Self-promotion lessons from Lupe's "Superstar"
Lupe Fiasco's "Superstar" is currently #21 on the Billboard hot 100 - and may go higher still. It's a pretty hot song, but unlike much of hip hop today actually has some meaning.
1) Self promotion is about being there
Lupe sings about being in line for 5 whole days. He's not getting along with security, however, because all of the tickets appear to have been sold out. This happens to everyone - you try as hard as you can, yet in the end, whatever it is you wanted isn't there anymore.
But you'll never succeed without trying.
2) To get noticed...
you need to, as Lupe says, improve on the design [...] or do something new. There are hundreds of thousands of products deluging the consumer every single day. Whatever it is about you, it had better be improving on something - or better yet, be something entirely new.
3) Success can be sudden and overwhelming
Suddenly, Lupe goes from waiting in line to being a star. He's getting crazy good reviews, and everyone is clapping. That's what happens when you stay at what you're doing. Success is tantalizingly close at all moments.
4) Get on the guest list!
Lupe tries to get into an event, only to find that he is not on the guest list. Another more famous person is let in, along with a sexy lady. His night ends up ruined.
Always get an invite. If you can speak somewhere, you'll expose yourself to hundreds of new people. Always be pushing yourself to new events and to meet new people.
5) Have no fear
This is the most repeated element of the song, and the most important. You need to dream so big that it's scary, and the only way to make that dream happen is have no fear. Well, no. It's okay to feel fear. But you can never let that fear stop you from doing something.
6) Say what you are
The chorus keeps challenging Lupe: If you are what you say you are...
Well make sure that you - yourself - are what you say you are! Don't ever mislead someone, but make sure that you can express what it is about you that shines most.