Image Source: Tamara May / Getty / Vivien Killilea, Johnny Nunez
The days of rappers hassling radio DJs to play their singles and promoting mixtapes on the road are formally over. Why? Because artists are discovering far more success on-line by going viral on platforms like TikTok — and at present’s up-and-coming feminine rappers are main the cost.
TikTok has, certainly, blossomed into a spot for girls in rap to launch their careers in entrance of a wider viewers. In reality, many artists who sought out mainstream success pivoted towards the video-sharing launchpad because it started to explode amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020; they rapidly turned it into their very own musical playground, setting the most recent developments for user-generated content material. Female rappers, particularly, have expertly discovered learn how to benefit from viral TikTok moments and switch them into main profession stepping stones.
“The platform is a real gem for rising artists and has helped feminine hip-hop artists, particularly, amplify their voices greater than ever.”
Just take a look at Megan Thee Stallion’s Grammy-winning “Savage (Remix)” that includes Beyoncé, or Lola Brooke‘s game-changing hit “Don’t Play With It,” and even Baby Tate‘s 2016 “Hey, Mickey!” monitor that not too long ago caught its second wind on-line. They’re all viral sensations which have TikTok to thank partially for his or her large success. According to an knowledgeable, it is as a result of the app is changing into the “go-to platform for music discovery.”
“TikTok’s basis is predicated on content material that is straightforward to devour and enjoyable,” Hayalsu Altinordu, an Upwork content material advertising and marketing freelancer and label & company partnerships supervisor at Vydia, tells POPSUGAR. “Because of this, lesser-known hip-hop artists have the flexibility to organically attain hundreds of thousands of individuals with their very own distinctive and thrilling content material.”
Consequently, “the app has helped many artists create enormous fan bases, shifting viral hits from TikTok onto the Billboard prime 100 lists or growing streams on providers like Spotify or Apple Music,” Altinordu provides. “The platform is a real gem for rising artists and has helped feminine hip-hop artists, particularly, amplify their voices greater than ever.”
In distinction with their male counterparts, feminine rappers have possible seen extra success on TikTok as a result of the platform acts as a distinct segment area for younger girls, particularly younger Black girls, to be their genuine, unapologetic selves — a luxurious that is not at all times afforded to us IRL. And with out obstacles like sexism standing of their manner — which girls in rap have traditionally handled by way of being acknowledged for his or her achievements and expertise — TikTok has paved the way in which for ladies to be the platform’s authoritative voices in hip-hop.
Whether they’ve used TikTok to check out soon-to-be hits or to place themselves as music’s subsequent massive factor, girls in rap are propelling themselves to new ranges of success with the perfect cheat mode in music at present. In celebration of this, TikTok launched its two-week-long #WomeninHipHop initiative on Feb. 22 — which coincided with its #BlackTikTok programming hub that features a highlight on music, artists, and an IRL collection in honor of Black History Month. The initiative goals to spotlight at present’s expertise and the app’s many success tales — one in all which is Brooklyn native Maiya the Don.
Image Source: Tamara May
“TikTok might be very useful in selling your music once you use it proper.”
In October 2022, the up-and-comer, identified for her massive character and braggadocious attraction, dropped her infectious “Telfy” anthem, an ode to the Telfar’s signature purses, which rapidly unfold far and huge on social media. Maiya, who was not too long ago named one in all TikTok’s 2023 Visionary Voices and is presently engaged on dropping her debut challenge, tells POPSUGAR that she initially began out as a magnificence creator on TikTok however easily pivoted to music after she noticed all the advantages the platform might supply her budding profession.
“TikTok might be very useful in selling your music once you use it proper. I feel that is actually good for that. And in fact, it is the usual now,” she notes, including that her preliminary TikTok video for “Telfy” received “over 1,000,000 views” in a single day. “It’s one of many greatest social media platforms, and that is [why] digital advertising and marketing is so necessary this present day. Nobody’s actually selecting up newspapers or magazines to see what’s scorching. They’re happening their telephone . . . and they’ll go search on TikTok.”
It’s no secret that TikTok has change into a pacesetter calling the pictures within the music trade. In 2022, The New York Times declared the platform a “main cultural affect.” And it reveals, significantly once you take a look at the way it’s contributed to the trajectory of now-household names like GloRilla and Ice Spice, who’re slowly however certainly embedding themselves within the cloth of the tradition.
Last month, Time reported on Ice Spice’s “TikTok takeover,” crediting her large hit “Munch (Feelin’ U)” because the catalyst that skyrocketed her to web stardom after a clip of it went viral on TikTok. Her different notable singles “Bikini Bottom” and “In Ha Mood” additionally trended on TikTok, with the latter contributing to over 104,000 complete creations throughout the first week of its official launch in January. “All my siblings inform me how they only see me throughout [TikTok’s] For You web page,” the rapper advised XXL that very same month. “And all their associates be singing my tune and stuff. It’s loopy.”
Similarly, GloRilla’s music has additionally gained traction due to the platform: it gave rise to her breakout, Grammy-nominated hit “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” and the #FNF dance problem that got here after it peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 final summer time. Same for her Cardi B-assisted, gold-certified monster smash “Tomorrow 2,” arguably one of many greatest songs of 2022, which has produced over 786,000 complete creations on TikTok and counting.
“I do not actually make TikTok music. But generally, or not it’s so arduous that it simply goes viral on there due to how good it’s.”
There are many extra examples of feminine rappers getting love from TikTok — together with Monaleo, whose 2021 tune “Beating Down Yo Block” demanded the eye of the TikTok neighborhood and rap followers alike; Ken the Man, whose “Not My N*gga” monitor served as the proper musical backdrop for TikTok customers’ many movies; and Flo Milli’s viral tune “Conceited,” which not too long ago received the remix remedy with Maiya and Brooke.
However, regardless of all of their success on account of the ever-growing platform’s help, not one of the aforementioned femcees ought to dare be mistaken for simply being “TikTok rappers.” “I actually received bars, you realize I do not actually make TikTok music. But generally, or not it’s so arduous that it simply goes viral on there due to how good it’s,” GloRilla advised Refinery 29’s Unbothered final August, addressing the strain to create music particularly for viral enchantment. “Then even with ‘Tomorrow [2]’ I might have by no means thought that it could be a tune on TikTok that individuals are going loopy about.”
The craze and enchantment of TikTok’s superstar-enabling methods is the primary motive up-and-coming, and even established artists, proceed to flock to the platform — despite its algorithm and For You web page developments that generally restrict artistry. However, so far as feminine rap is anxious, the style continues to thrive on the platform, on condition that it helps these rappers discover new methods to remain linked to their followers.
Still, do not sleep on their expertise — these artists are steadfast in proving the capabilities of ladies in rap past what might be condensed in a TikTok video.