How Hip-Hop Royalty Found a New Home on Instagram Live - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/arts/music/hip-hop-instagram-coronavirus.html
Unsurprisingly, hip-hop has led the way. Over the past six weeks, no subset of popular culture has evolved more rapidly, or radically. Almost all of these innovations have happened within Instagram, particularly on its Live feature (which activates a livestream with one touch), which in short order has become the definitive medium of quarantine — views on the platform increased 70 percent between February and March, according to Instagram. Every night now offers a panoply of options: Rappers, producers, D.J.s and entrepreneurs have turned that space into a nightclub, a telethon, a variety show, a history lesson, a talent show and much more.
D-Nice’s Saturday night breakthrough was a philosophical advancement in the understanding of how people might gather without leaving home. It was also proof of concept. The following week, two staples of the quarantine era launched: Verzuz, a series in which hip-hop and R&B titans battle hit-for-hit, which was christened with a face-off between its founders, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland; and the rapper-singer Tory Lanez’s Quarantine Radio variety show, a combination of superstar interviews, alcohol-fueled comedy and occasional too-hot-for-Instagram content. Over the following few weeks, these became appointment viewing at a moment when people were truly losing track of time. Soon, significant stand-alone events emerged, too, like Diddy’s Dance-a-Thon fund-raiser.
“Hip-hop as a genre is willing to take risks,” said Fadia Kader, Instagram’s music partnerships manager. “It’s the influencer that influences influencers.”
Social media is as potent an instrument as any keyboard or drum machine, and requires just as much study. There are rules and best practices. And the current circumstances have rewarded — with attention, followers, and perhaps down the line, new revenue streams — those who use it flexibly and fluently.
The new stars of Instagram Live were not, before the pandemic, aficionados of the medium. Previously, Timbaland, 48, had approached Instagram like a consumer, not a creator: “I felt like you have to stay on it, but it wasn’t like a 20- or 25-year-old where you’re just on it constantly,” he said in an interview. The ability to go live, Diddy said, “wasn’t a feature I really used a lot.”
“I see what my IG Live has become a place for — a place of solace,” he said. “I respect the audience.”
It can also be a place of discovery. Caroline Diaz, vice president of A&R at Interscope, began inviting unsigned performers into her live broadcasts, and organized a talent show for female rappers and singers.
“I was sitting at home like, How am I going to bring my talent and make value of it during these hard times for somebody else?’” she said. Over the past few weeks, she’s hosted informal contests, sending money to winners via Cash App. Hopefuls have received encouragement from well-known rappers like Meek Mill and DaBaby.
Une nouvelle fois, les usages forment les produits. Détournement, braconnage...
Typically Instagram Live streams last an hour, and then have to be restarted, which is an inconvenience for D.J.s. (The Verzuz battles seem to have avoided this fate.) “IG Live wasn’t built for what we’re using it for,” D-Nice said.
