There’s no doubt that every rapper dreams or have the desire to have an unwavering community of his own fans; fans who will be impatiently waiting to hear his new releases, listen to his every word, watch his every new video, buy into all his endorsement deals and follow him religiously on all social media platforms. In today’s dynamic hip hop market, this may seem like a too far-fetched idea, but it is actually possible with the right tips, team, time, effort and energy.

There are a host of rap titans who have undying relationship with their fans. Take for instance, Eminem, Jay Z, 50 Cent, Drake, Kanye West or any other big rapper, for that matter. Most of their fans are true fans that were with them right from the beginning to this day. Have you asked yourself; why do they have a real cult-like following while other rappers don’t? While they’re talented and worked their butts off to make it in the rap game, most of these successful rappers learned how to grow their fanbase a million fold early on.

Even though the dynamics of today’s music market might be different from when most of the above named rappers started, thanks to the availability of numerous social media platforms and tremendous advancement in technology, it cannot be refuted that the proper application of these 10 tips will help you grow your fanbase as a rapper exponentially within a short period of time.

1. Every Single Fan Must Bring in At Least One New Fan

The word of mouth and recommendation is one sure way to spread the message faster like bush fire. To double or even triple the size of your already existing fanbase, there’s not a single doubt that you’ll need every one of your already existing fans to – on average – bring on-board with them a friend or two. Your music must be so captivating that your current fans introduce it to his/her friends who will also take the same action. Now, if a large part of your fanbase introduces your music to their friends and relatives who then do the same, your fanbase will not only grow immensely, but also quicker.

2. Increase the Quality of Your Music Videos and Market on YouTube

As they say; a good thing sells itself, while a bad one treads on itself. Increasing the rate and quality of your music videos or online video content will surely help grow your fanbase a million fold. Using video sharing platforms such as YouTube will even compound the results, but you need to upload quality videos or content as frequent as possible. We all know celebrities who came to the limelight as a result of YouTube and it is sure a proven way to grow your fanbase these days.

You can also use interactive video sharing platforms such as TubeMogul and Stageit.

3. Share Your Music on FanDistro

There are actually not many platforms that incredibly help rap artists spread their music virally and exponentially grow their fanbase quite like FanDistro. This is a marketing tool that basically helps artists promote their music and new video. Apart from
helping you spread the word organically, FanDistro affords you the chance to interact with your fans and reward them with free downloads, branded t-shirts and other merchandise when they get a given number of friends and relatives on other social media platforms such as Facebook to download or share your music.

4. Organize Bigger, Better and More Frequent Gigs

Ask any established rapper out there how they significantly increased their fanbase and they’ll tell you it’s all about getting out there on the road and working as hard as you can. In other words, go out there and perform on shows on a daily basis. This will not only give you the chance to connect with your already existing fans, but you’ll also attain many others. As a smart rapper, you should know that sitting down and entirely relying on online platforms to get you new fans isn’t surely a good idea. Well, online platforms may work wonders, but they only compliment what you are actually doing when you get out there and connect with fans through your performances and gigs. Just do whatever you’ve got to do to get bigger, better and more frequent gigs.

5. Passively Market Yourself through Merchandise

Selling your branded merchandise such as t-shirts and caps affordably to your fans, especially during gigs is a pretty remarkable method of passive marketing. As a rapper, selling your branded merchandise is a quick way of making some little money on the side. It is also a good way of marketing yourself through your fans and you shouldn’t be surprised if you get new fans through this method.

6. Scale up Your Advertising

While using your fans to market you is a novel idea, at no one point should you ignore the use of advertising alternatives that can potentially reach a huge number of would-be fans. There are numerous options to consider. You can use Facebook advertising,
Radio Airplay, Pre-roll YouTube advertising, niche-specific platforms, as well as Buffer, which is an intuitive social management platform that can help you drive social media results, hence reach a huge number of potential fans.

7. Leveraging Other Artists’ Audience

One of the main reasons why rappers collaborate with each other is to get an even bigger audience. As a rapper, you should consider doing collabos with other artists or products to leverage on their audience. This is a good way of reaching a larger audience and a sure way to grow your fan base.

8. Bring a Unique Personality and Give People Something Different

The rap game is full of copy cats and fans are tired of this. That’s why doing things differently will endear you to many fans who want to be associated with something different and unique. It’s therefore, important to bring a unique personality and give people
something different and they’ll remember you for a very long time. Jay-Z has his Jehovah side, Kanye West has his Jesus side, Snoop Dogg has his Dogg Pound side and that’s right for the rest of us. You just need to find that personality and bring it to the table.

9. Be Reachable and Make Friends, Not Fans

In most cases, somebody will like you after you spared some of your precious time to chat with them. Whether it’s on a gig or on any of your numerous social platforms, being reachable and sparing some time to chat with your fans will make them feel like you are one of them; a friend. They’ll get attracted not just to you, but also to your music and will likely share it with their friends, thereby helping you grow your fanbase tenfold.

10. Prep Your Audience

You should essentially prepare both your existing fans and potential fans on the next step of your rap career. Whether you are re-branding or putting out new music out there, you should always create a buzz or hype around it before it’s released so that fans are psychologically prepared and eager to hear what you’ve got to present to them. This hype will help you attract new fans, especially if your new work is top-notch.

Conclusion

Many people dream of becoming rappers. They assume that it is an easy task as long as you have a mic, a laptop and some basic familiarity with rhythms and melodies. Unfortunately, fans make rappers great, but they just don’t come by. Apart from being talented and having a proper team around you, you should have clear strategies on how to grow your fanbase, especially in today’s dynamic world of social media and technology. Without that, you’ll just be another unknown rapper. All you have to do is build a strong fanbase by learning the above strategies, taking action, testing and learning what works for you and your rap career.