Being a rap artiste, you know how competitive the music industry is. It is necessary to stand out from the crowd and attract loyal fans who love your music and your message.
In fact, the first thing a record label does when they sign you is to create a brand for you. Because having a brand increases your success as an artist in the industry. Building a brand for yourself makes you more desirable to record labels, and listeners alike. It is like running while everyone else is walking on the road to becoming artistes.
How do you do that? How do you create a rap brand that reflects your personality, style and values?
In this article, we will show you the rudiments of how to create a winning rap brand in five easy steps.
You will learn how to choose your;
- Brand Archetype
- Brand Colours
- Brand messages and purpose
- Visual identity and logo
- and how to market your rap brand to your target audience.
By following these steps, you will be able to create a rap brand that is unique, authentic and memorable.
Step 1: Understand Brand Archetypes and Find Yours
A brand archetype is a universal character or personality that represents your brand. It helps you communicate your brand’s essence, values and emotions to your audience. There are 12 common brand archetypes that you can choose from, such as the hero, the outlaw, the lover, the jester, etc.
Each archetype has its own strengths, weaknesses, traits and motivations. For example, the hero archetype is courageous, noble and inspiring, while the outlaw archetype is rebellious, daring and disruptive. To find your brand archetype, you need to think about what kind of rap artist you are and what kind of rap music you make.
It is not enough to choose a brand archetype, you have to add nuance to make it unique.
Here are questions that can guide your brand formation.
- What is your story? Where did you come from?
- What is your mission? Where are you going to? What is your goal?
- What are your challenges?
- What are your values? What are you passionate about?
Once you have answered these questions, you can look at the 12 archetypes and see which one matches you best and then craft a brand around the values. You can also combine two or three archetypes to create a complex brand personality.
If the 12 Archetypes are too limiting for you, you can always invent a new one. Yes, you are that creative.
Step 2: Choose Your Rap Brand’s Colors
Colours are powerful tools for creating a rap brand. Colours evoke emotions and create associations in the human brain that influence how people perceive and react to your brand.
For example, red can convey passion, energy and excitement, while blue can convey trust, calmness and professionalism. To choose your brand colours, you need to think about what kind of emotions and associations you want to create with your rap music.
Choosing colours should be guided by the following questions;
- How do you want people to feel when they listen to your music?
- What kind of mood do you want to set?
- What kind of image do you want to project?
To help you choose your brand colours, you can use a colour emotion guide that shows you what different colours mean and what brands and rappers use them.
Step 3: Zone in on Your Message and Purpose
Your message and purpose are the core of your rap brand. They are what drive you to make music and what connect you with your fans. Your message is what you want to say with your music, while your purpose is why you want to say it. Your message and purpose should be clear, consistent and compelling.
They should reflect who you are as a person and as a rap artist. They should also resonate with your target audience and inspire them to take action or change their perspective.
To find your message and purpose, you need to ask yourself some questions;
- Why do you make music?
- What do you want people to know or learn from your music?
- How do you want people to feel when they listen to your music?
- How do you want your music to affect their lives and the lives of those around them?
From the answers to these questions, you can write down your message and purpose in one or two sentences. This will help you focus on what matters most in your brand.
Step 4: Create Your Rap Brand’s Visual Identity and Logo
Your visual identity and logo are the face of your rap brand.
- They are how people recognise and remember you.
- They are also how people judge and evaluate you.
- Your visual identity and logo should be attractive, distinctive and memorable.
- They should also be aligned with your brand archetype, colours, message and purpose.
- They should communicate who you are as a rap artist at a glance.
To create your visual identity and logo, you need to think about some elements:
Name: This is how people identify you as a rap artist. It should be memorable, easy to pronounce and spell, and relevant to your music genre and style.
Font: This is how people read your name and other texts related to your rap brand. It should be legible, appealing and consistent with your brand personality.
Symbol: This is how people recognise you without reading your name. It should be simple, unique and meaningful to your rap brand. Symbols could be a sound, for example, the coin drop by M.I Abaga, and the lighter click by Lil Wayne.
Slogan: This is how people remember what you stand for as a rap artist. It should be catchy, concise and catchy (yes, twice). For example, lemme talk to em by Payper Corleone, and Bang Bang by Show Dem Camp
To create your visual identity and logo, you can either use online tools or hire a professional designer. You can find some tips on how to create or choose your visual identity and logo here.
When you have determined this, then you can work with a creative director or your friends to create visuals, photographs and more brand materials for you to use in your communication and content releases.
Step 5: Market Your Rap Brand to Your Target Audience
What is the use of cooking soup no one will taste? What good does a brand do when it is not marketed to its intended target audience?
Your target audience is the group of people who are most likely to listen to your music, support your career and become loyal fans of your rap brand. They are the people who share similar interests, tastes, values and needs with you as a rap artist. They are also the people who can benefit from or relate to your message and purpose as a rap artist.
To market your rap brand to your target audience, you need to use various channels and strategies to reach them, engage them, and convert them. Some of these channels and strategies include:
- Social media: This is where you can interact with your fans, share your music, and build your community. You can use platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, etc., depending on where your target audience hangs out online.
- Website: This is where you can showcase your portfolio, provide more information about yourself and your rap brand, and offer your products or services, such as merchandise, tickets, subscriptions, etc.
- Blog: This is where you can share your insights, stories, and opinions related to your music genre, industry, or niche. You can also use it to educate or entertain your audience and establish yourself as an authority or thought leader in your field.
- Podcast: This is where you can talk about topics that interest or matter to you and your audience. You can also use it to interview other rappers or experts in your industry or feature guest appearances from fans or influencers.
- Email: This is where you can communicate with your subscribers directly and personally. You can use it to update them on news or events related to your rap brand, offer them exclusive deals or discounts on products or services related to your rap brand, or ask them for feedback or testimonials.
These are just some examples of channels and strategies that you can use to market yourself as a rap artist. You can find more tips on how to market yourself as a rapper here.
Conclusion
Creating a brand is always worth more than the work you put into it. It is not a matter of why but when you will do it because you need it.
It will help you;
- Stand out from the crowd
- Attract loyal fans
- Build your career, and
- Make an impact with your music.
The benefits are endless, and we will need a completely different post to discuss it.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is a good place to start branding yourself. We hope this article helped you learn how to create a winning rap brand. If you need more assistance, please let us know.
We would love to hear from you. 😊
