Hood Treason & NYOIL's Hardcore Niche Marketing

NYOIL - Hood Treason

With all sorts of rap related social issue discussions breaking out, it will be interesting to see what that does for hip hop artists who are already addressing such things.  One new artist I've been watching is NYOIL whose debut album, Hood Treason, came out on Tuesday.

NYOIL - Y'all Should All Get Lynched

NYOIL broke into a lot of folks' consciousness last fall with the release of the video Y'all Should All Get Lynched that takes an exceptionally hardline stance against what he considers the deficiencies of much contemporary rap.  Not everybody appreciates what he tries to do as revealed in the extensive yet frustrating discussion involving NYOIL at bla(k)ademic:
what do you think about this?
from NYOIL–creator of “ya’ll should all get lynched”
nyoil revisited

NYOIL - What Up My Wigger

NYOIL clearly comes from a strong spoken word background as shown at the beginning of the What Up My Wigger video.  A shorter version is labeled n*gga PSA and reveals some involvement in marketing [or in playing off forms of marketing] as do the Sweething QP Doll commercial and the Ghetto Metal PSA's.

NYOIL is taking a hardcore niche approach with both his art and his interactions with the public.  Such an ideals and issues based emphasis should ultimately build a committed base of support that will be with him whether or not he ever drops hits.

Hood Treason seems to be doing well on Amazon but it will be interesting to see how well it does overall since I get the impression that it doesn't have a lot of infrastructural support.  However, combining local promotion in the NY area with online promotion can be a pretty potent combination, especially when focused on a niche market, so he may surprise some folks.

Official Sites:
NYOIL at MySpace
NYOIL at YouTube

Comments

[Jarrett Carter]

I think he has exactly the right approach. As you mentioned with grassroots marketing and a decent internet presence, consumers can feel an intimate connection with him, no matter where they are in the world.

[Clyde Smith]

Plus, being in New York, he's got local access to international media.

[NYOIL]

Not for nothing.. I really enjoy reading this particular blog/site.. as it looks at the marketing approach and such.
Just a quick insight:
The album had an internet release last month
the INSTORE release is actually June 26th with endcap and poster sales support
The internet pre release was to create an opportunity for real world buzz to generate off my initial base support.
Also I will have made appearances on BET's Rapcity (june 2nd) and of course the album release party to help create industry buzz (something i really give a fuck about but know how that goes)

so anyway.. keep an eye on me .. and feel free to ask me at any point about my marketing strategy.. it is important that this information be freely shared with other indie artist so we can emancipate ourselves from the yoke of Corporate Hip Hop

[Clyde Smith]

Hey, thanks for coming by. I'll be in touch about your approach to marketing and look forward to doing something on that.

I'll clarify the release date approach in the other post.

[IMHOTEP17]

I checked the album and this is what we need . Peace to the God NYOIL. You have my support. I will be buying multiple copies of this album.