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🔌 Your brand is what people say it is.

🔌 Your brand is what people say it is.

See, Drake has a problem...👀

Shaunda Head
November 30, 2024

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👋🏾 Friends! Let’s talk about Drake + his brand…Cool?

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What’s going on with Drake’s brand? 🤔
Tabitha Brown breaks down her exact manifestation strategy 🔥
Affirmations from Kendrick Lamar 🎵

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📣 THE MANIFESTO 📣

These are the House Rules! Get into it.
And when you’re ready…memorize it so you know its real!

I AM A STRAIGHT UP ORIGINAL™.

I am unapologetic in my beliefs and obedient to my gifts.

I do everything with intention because I am passionate about my assignment.

I cannot stand cookie cutter…I value MY story.

And I do not ask permission.

I control my own narrative.

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🤔 ON BRAND…OR NAH? 🤔

Fun fact : Your brand is what people say it is.

What they feel, how they experience you, their perception of you.

Your brand isn’t something you actually build. It’s an energy that emits from you and your work that folks pick up on.

You gain control over your “brand” by creating an intentional brand platform with super specific messaging.

What you’re here to say.

The story you’re here to tell.

The impact you’re here to make.

Once you put that into the world, the world gets to say what it means to them.

How it makes them feel…the results it brings…

It’s all up to your audience. And there’s nothing you can do about it.

You lay the foundation and let your work do its job.

(This is exactly why your messaging is so important in your branding…and not your logo or website. To control your own narrative, you have to be intentional about your messaging.)

This is also why Drake really does have a problem — a brand problem.

If your brand is what your audience thinks of you, then we gotta ask, what has his audience been thinking of him this year?

Drake first came on the scene in 2006, and by 2009, his first single, “Best I Ever Had”, dropped from his So Far Gone mixtape.

This I know because I was a Drake FAN. All caps!!

Yes, I knew him from Degrassi. I watched when MTV visited his Canadian home with his mom and grandma, and I even put all my friend groups on when his mixtape came out.

So, yeah. I’ve watched Drake change and morph over the years, like many of you, I’m sure. The millennials who came of age with him have evolved — the question is, has he?

There’s talk that the timing of his two pre-action discovery petitions (against Universal Music Group) have more to do with his negotiations for a new contract or possibly even getting out of his deal, than it has to do with Kendrick.

While all of this may be true, what his audience thinks about all this happens to be the most important, because Drake’s brand has taken a huge hit this year.

In fact, I’d argue that the hit his brand took is exactly why he needs to make extra moves to ensure his contract negotiations succeed. He has to force UMG’s hand. That’s the only option left.

Not because he wants to set an example and take on the big dawgs, but because it’s likely his brand ain’t worth the $400M they gave him anymore, let alone the extra $200M he’s allegedly requesting.

Big brands have taken a step back from him

Fans aren’t reacting to his music the way they should.

And it just so happens to be time for him to ask for even more money.

I’m sure this kinda stuff is super interesting to the lawyers and music folks.

Me? All I can think about is the deep rabbit hole Drake is in when it comes to his brand. How exactly is he gonna get out of this?

Larger brands may not be seeking partnerships with him if they think his brand is no longer “safe”.

Loyal fans have been jumping off the bandwagon all year.

As much as I’m sure he’d like to pull himself back up to the top, the simple fact of the matter is it’s up to his fans…not him.

So how can he help change the perception of his brand?

After the rap beef concluded earlier this summer, Drake released 100GB of free content, seemingly to help change the concept around his image…to remind us of who he was before the fame…when he was anxious to receive a feature verse on his project, or when he sat in the studio, quietly talking his mom through his album, trying to explain “Too Good”, the song from Views that he wrote about Serena Williams.

Turns out, the dump of behind-the-scenes footage and (some say) subpar tracks didn’t do much in the way of public discourse of Drake’s brand. His brand awareness wasn’t working, so he seemed to step back and take a break from the public eye.

(Minus a passive aggressive IG story every now and again.)

Then he turns around and announces his intent to sue UMG in connection to Kendrick’s hit song, “Not Like Us”.

Now, I can’t speak to the legal ramifications, but you tell me — can a rapper sue over a song that won a rap beef and still keep his own rap brand intact 🤔

Actually, that’s rhetorical. The answer is no.

Could he have gotten himself out of this hole by riding out the rest of the year, doing some introspection and then bringing Heartbreak Drake back? Possibly. Who knows.

My thoughts? HIs GOATed rap career is over. No one has sued themselves out of a rap beef.

Ever.

It’s the principle, and it gives sore loser vibes.

It’s also not necessary if you just win the battle.

No one wants to be the first to step out of their rap persona and into a real life Karen. Except, apparently, Drake.

The very person who’s brand has proclaimed to have “mob ties” 🤷🏾‍♀️

At the end of the day, the day gotta end. (shout out Big Glo!)

He may get the money he’s seeking from a settlement with UMG and you know what? Good for him.

Because 1 - they weren’t gonna give him the raise he was asking for after taking a hit to the brand like that, and 2 - just the mention of suing for anything related to said beef has literally crashed his name out here in these streets.

So, get your money, Aubrey. It’s gonna take a while before we see the Drake brand the way we used to, if ever. Meanwhile, sales of “Not Like Us” have increased by 440% and streams have gone up by 20% since news of the petitions went public less than a week ago.

Drake really does have a problem, y’all, and it looks like everything he’s doing is only making it worse.

What do you think? Are you a Drake fan? How’s his brand looking to you right now? What could he do to win you back?? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know!

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🔥 YOU’VE GOTTA SEE THIS 🔥

A clip that made the rounds this week that you must take with you on your journey.

Tab is the walking epitome of “write the vision and make it plain”.
Dream outrageous dreams + believe. That’s it.

Press play ▶️

iamscottevans
View more on Instagram

TLDR : Habakkuk 2:2

🎵 ISSA VIBE 🎵

If you’re gonna be coming up with dope ass ideas and strategies, you’re gonna need some dope ass music to inspire you! Here’s a tune that I’ve got on replay this week.

I can never pass up a good affirmation track, so I’m shouting this one out!

Remember, “you deserve it all”.

Press Play👇🏾

man at the garden

Kendrick Lamar · GNX · Song · 2024