Amongst a sea of artists, Lil Nas X’s music and persona capture our attention.
Since his debut hit “Old Town Road” went viral and sold more than 14 million copies, 23-year-old rapper Lil Nas X (Montero) has supplemented the promotion of his record-breaking music with unique humour to create a cultrual movemement that has everyone talking!
Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok — you name it!
Lil Nas X’s Montero was an archetype for successful social media music promotion. What stands out is that he uses every social media site to promote his album (most artists do that), but he can tailor his content for a largely young audience. According to Forbes, 97% of Gen Z use social media for inspiration and to buy things, making them a vital audience.
He teased fans with snippets of songs from his new album for a year in advance of its release. 15-second TikTok’s went viral, creating hype, and fans flocked to listen to the album, topping the charts with more than 24 million streams as soon as it was released.
On TikTok, you will see him create trends like the “doors to heaven” with 100k + impressions and the pole dance challenge, where the winner received $10,000. Music promotion experts like Rebecca Bakken recognised this harnessed organic “Pop Culture”, something many creators like Camila Cabello tried but failed to do. Another recommendation would be to explore Snapchat, where he can post day-to-day real-time stories.
Turn your songs into Merch
Lil Nas X has left no stone unturned; he created digital assets like a video game and an interactive book. But one of his biggest controversies was around the 666 pairs of modified Nike Air Max 97s with the art collective “MSCHF” to promote his song “Industry Baby”. Rumours about a drop of blood in the shoes caused a frenzy among conservative religious leaders.
Being an openly gay black artist, Lil Nas X’s defiant pride and music outraged homophobic critics, and some religious organisations protested outside his shows. In response, he sent them pizzas and posted them on Twitter, defusing a tense situation and publicising his tour through- a win-win!
Matthew Oware, a sociology professor, commented that the “general sentiment that this type of rapper, gay and male, isn't representative of masculinity” and Nas is doing nothing different to what heterosexual rappers like DaBaby do but is more criticised due to his queerness.
Escaping cancel culture?
Arguably, there have been times when his humour was misconstrued, notably when he created a fake “pregnancy” to announce the “birth” of his album, with trans activists saying this was insensitive.
In retaliation, he used this promotion to raise over $500,000 for LGBTQ and HIV charities, teaching us how to turn (inevitable) social media controversies into positive outcomes!
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Overall, his online marketing methods are innovatively original, targeting his fan base and anticipating what excites them but also educating them in the process.
