Black Milk & Michelle McDevitt at Album Release Party

I was recently reminded that, despite the newnews of all things Web 2.0, I already take it for granted and many Web 2.0 tools are already integrated into hip hop marketing.  It all started at World Cypher when I clicked on a new Flickr photo tagged hiphop and found photos from last week’s Black Milk album release party in New York for Popular Demand.

The photos turned out to be by Michelle McDevitt of Audible Treats.  After I praised her use of Flickr as a marketing tool, she informed me that she really just posted them for her "dorky friends".  However, like any good publicist, she said go ahead and use some.

So this is an example of personal use of a Web 2.0 service that led to coverage of an event at ProHipHop.  The fact that it was a marketer’s personal stash adds a nice twist.

If I was Seth Godin, I’d say something really clever about focusing in on an audience of a small group of friends to, uh, you know, flip the marketing game or something.

Black Milk f/Guilty Simpson – Sound the Alarm (Live)

Once I figured I’d do something on the Black Milk party, I checked YouTube for possible videos and found a few from prefix mag including the above.  I was also directed to prefix mag’s blog where I found all three YouTube videos plus more photos.

One of the interesting elements of all this, besides the fairly organic use of Web 2.0 tech, is the fact that for prefix mag, the documentation of a promotional event became content, much like at ProHipHop, while for Michelle, the documentation was for friends, though she was at a promotional event that I assume she helped organize since Black Milk is a client of Audible Treats.

Notice how roles are mixed and matched as necessary [note to self: insert clever remix or mashup line here to make it more Hip Hop 2.0-ish].  Such role shifting can be very confusing for folks who want disruptive technology to slow down while they figure out the correct terminology to plug into their business plan.

The cool thing is that Web 2.0 facilitates the process of becoming more fluid, quicker, more able to seize opportunities without clear definition, you know, the abilities you need to function in a quickly shifting environment.

But you can’t make that shift by just reading what Media 2.0 bloggers have to say.  That’s why I said that blogging is a smart move for media entrepreneurs trying to understand what’s up with web publishing.  It’s a learn by doing situation.

Interestingly enough, Seth Godin recently gave similar advice to someone wanting to get into marketing:
In my experience the single best way to become a marketer is to market. . . So, start your own gig. Even if you’re 12 years old, start a store on eBay. You’ll learn just about everything you need to learn about digital marketing by building an electronic storefront, doing permission-based email campaigns, writing a blog, etc.

He says more good things plus he offers a bonus book list that includes one of my favorites, Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout.  Adisa put me on to that one.