Social Media & Rap Music: Airplanes

I love rap music.  You may or may not already know this about me. There was a time when I considered starting a new and comically inappropriate blog (white girl, black music)--but I never had the cajones...

Anyhow, months ago when the song Airplanes first came out, I had an idea.  Draw parallels between the music I love and the stuff I'm already doing.  The particular song, Airplanes, just made it so easy.


The song has this bit that really resonated with me as a social media marketer / practitioner:

Somebody take me back to the days

Before this was a job, before I got paid

Before it ever mattered what I had in my bank

Yeah back when I was tryin' to get into the subway

And back when I was rappin' for the hell of it

But now a days we rappin' to stay relevant

Replace rappin' with blogging, tweeting or whatever verb you use in conjunction with Facebook, and it totally sings social media.  Think about it:

Somebody take me back to the days... 

... back when I was [bloggin'] for the hell of it

but now a days we [bloggin'] to stay relevant

How often do you write a post or a tweet just so people don't forget that you exist?  There's so much talk about adding value just for the sake of staying in the conversation. Granted people have micro-attention spans, but this desire to stay constantly in front of people was not why we started in on social.

Do you remember when you'd write a blog post simply because the subject made you feel passionate? Because you wanted to share this crazy, silly amusing idea you had? Or because you actually believed that someone would relate to the experience you're having / had?

The song goes on about the politics of the rap game. Really, B.O.B. is talking about how you alter what you're doing or how you actually are when you know people are watching you.  He raps:

So can I get a wish to end the politics

And get back to the music that started this shit

As a marketer, I recognize that we have to put information out there, and it's good for it to be helpful.  But at a certain point, I find myself really fed up with all this talk about adding value and contributing to the conversation.  Here's my plea:

So can I get a wish to end the politics

And get back to the [content] that started this shit

It's idealistic, but I'd like to go back to people sharing stuff they actually care about.  And yes, even if they're getting paid to talk about something--how people make their money is of vital importance to how they live and support themselves.  @GaryVee has it right. If you're passionate, it'll always show through.

If you're not familiar with the song, you can watch the video here: