The West coast wordsmith knows the power of the pen, be it on paper, on wax or social media. In a conversation with XXL, he talked about how media engagement helps artists to be better at what they do.
The XXL long read on how new forms of online activities shape hip hop paid special attention to Crook, both as an expert and an example:
Hip-hop veteran Kxng Crooked has always been quick to leverage technology as a means to feed his supporters. In 2007, he created his Hip-Hop Weekly series, in which he dropped a new track over a classic instrumental every seven days via an online forum. He’d take beat requests and even shout out the names of fans who had reached out through MySpace. Today, Crooked consistently engages his 213,300 followers on Twitter, outlines album plans on Instagram and is enthusiastically diving into deep rap debates with Just Blaze, Kurtis Blow and whoever else pops in on the Clubhouse audio app. Crooked says he’s encouraging other legends to follow suit.
“I just tell them, ‘Listen, man, you can’t be going a whole week without posting,’” Kxng Crooked explains. “Some go a whole month with one post. The older mentality of selling records and promoting… That way is gone. You could still do it if you want to… But you’re not gonna see the results that you really want.”
Fostering community helps artists, too. “Technology has made it to where we can build communities online and engage and form lasting relationships with people who support you,” Crooked adds. “That’s a very important tool for rappers… It brings us directly to the people who support us and there’s nothing better than that… You learn about what they feel about your music, how they digest your music, you learn what they’re not feeling… It gives us a great advantage.
The Slaughterhouse MC indeed has a noticeable online presence, maintaining a steady following and keeping in touch with his audience online.
Read the full article How Social Media and New Platforms Continue to Shape Hip-Hop on the XXL website.
