Kanye West's personal PR

(Picture of Kanye West from Vh1 Storyteller's: http://www.vh1.com/)


Kanye West's personal blog: http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/

I am an avid music lover...one of my favorite types of music is hip hop. Within the hip hop community, Kanye West, a mult-million album selling rapper from Chicago, Ill. ranks in my top five favorite rappers. West is a genius when it comes to music...and he's an even bigger genius when it comes to his own personal PR. West has taken control of his own publicity by eliminating the filtering that the media does by creating his own media outlet better known as his blog. On his personal blog, West discusses all different types of issues ranging from his favorite architecture in London to why he does some of the outrageous things that he does. Whenever there is a rumor about West, he has the capability of going directly to his target audience, his fans and others that care enough to go to his site, and addressing the rumors head on. Many other artists in the hip hop world have jumped on the social media bandwagon and gotten their own blog where they post daily or weekly podcast or videos, but West was one of the first.

Another part of West's attempt to communicate with his audience in an effort to help his self image was to perform on Vh1's Storytellers, where he performed and in between each song, gave a description of what the song was about as well as anything else that was on his mind. Kanye got an hour and a half to sing, rap and say almost whatever he liked, and he is one of the few smart musicians that have taken advantage of this Vh1 opportunity. Besides West appearing on Vh1’s Storyteller’s, he promoted his appearance on Vh1 on his blog.

Another smart aspect to Kanye’s personal PR is the availability to make one click on a link on his personal blog that will allow you to buy any of his albums online. West is taking full advantage of all his social media resources and that, along with his gift in music, is the reason that he is so famous and successful.

I think that Kanye West is an excellent example of framing his own image through all outlets of media whether it be social media (on his blog) or on national television or radio. West even posts his own press releases about his upcoming albums, concerts, as well as posts related to how his personal life and image is displayed in the mass media. West doesn't have to pay thousands of dollars to myspace or MTV.com to promote his latest album or most recent controversy; he can just post about it on his website (which receives hundreds of thousands of hits each day).

If PR students can learn anything about PR, social media, or framing, they can learn it from Kanye West! West’s message comes directly from him and goes directly to his target audience, eliminating any filtering or spin! Kanye seems to understand the importance of conducting his own PR through social media!

-- Samantha Savory