Rollout Roundup: The Best Marketing Rollouts of This Week's Releases (with a twist)
An artist with creativity will beat an artist with a budget. Every single time. At least in my book, and that’s what we get into this week on Rollout Roundup, where independent artists top the list.
3. Lil Tjay - Destined 2 Win
A truly evolved marketing rollout for a truly evolved project. If this newsletter was one that takes into account the quality of the music and not just the rollout, this very well might be the album of the week.
Strong points: The features fit perfectly, and the versatility was there without compromising his signature style. The pre-release documentary was very interesting and a great way to give us some more content. All singles leading up to the project had the hype on 10, especially the rollout of Calling My Phone, which I could write a whole article about in its entirety.
Weak points: I feel like a broken record: WHERE IS THE PRESS SHOOT?! I want visuals and I want them now! I would love to see Tjay paired with a really good creative director, I know he can give us more than the typical.
2 . AG Club - Fuck Your Expectations PT. 1
Who wouldn’t be excited?! Rap boy bands are back and something tells me they are the future.
Strong points: A TWO PART PROJECT?! LETS MF GO! I always love a marketing twist, and this was a good one. As always, AG Club killed it with visuals. I’m interested to see if Part 2 of the project has a similar color scheme, or if they take it in a different direction completely.
Weak points: I want MORE visuals from them, a video maybe?! Would also be cool to see them active on Twitter. But these weak points are reflective of a group so unique and elusive that all you want from them is MORE of them. Overall, a great sign. I have high hopes for AG Club.
1. BIGBABYGUCCI - Assume the Worst
This is such an interesting case, because BBG is completely independent, running his own indie label Better Temperatures out of Los Angeles, but managed to create a rollout that competes with (and in some cases - far tops) that of major label artists. I held this release to the same standard of the others on this list, all who have budget powerhouses behind them, and Gucci still came out on top. Let’s get into it.
Strong points: You already know the first thing I look for - VISUALS! And BBG delivered. The visual for “Unhealthy” was enticing, and he used the still imagery from the video for his album promotion. His use of a discord group showed that he’s way ahead of competing major label rollouts, and no doubt a big reason for that is because independent artists don’t have to go through all that red tape to try something new and risky. He followed every step with merch drops and even a unique signed CD element. But perhaps the most impressive part of this rollout was his consistent, interesting, and engaging use of social media.
Weak points: Honestly, I don’t know. I almost said features, but I liked the solo-style of the project.
RUNNER UP: Brockhampton - COUNT ON ME
Nobody in this world delivers mystique, hype, and visuals quite like Brockhampton.
Even though it was just a single release, I had to include them for this reason. Brockhampton loves flirting with retirement - will these two projects really be their last, as Kevin’s Twitter stated? Either way, they’ve got us hooked on every word. Great job Brockhampton.