Radio Does Not Make THE HITS, Radio Plays THE HITS

With record sales falling and musicians frequently finding themselves dropped from major labels, there are artists out there that surpass expectations. Take for example a most recent case study – rap’s very own Jadakiss. With his latest Island Def Jam debut, The Last Kiss, Jadakiss managed to sell over 130,000 copies during its first week, a more than commendable number for a project that had little publicity. The album is Jadakiss’s first release since a 5 year hiatus after leaving Interscope.

An issue of marketing magazine, Advertising Age, explored Jadakiss’s methods for promoting his album. The magazine states that as "advertising dollars have dried up at radio stations over the years, programmers have been under pressure to play hit records more frequently and playlists have shrunk. Ten years ago, many stations' highest-played records were 45 plays a week, or six plays a day. Today it's common for stations to play top records over 100 times a week, which allows less room for records to make it onto playlists." Programming directors have been pressured to cut down on playlists, leaving less room for records and giving hit singles more spins. Rapper Flo Rida saw his huge radio single “Right Round” sell over 2.5 million singles, while his album R.O.O.T.S. sold only 55,000 copies in its first week—less than half of what Jadakiss sold.

Jadakiss did many things to control the destiny of his album by connecting with his fans/audience despite the lack of radio play for his album. Take the time to explore the circumstances and the work of a marketing team that led up to Jadakiss' release and launch of his album and you may be able to highlight insights to learn from his and his marketing team's "not so obvious" initiatives. Jadakiss played to what he knew best. Throughout his long career, he has protected his reputation and authenticity, in part by passing up short-term successes and not becoming a puppet to the pressure of making quick-hit radio records. He knew the limitations of radio, and, much like brands today that may no longer be able to create a huge presence on TV and out-of-home, he invested in his core -- Jadakiss got creative.

First, he went into the places where his core lifestyle fans lived and became very accessible to them. He went on the road for seven weeks prior to releasing his album, visiting clubs every night, sometimes performing, and other times just being there as part of the scene. He visited malls. He also had daily discussions and exchanges with fans through blogs and hip-hop sites on the web. He had radio talk segments and hosted tastemakers, DJs and programmers at clubs and played his music through a sponsorship deal with Ciroc Vodka. He showed up and performed for Reebok's 10-year anniversary event for basketball superstar Allen Iverson at the NBA All-Star Game in Arizona. He performed in Austin at the Levi's FADER Fort (a Cornerstone event) in front of a primarily alternative rock and hipster audience. He released videos on Youtube; not just music videos, but also funny, behind-the-scenes videos that showed his lifestyle and authenticity, which his core fanbase found entertaining. All of this was done to build anticipation for his album -- always feeding his core yet adapting to new market conditions. Instead of a top-down national approach, Jadakiss took to the streets to connect to a lot of DJ’s, travel city to city, and build a story to tell.

“I ain’t know what to expect now with the way the game is,” ‘Kiss said in an interview with XXL earlier this month. “But I know I got a core fanbase. I don’t think Def Jam expected that, so now we gotta get on the same page. I will say that’s a great number for the climate and the way the music industry is right now and that’s without a big hit at radio…I got longevity, that’s why I got legs…It’s always good when you can say I told you so. It’s always good when you get the last laugh. But I’m just happy to be embraced after all these years, ’cause Hip Hop fans’ ears change hourly. I’ma be here for a while.”