This week rapper Meek Mill accused singer-rapper Drake of having other people write his rhymes. Not one to take twitter beef lying down, Drake took it to the studio to record his comeback. He released not one, but two response tracks aimed at Meek, and the streets were shouting his name. Some may think a simple rap beef, pr stunt or not, is silly and a waste of precious time and twitter hashtags. But we can actually learn a few things about business from all the shots fired.
1. Focus on Your Strengths
Meek Mill is known for his hard-hitting club bangers. What he’s not known for is his wordplay. Choosing to challenge Drake in this area was a bad move. Drake is a calculated, cerebral wordsmith known to make songs that make you bop in the club but also deeply reflect on life, love and relationships. While Meek worked to scramble his emotional feelings about Drake and the situation into lyrics that would cut deep, Drake quickly churned out two songs because that’s what he does best – it’s his trademark. He then coordinated having champagne bottles sent to radio personality Charlamagne (as he rapped about in the #backtoback diss track) and planned relevant artwork (The Toronto Blue Jays beating the Phillies back to back) for the track’s cover photo.
If you’re going to challenge a competitor in the marketplace, don’t attack them without knowing what you’re getting into. Remember, your competitor is thinking just as strategically, if not more than you. Take an assessment of your key strengths and their key weaknesses (SWOT analysis anyone?) and make sure you’re not trying to compete with them in an area in which they are stronger than you, as in Meek’s case.
2. Have a Bias For Action
While Meek was gathering the perfect production team to drop a hard-hitting diss track, Drake just did it. Fans were eagerly awaiting Meek’s comeback, thinking for sure he would release something immediately after Drake’s first track hit the airwaves, but instead we got silence. Where was Meek? Why was he waiting so long? Did he think this was building anticipation? No, all it did was make us speculate about why he was taking so long to release the track, and the speculations weren’t good. Meek came off as scared, unprepared, and inferior.
We all know those businesses that outline grand plans to disrupt the market and outpace their competitors. Then there are those businesses that just do it. Did Uber send out tweets to the NYC Taxi & Limousine commission saying it’s going to steal their market share and make their business model virtually irrelevant? No, Uber just acted on it. Similarly, business leaders, don’t let the desire to have the “perfect” product or market launch keep you from taking action. While you are doing test after test to put the finishing touches on your product, you’re opening the door for your competitor to come out with a lower quality product that consumers will love. After all, consumers just expect you to solve a problem, not be perfect. In Meek’s case, consumers wanted that response track and they wanted it fast.
3. If you’re going to attack your enemy, finish him completely
This one is inspired by the 48 laws of power. As the law states, “More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge.” Not to get gory here but you get the picture. Meek severely underestimated what it would take to crush Drake’s reputation. A few embarrassing and unverified allegations about not writing his own raps aren’t enough to reduce a man whose albums consistently go straight to number one on the charts. If you’re going to go after the hottest singer-rapper in the game, you have to come harder than that. Meek and business leaders alike, here’s what you need to do:
- Prepare: Know every detail about your competitor. Meek thought he had this covered but he forget to take the next step:
- Plan: Have a firm strategy which accounts for all possible outcomes. If Meek Mill had truly prepared and thought through his attack, he would already have had the diss tracks recorded and ready to go.
- Proof: Have a sound, diverse and objective team do a first pass of anything before you release it to the public. If Meek was surrounded by an objective team, and not just yes men, they would have told him that his late attempt at challenging Drake was sub par and underwhelming.
Meek Mill learned a tough lesson in business strategy this week – don’t ever underestimate what it will take to unseat your top competitor. You never want to initiate the challenge with your competitor and have them come out on top. Meek thought he would dethrone Drake but instead people who weren’t even Drake fans are now recognizing and praising him for his talent! Fail, Meek. You have to prepare, plan and ensure foolproof execution. There’s no room for error or delay. As Omar from The Wire once put it, “You come at the king, you best not miss.”
Yessss! Love this.
good read.
Meek Mill made himself look like a hip-hop scrub. The culture may never let him back in the game properly ever again. He kind of ex-communicated himself, exiled himself even… he has to have a special underground, cult following to keep his career alive, i feel like. If anyone knows anything, our culture detests corny in congruence with being the weakest link… and what Meek Mill portrayed for the world to see, was a boy.
He may never get a chance to get a serious feature again… it was almost hard to watch a man ruin his own career because we can clearly see he simply doesn’t know any better.
It’s beautiful to watch the culture shift, grow and change.
This is such an awesome post – all relevant points. People don’t realize how much the music industry mimics the business world. It’s real! Great synopsis.