3 Steps To Capturing Attention And Being Less Boring

How you can tap into better ideas

One of the reasons I don’t think people find rap as interesting these days is the abundance of rappers out there.

Good or bad, there is a clear saturation in the field. With virtually no money and limited gear, you can get yourself a song out that sounds as good as some of the stuff the OGs in your local scene are producing. Having listened to Montreal music on numerous occasions, a lot of it is about sex and a lot of it lacks a distinct personality.

While I agree we’re a horny city, that isn’t anything exclusive to us, or interesting. 

At least the way we manifest it in our art isn’t anything particularly unique to here.

It’s simple to say be interesting, but let’s get into how to approach capturing attention.

Step 1: Figure out something that people care about and tap into that, bonus points if no one else is talking about it

As an example, the great pickle polarity is real.

Love them (about 6/10 of you do) or hate them (about 3/10 of you do), people are passionate about pickles. Once I realized there were clear organic signals that this was an interesting topic, I moved forward and turned it into merch and started pushing pickle hate onto the world.

The point is, people let me know it was interesting content by referencing it. Similarly, I know people are interested in losing weight. Any time I post about exercise or health, people get real excited. These are signals that if you push this topic more, you will gain more attention.

When you are out and about in your day, take some time to focus on what people care about organically.

Chances are your authentic real life needs some embellishing, all your favourite rappers did. 

Good marketers learn what people love, and capture attention via their interests.

Step 2: Figure Out Where You Can Provide Some Expertise On The Subject

When it comes to pickles, I speak for the bullied. 

I bring awareness to the plight of those who want to simply order a burger with no pickles and not get harassed. It sounds ludicrous, but I know after trial and error, this specific example is so close to home for most of us, it captures attention. It brings people into their memories and helps them relate.

With exercise & health as a topic, I can go on about my addiction to food, or my struggle with motivation. As I continue my journey, I learn things that I can share with others. I can even take on a more ignorant role and get others to become the experts sharing their knowledge.

Understand the world you are in and what the content sphere looks like.

Learn the hot topics and start creating your own versions.

Great artists will even be able to take elements of this back into their music, closing the loop.

Step 3: Test everything until you figure out what blend of clickbait nonsense works for you

I don’t literally mean to engage in deceitful clickbait practices.

You will need to take some modern tactics, like catchy hooks and good titling, and tap into the essence of the greater community. You need to be able to speak directly to your audience. Most of the artists in my city popping out music do it for the other artists in the scene, since the regulars in the city don’t care.

We never speak the language or tap into their world, so the normal folk out there do not care about us. If the artists we went out there and focused on some Montreal centric stuff as people. The people we interact with will then come and care more about our art.

You need to take your talent and take it in a direction that lines up with some community’s interests. 

If it’s your own community, you need to define clearly what it means to be part of it.

In other words, no one has any idea what it is when you go, “you know what it is”, you’re supposed to tell them. 

Live Long and Prosper Everyone