The power of an entertainer is the ability to communicate deeply with your audience being sure that the understand you. The rift between the YBNL boss Olamide and the MAVINS boss Don Jazzy blew up on social media; the phrase ‘leave trash for lawma’ surfaced from this fracas and a lot of people fell in love with the expression.
As expected, the new slangy expression was accepted not only by the rapper’s fans but music fans around the world. The expression got everyone talking about the rift and this gave it hype. It began to travel far; the print on every shirt in Lagos was ‘leave trash for LAWMA’.
In the colloquial sense, the use of words was appropriate, LAWMA means Lagos State Waste Management Authority, if you don’t leave your trash for LAWMA, then you litter the environment which is against the law in Lagos State.
Olamide was on point with this and this again gave his brand more recognition. He was then endorsed to be a LAWMA ambassador, just before the video ‘I Love Lagos’ was shot. In a way, he strategically created market recognition for his brand.
Entertainment in Nigeria transcends making beats and doing good music- these are elements of competitive advantage within the industry. Above that is an identity with your brand, the audience has to identify with your brand and this will pave way for you in the industry.
It is good to be with a record label but it is always the best to create a brand within your own brand without scuffles as this will create a competitive edge within the industry and help promote the brand.
However, creating an identity for yourself within the brand could go the wrong way if care is not taken; you have to ensure you are sending the right message to your audience and there are pointers to that.
As an artist, the kind of feedback you get from your fans should determine your next move and level of commitment to them, it is a renewal of your identity just like when you continuously subscribe for your data bundle.
The feedback an artist gets is a reflection of what the audience feels about your brand. When an artiste sends the right message, there are signals that evidently show this- awards nominations, ambassadorial endorsements, shows invitations and fans recognition.
On the contrary, an artiste will have to beg for his music to be heard when he passes the wrong message. Wrong messages do not have to be lyrically inclined; however, lyrics and beat are also important in passing messages.
What about your personality, artists are social media personalities; your fans want to know what is going on with you outside the music world. Stay humble, avoid clap back if possible and do only things that will promote your brand because that is exactly your business and it matters to you.
An artiste’s ability to create awareness for himself promotes his career and this goes a long way. It is an initial stage of branding, the audience has got to pay attention to you which sticks throughout your career. Creating a brand has to do with identification and recognition. The brand has to be identified and accepted.
For instance, Lil Kesh started with ‘Shoki’, apart from creating a dance to it which was in fact an identity, the song was generally accepted by music fans irrespective of the language. It was a big announcement of his career, fans identified his own brand, accepted it and expected everything good from him, this acceptance created his success today.
Patoranking came out with ‘Alubarika’, his unique style was accepted, and his consistency maintained his brand. He is having a success story already.
Another good example is Kiss Daniel who kicked off with ‘Woju’, his style was embraced by everyone. His style of music was a brand his audience quickly identified with, even when he had controversies over his age, his fan base was still in order, and his new single ‘Mama’ is absolutely fantastic.
Irrespective of the controversies, he never let his fans down; he maintained his brand image; that is what a super star means, amidst controversies, he was able to get their attention, he was not hated after all. A lot of artistes have controversial issues but it didn’t affect their music career.
The need to create a brand within a brand promotes the uniqueness of an artiste. It is very possible for a record label to possess an outstanding brand image while the artistes lag behind. Davido is an outstanding artiste, his own personal brand lightens up the HKN gang; at a point, people were thinking he was the only one in the record label.
This is not to say Shina Rambo and B-Red were not active members but they haven’t met the expectations of the fans; they are associated with a superstar brand and as such should give their audience something to believe in them. They are fantastic artistes that are yet to create their own brand. This implies that if they leave HKN, they might as well just stop music.
The arrival of the new signee Mayorkun raised a lot of expectations. For the ‘Eleko’ crooner, his first single was a hit and everyone expects him to do a back to back, he has won his audience’s heart. The song is an good advertisement of him. That is what the audience wants. Give them something to talk about, keep them busy on social media.
With one single, Mayorkun was able to create a brand for himself and of course, the audience embraced it; now he is creating an identity for himself which looks good for his career already.
Hard work, creative imagination, consistency and a little bit of luck will see an artist through brand creation. Use of most appropriate diction and lyrics that an audience can relate to will attract familiarity to the brand. This helps build brand recognition and reputation.
Reputation is built alongside the career, let your fans identify with your music and trust whatever comes out of your repertoire. It is your brand, it is your image, and it is what makes you.
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