the album Chronic. The song ended up outperforming all other songs from the album, reaching #2 on The Billboard Top 100.

Above everything, the best content creators and the best hip hop artists are great storytellers. Albums like “Ready to Die” from Notorious BIG are filled with incredible stories that are easy to follow but aren’t lacking in skill. At their core, Content Marketers are storytellers as well. While our content differs greatly from hip hop artists, we can still learn a lot about their commitment.

Building your content following takes a lot of effort, but with a strong commitment, your brand can benefit from the same longevity as hip-hop artists. Happy Writing.