Hip Hop Wisdom Lesson #12: Talk About Yourself

In the world of sports, after every game or match, the athletes and coaches make themselves available to the media for questions and answers. These post game conferences provide the athletes an opportunity to speak about what took place, specifically their performance. Whether it's in victory or defeat, the reporters want to visualize the event through their eyes.

When you’re engaged with a task, how will people see things through your eyes? What messaging do you want to convey? Do you communicate frequently throughout the process or only provide updates when something significant has been completed?

Whatever means you choose to use when communicating with your audience, know that it is a vital part of shaping your brand. Think of it as tracking an important package via your preferred carrier. You want what you want when you want it. And if you can’t have it right then and there, you order it and receive a tracking number so that you’ll know when it arrives. In between the purchase and delivery you have the option of tracking every move that package makes. Or you can just set a reminder for the anticipated arrival date and time. Even if there is a change in that time and date you can receive notifications.

In the early days of Hip Hop the build up to an album release was sometimes in excess of one year. If you were a debut act you toured with an established artist until the label greenlit your project. On the other hand, established artists would use their tour as a springboard to release new music for an upcoming project. Once the tour was over they were right back in the studio putting the finishing touches on their new record.

Once the album was complete the labels would pass the new music on to the top DJ’s. Depending on what they could provide the DJ’s, some labels got their music played more than others. While the DJ’s were putting their ears to the street the labels were doing focus groups to gauge the public’s opinion of the music. After it was established what the lead and follow up singles were going to be, the marketing and publicity teams started to work their magic.

Media placements were hard to come by in those days. Therefore, every appearance had to matter. Having a bad interview, spitting a wack freestyle on the radio, or getting a bad review in a magazine were reasons your album could fail. However, recording music with a hot artist from a different region than yours or being more authentic and true to your core fans were strong indicators your album could succeed. Ultimately, the artist had to have a good relationship with the marketing department, especially when artists started receiving endorsement deals from national and global brands.

Your PR team could craft the perfect interview or slow the wheels of a rumor from turning. News cycles lasted much longer than they do now, so getting ahead of a PR crisis was top priority. Also, unless solid evidence was presented, public opinion tended to sway towards the more believable party. The more believable party was typically the person with the carefully crafted image. That’s why it is important for you, in this new age of media, to speak for yourself and craft your own image.

Do what’s comfortable for you. You don’t have to have a rigid schedule when reaching your audience, however, you must have a degree of consistency to your communications. Pay attention to your core audience, they’ll give you an idea of how frequently you should contact them and through what channels. Yes, you want to convey a generally positive image to your core audience, however, don’t treat your base like a bunch of marks. Give them bits and pieces of vulnerability every now and then. Even superheroes have weaknesses.

The best way to talk about yourself is through your actions. Because no matter how well you craft your image, people remember how you treat them and the things they remember seeing you do. Therefore, be conscious of how you treat people. Also, be aware of how the people around you treat people because you could be found guilty by association if someone on your team is treating people unfairly. Your entourage is a reflection of you and the people in it should be well aware of what lines not to cross.

Talking about yourself is a strategic task. You want to talk about yourself just enough for your core audience to feel like they know you. On the flip side, you want to listen more than you talk so that members of your focus group feel appreciated. Here are some suggested tips when talking about yourself:

• Always do good business

• Take care of the people allied with you

• Stay close to the ones that demonstrate loyalty

• Stand up for causes you’re dedicated to

• Speak in terms of fact and logic

• It’s ok to say you do not know

• Put yourself in their shoes