Business + Marketing Tips found in Kanye West Lyrics

While America doesn’t really have a royal family, the Kardashian-West clan comes pretty damn close to it in the media’s eyes. While these pop culture icons send off major female empowerment vibes, Kanye West has no problem keeping the spotlight on him with his own creative flair. Since it takes a major amount of genius to stay on top of this ladder of fame, we decided to take a look into Kanye’s scriptures (or lyrics, same difference) to see what we can learn from him. We suggest listening to your favourite ‘Ye song while reading this blog!

Right now I need you to mute all the monologue – Celebration (2005)

Let me not say too much or do too much/Cause if I'm up way too much, I'm out of touch – Saint Pablo (2016)

To put it plainly, these are very gentle ways of telling you to STFU. We think that this is marketing gold because a hundred percent of the time, it’s not all about you. Instead of a monologue, everything we do in PR and marketing requires us to engage in a dialogue instead of a monologue, but it’s so easy to forget about that because we always want to add our own little twist to this. While spicing things up your way is great, it’s equally important to consider what your actual goal is, to accomplish that, we must think holistically. With this being said, it’s high time that we stop, humble ourselves, actively listen to what our clients are saying, observe what our competition is doing, and understand what our target audience is doing in order to find that nugget of value that everyone seeks.

'cause everything I'm not, made me everything I am – Everything I am (2007)

It’s also important to remember that no matter where you are in life, one of the few constants in life is that there will always be some sort of buzz about you coming from the strangest places. In this song, Yeezy tells us he can’t excel in so many different things like other pop legends have (think Beyonce, Queen Latifah, will.I.am), but since he’s not any of them, it creates an opportunity for him to completely kill it as Kanye West. When he’s able to be him at his fullest, unlike anyone else, he’s then able to attract the right audience and if there’s something people like about brands, it’s authenticity. You can phrase this a million different ways and the advice would still be as sound as ever: forget the noise, and just do you.

Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it – POWER (2010)

It’s time to start getting used to the criticism you receive. You can really interpret this in two ways: ignore all the hateful feedback that you’re receiving and continue carving your own path, or take in what they’re saying and find the sweetness in it (as in, their hate can give you free advice). Of course, it’s a ‘pick your battles’ kind of situation, but this line resonates because it reminds us that marketing is all about perception. When you’re delivering a message, it’s so easy for your stuff to get twisted; however, you can always turn negatives into positives with the way you view things.

Memories don't live like people do/They always 'member you/Whether things are good or bad  – Send it Up (2013)

If content were the memories, your brand would be the person. Yeah, you might post something super rad which goes viral for like seven hours, but what most people end up remembering is your brand and not the actual post. Your overall brand will always outlive whatever content you produce. With this being said, careful curation of your brand image needs to happen with every post you make, because these cumulatively develop the public’s reception and positioning of your company! Consider your tone, visuals, and overall content and understand how the audience you’re appealing to will receive it. For instance, you would probably use simple colours and plain text to appeal to an older audience, whereas using high-contrast colour palettes and a slanged-up dialect would help you drive sales from a, particularly young market. Just remember, whatever you do, people will remember you even if you think no one cares.

What are some Kanye West lyrics you hold near and dear to, and what can we learn from them? We’d love to know!