All publicity is good publicity and this offers a platform on which artistes can lean and capitalize on to back their careers
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Think about it, how many artistes right now are enjoying the fruits of either their bad behaviour or controversial implications? If it’s not a dramatic ending in a relationship then it’s probably a fleeting viral moment. And truly all publicity is good publicity and in most instances, this offers a platform on which artistes can lean and capitalize on to back their careers - some that start as a joke.
Over the past two weeks, a viral video has been circulating across social media, depicting Msupa S, an upcoming rap charlatan, delivering, let’s call it, a mediocre approach to a freestyle she performed on one a local TV shows. Sounding like she knew what she was saying but utterly clueless on the delivery, her performance was undeniably entertaining and indeed funny. But in actual sense, any rap enthusiast would disregard it for not being an aesthetically pleasing piece of music.
It’s truly hapless that in today’s saturated world of music, artistes understand that to build a name, one has to build a significant platform with which a fanbase will want to keep up with. More often than not, it doesn't really matter how they get there as long as they get there. Tanasha Donna best represents this, with her debut track “Radio” featuring Barak Jacuzzi racking up over 800,000 views on YouTube in a just week. This success could be greatly linked to the influence her relationship with the ever-controversial Diamond Platnumz has had on her brand.
The mainstream media, regrettably, has played a significant role in ensuring that coverage is given to ridicule and inconsequential topics about artistes that hardly promote their music and entirely focus on their dirt. The artistes, on the other hand, have accepted this and turned it into a norm. The problem with this is that artistes now exist in the shelf life of their actions and decisions which in most cases is likely to expire sooner than they expect.
The problem with existing in this space is that artistes now continue to release one reluctantly catchy song after another until they can’t. They introduce waves that gradually begin to shed and long before they realise, the listeners are onto something new - probably bigger and better. The only way to stay purely relevant to music listeners is to ensure your music slaps, and if you have to exist and ride on a moment then make sure you thrive.
If an artiste’s central goal is to build a lasting career, then the choice of listeners placing that artiste in a list of viral moments or in a list of music geniuses should largely be influenced by the artiste. Artistes need to eat, and these brief moments in the spotlight provide them with an opportunity to try and make something. However, it all goes back to the work ethic. An artiste who is about the work and hardly cares about the non-essential moments will always parade staying power.