DaBaby Sheds Light on the Reality of Social Media for Musicians

Despite being the model of modern musical success, North Carolinian rapper DaBaby fears that leaving social media would be detrimental to his career, however much he may want to leave.

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Guest post by James Shotwell of Haulix

DaBaby is one of the biggest artists in the world right now, and even he doesn’t feel comfortable leaving social media. Why? It’s just too lucrative.

Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, otherwise known as DaBaby, has reached the peak of commercial success in the modern age. After a string of big singles in 2019, the North Carolina rapper has appeared on virtually every major television show and in the pages of every influential entertainment publication. He’s gone platinum, gold, and platinum again, not to mention having standout guest appearances on some of last year’s biggest songs. Your mom probably knows who DaBaby is by now, and there’s a decent chance your grandmother does as well.

But even now, with hit songs at radio and sold-out shows all over the map, DaBaby feels he is unable to leave social media. The viral success of his songs and their often outrageous videos certainly play a crucial role in his rising profile, but one would think he could leave and retain his prominence in the public eye. After all, if not him, then who?

Speaking to Fans over Twitter this week, DaBaby posted about his concerns with social media. “If social media wasn’t such a lucrative tool in the business I’m in I wouldn’t even be on it,” he wrote. “Lost souls influenced by lost souls. I hate to see it. I encourage people to have the courage to find themselves without the false sense of security they search for on the internet.”

He followed his initial post with another, adding “I always preferred to say less because social media ain’t a place for the truth. But lately, I been feeling like it’s my calling to say more. ion know how I wanna play it though, I respect my mind too much to allow myself to be identified as one of [these] internet mfs.”

We wrote earlier this week that social media often costs artists more than it produces. Fans want to hear from their favorite artists, and artists want their fans to feel heard. There is a belief in an unspoken agreement between fans and any social media presence in music that states, “if you engage with me online, then I will continue to support your career.”

That belief can be dangerous. Hip-hop is specifically at risk of diminishing returns due to the ability for artists to quickly record and release new music. Generating a high volume of output will help to raise any performer’s profile, but you earn longevity through quality, not quantity. Many young artists are falling victim to the ease of creation instead of taking time to craft great songs. These artists are training their fans to see music as a commodity to be consumed and almost immediately forgotten, which indirectly makes their careers similarly disposable.

But the question remains: What would DaBaby lose by leaving social media? What would any of us lose, really? Would our friends stop talking to us? Would our fans stop listening to our music? Would we slip through the cracks of culture and descend into obscurity because no one will know we exist or are continuing to create?

It doesn’t make sense from a business standpoint for any artist wishing to remain relevant to disappear from the internet altogether. However, you can take steps to limit how much time and energy you’re spending on social media. Artists that post less often receive better engagement on their content, in part because every piece of content they choose to share becomes an event.

Consider movie marketing as an example. The first trailer for a new Star Wars film is guaranteed to generate millions of engagements in its first day of release, as well as several million more in the days that follow. Disney, the company that owns the rights to Star Wars, will often wait months before revealing any additional footage or imagery from the upcoming film. Why? They know that fans are hungry for content, but they don’t want them to get so familiar with the new movie that they begin to lose interest. They want every new reveal to be an event, and the anticipation of those events is what keeps the film a focal point of pop culture conversations for months at a time.

So maybe DaBaby cannot quit social media, but he (and you) can step back. Your fans want more music, more videos, and more shows. They appreciate the tweets and Instagram posts, but that is not why they follow you. Fans want the thing you do, which is making music. Don’t be afraid to set boundaries that allow you to create more efficiently.