Collabbing With Big Rappers – UnlessonsCollabbing With Big Rappers

I was on Instagram and this guy randomly followed me so I checked his page out.

I’m glad I did because It gave me the idea to point out a few reasons why collabbing with BIG rappers won’t really help you in gaining fans ‘Unless’… and we will go over those unlessons in this article.

Let’s examine this entire situation first.

This guy has a song out that released in December 2015 that has both Jazze Pha AND B.O.B. on it.

These are two very well known names, especially in Atlanta.

They even shot a music video for the song that has B.O.B. and Jazze Pha in it.

It was posted onto the artist’s own channel.

The video released 4 months ago and here are his current stats:

The music video has 21,000 views on it (I get more than that in 4 months)

His Instagram has probably 500 real followers and he gets 15-130 likes a picture

His YouTube has 100 subscribers. Yes, 100.

You’d think having 2 big names on a song would get you at least 100,000 views on the video, some subscribers and some social media likes right?

Wrong.

I’ve seen hundreds of rappers collab with big names and it do barely anything for them.

I’ve seen rappers collab with 100 big rappers and it do nothing for them.

Let’s go over why he isn’t getting what he probably expected from the collab.

What can you learn from this?

Well this entire situation right here makes it very clear that a collab from bigger name people won’t gain you a fanbase and buzz unless:

1) Unless the artist you collab with is heavily pushing the record you collabbed with them on

This is actually the main thing you will need from any artist you collab with but also it is the main thing you need to understand. If you collab with a big name artist and no one is telling anyone but you, you really don’t have anything but bragging rights.

The whole benefit of a collaboration is to gain the fans of another artist while building your network.

If you ever collab with a big artist you need to make sure whatever deal you make involves them at least pushing the record to their fan base. Even if it’s your song it may be a good idea to let them post the song on their channel that has more subscribers and fans already waiting.

2) Unless the big artist is actually buzzing at the moment

When someone is BUZZING heavily everyone wants anything they are releasing and fans are just waiting to get their hands on it. That includes anything, even collaborations that may have you on it.

If they are buzzing hard enough the big artist doesn’t even have to push a record because others will go out and find it themselves.

If you can get onto an album or mixtape of an artist that is JUST about to be huge it can be what really fuels your entire careers growth.

A main reason is because that artist is in their peak and everyone is HARD CORE listening to everything about and around that artist. That also means they are purchasing the records from that artist. So the content that has you on it has more value and they are more inclined to liking you.

It’s completely logical when you think about it.

Collabbing With Big Rappers can make you big just from their buzz.

The next piece matters just as much as the buzz though.

3) Unless your collaboration part was great enough to be impressive

This is key, if you collab with a big artist but it is unimpressive, no one has a reason to go listen to your other music.

When someone hears you for the first time, something about you has to stand out to them so they have a reason to become a fan or become interested in you. Your rap voice, your image, your delivery, your flow and especially lyrics all matter. One of those has to stand out enough to really resonate with a person and make them want to ask themselves “Who is this guy?” and say “I need more! Gimme gimme gimme!” lol

I know you have experienced this before. You see someone collab on a song and it’s bland as fuck and you’re like “Who is this guy and why the fuck is he even on this song.” then there are times where the guy is just so unique you say “Whoah, he killed that shit. Ima go check this guy out.”

Don’t be the bland guy who doesn’t take advantage of the fact he is getting a collaboration. Write then rewrite then rewrite your verses and murder it with the knowledge that it will gain you even more fans.

When Collabbing With Big Rappers also remember that murdering a track a big rapper is on will also impress the artist and that can lead to more.

But be weary of what I mention next when Collabbing With Big Rappers.

Collabbing With Big Rappers —> Law Of Power 1

Please keep in mind to not overkill something if you collab with a rapper who has a big ego or may actually feel like you out shined them.

Law 1: Never Outshine the master.

This is a reason why anytime a rapper like Lil Wayne ever collabbed with a big name rapper, he dulled his colors and let the other artist outshine him. It’s better to be smart for the long run.

Canibus had this issue back when he did a song with LL Cool J that would have blew Canibus up. Canibus said something he felt was completely harmless but since he out shined LL Cool J on his own song and since LL Cool J had a huge ego, he took it wrong and that whole thing literally kept Canibus as an underground rapper for the rest of his career.

That is also what led to the beef between them.

I may not have all the facts but to my knowledge this is how it all went down.

Be smart.

(W)Rapping Up

When Collabbing With Big Rappers it really it comes down to understanding that just having a collab from a big rapper won’t blow you up UNLESS you understand how and why to make it happen and boost your chances.

Keep this all in mind before you collab with someone.

– Novi Novak