The Adam22 and DJ Akademiks event is good news for hip hop
On 26th July 2018, Adam22 announce that both he and DJ Akademiks will be having a live podcast in New York on September 14th 2018. In the demographic of young rap fans, they are the most popular, both in their different ways. DJ Akademiks’ brand revolves around him giving opinionated commentary on the news, whilst Adam22 is most famous for doing interviews with young rappers who are usually classed as SoundCloud rappers.
With hindsight we can now see how important Akademiks’ move to do Complex’s Everyday Struggle in early 2017 was. That move introduced him- a popular Youtuber, to mainstream hip hop in a manner that could not be avoided, especially as he was working alongside the rap veteran Joe Budden. Fast forward in 2018, Adam22’s No Jumper is entering into the arena of becoming a record label. Likewise, the Atlanta based Dead End Hip Hop have also parlayed their cultural capital into starting a record label as well as other ventures.
Youtubers have shown for years that they are powerful, for example Shane Dawson’s videos regularly receive millions of views. That size of an audience is comparable with mainstream television shows who have multimillion dollar budgets. Whilst no single hip hop youtuber is hitting the heights of Shane Dawson, it does show how important they are. The amount of attention they have from a loyal audience means they can shape the narrative surrounding an artist’s actions and their output. 21 Savage experienced this effect when he stated he was moving on from buying jewellery and his manager said he would be investing in cryptocurrency. Akademiks’ controversial response mocked his turned towards maturity by highlighting the point that 21 Savage did not become famous by being mature. It had to take Nipsey Hussle’s threats of violence towards Akademiks to change the narrative.
Another point to consider is that there seems to be in place some level of organisation surrounding this event. Both FouseyCon and TanaCon were both controversial for the lack of good organisation surrounding it. FouseyCon in particular was setup on short notice and ended very quickly due to the police being called in to deal with suspected bomb threat. Whilst TanaCon was messy due to it being organised at the same time, and in the same area as VidCon, which led to thousands left stranded outside. The authorities rightfully called a halt to the event for health and safety reasons. It should be noted that No Jumper do have experience of holding events such as the No Jumper Tour as well as meet and greet events at the OSS store in Los Angeles. They also have experience of dealing with events spiralling out of control, most notably the XXXtentancion memorial.
For Youtubers to be able to events where they can physically interact with their fanbase, this type of professional structuring in the organising is essential. Podcasts such as ‘The Read’ and Joe Budden’s Podcast have had professionally managed tours, that do not remove the factor of intimacy that is vital. The success of a Youtuber derives from their ability to invite the audience into their lives and take them on a journey, so when we the audience experience an intimate moment with them we connect deeply to their personality.
Having the event as a livestream, provides an effective and immediate route to connect to the audience. On the other hand, livestreams are harder to control as shown by the recent No Jumper Livestream featuring FouseyTube, Keemstar, Shane Dawson, Sam Pepper and others. Whilst it did have the benefit of putting major social media celebrities in the same room, the lack of control meant in such a heated situation, it can lead to potential problems business wise because of the behaviour displayed. Advertisers and companies are more sensitive than ever before to the opinions that are being generated on social media platforms. They do not want to be associated with out of control celebrities.
If this live podcast event between these two can occur with as few disruptions as possible it would be good for hip hop and YouTube. It would show to many of their detractors that far from being a fad they are becoming more influential in the hip hop culture. One of the main criticisms directed at Youtubers and DJ Akademiks in particular, is that they do not deserve to have a platform because they don’t understand the culture they speak about. Having a successful live event would show that not only can Youtubers connect with their audience via the internet they are also able to hold events that allow for face to face interaction, thereby strengthening the bond they have with their audience. That in itself would show how ineffective that line of argument is, because we as an audience are attracted to personalities that we can connect with on an emotional level.
For now, we can only wait and see what happens, but whatever happens leading up to the event, during the event and in the aftermath will be important. If done well it would be momentous in setting a standard and help others be able to do their own type of events in the future.
