A niche is defined as a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.
It’s that area where interest meets expertise, and it takes a while to find one that is just small enough to occupy, and large enough for an audience to care about.
Carving out a niche is hard to do.
In Hip-hop, there are tons of niches that are generally referred to as “sub-genres.“
There’s Gangsta Rap, Conscious, Boom Bap, and possibly the most commonly known: Coke Rap.
There’s no one who occupies that particular niche better than Pusha T. As 1/2 of the Clipse, they are effectively known as the pioneers of Coke Rap. I mean, we all grew up making the “Grinding” beat on the lunchroom table, right? Right.
For brands, Pusha T presents an interesting case study. Not just because he wrote the “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle for McDonald’s (if you know, you know), but because finding the right niche can be the difference between creating a highly engaged community or floundering in a sea of sameness.
That said, today’s post is about how brands can learn to carve a niche using Pusha T. Let’s get it!
I. Keep A Consistent Positioning
The comment above holds true not only because of Pusha’s skill as an emcee, but also because of the consistency of his brand positioning.
Over time, most artists go through a transformation.
The hustler becomes the businessman, the rookie becomes the vet and so on. Those changes come with inherent risks, and the potential to fall off.
But Pusha absconds all of those by simply remaining the same. The Coke rapper became… well, a better Coke rapper.
When you look at Pusha T’s catalog it’s all about consistency. From the signature braids, to his flow, to his subject matter — he’s never strayed from his positioning: Pusha is the pioneer of Coke rap through and through.
No matter what phase of his career that much is abundantly clear.
In 2002, Pusha was “Grindin’”
In 2013, He had Nosestalgia (yes, nose-stalgia)
In 2022 he had “Diet Coke”
Notice the consistency is vis ID over the years — dark colors that convey a moodiness, black and white clothing, etc. The clothes may have changed but the man in them is very much the same.
No matter what era we’re talking about, Pusha gives his fans high quality rap that lets them get a realistic look into what his life before fame was like. And because the fans know what to expect from him they can drop off and come back without missing a beat.
He may never do the numbers of a mega star, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a more consistently good emcee.
So if you aren’t going to refresh your positioning as the years go by, then you have to be so consistent that a lapse in quality is unheard of from you.
II. Show Yourself To Be A Subject Matter Expert
“You would pay sixteen, I would pay eighteen
When I paid twenty-two, still was a great thing
Laid up countin’ a million, we daydream
‘Til the plug took back his half, that’s they change
Who was with you roamin’ the halls at night pacing?”Pusha T, Brambleton
Carving out a niched is damn near impossible without this one:
Being an expert in the world that you hope to contribute to is important because in many instances you’ll be the consumers first introduction that space.
Think about all of the searches you make on YouTube for tutorials. When the creator comes off as knowledgeable that begets them credibility. That credibility translates into them becoming a bastion of information for you later on.
It’s the same with music, and especially true with Pusha T.
When Push describes his world there’s no doubt that he’s an expert at what he’s portraying.
His lyrics make the lifestyle sounds detailed and as a result fans are thrust right into the passenger seat with him as he takes you on the journey of his various deals back in Virgina. So much so, that fans (jokingly?) ask for his guidance his guidance when getting into the game…
III. Develop a World For The Outsiders
Like we talked about earlier, one tenet of building a niche community is consistency. Pusha is so consistent that you know its him when you see it.
Now that consumers know to associate you with a particular niche, you have to double down by creating a world for outsiders to visit.
Think about it like this…
Your fans are evangelists — they build a community around you and tell the world how great you are. But with that, you have to pair their enthusiasm with Visual Identifiers that help outsiders understand what they’re signing up for:
Consider what Pusha T did with his recent Coachella performance.
Any other headliner would show up, do their set, collect the money, and bounce. But not Push — he flipped his set into a world within itself. At a concert filled with people who probably came to see Blink 182, he showed them exactly who he was by turning Coachella into Cokechella.
If the sign below wasn’t enough — he even had a video on repeat that showed the alleged steps to properly cook coke.
For anyone hoping to occupy a niche the same principle reigns true. You have to build something that people can commune around.
These days that could be a discord group, or a weekly live chat. The point is to give people a glimpse into the world you’re living in so that they know exactly what you’re about with the limited attention that they have to give.
IV. Ground Yourself in Purpose
In any marketing text, they’ll tell you that a brand’s purpose is its reason for being. It’s your Northstar should you ever get lost. For creators, purpose is the glue that binds them to their most die-hard fans.
For Push, his brand purpose has always been simple: To push the culture forward with high level raps and exemplary taste in fashion.
Pusha doesn’t promise anything else, and he delivers every time. Because of that, his brand has continued to grow, and he’s etched out a niche that allows him to thrive almost 3 decades after arriving on the scene.
Proof that he’s successfully lived up to his promise appears in pop culture all of the time, as evidenced by a tweet exchange he had with Elon Musk in 2022. For context, Musk tweeted that he was going to buy Coca-Cola and put the “coke” back in it.
Normally this would be a regular exchange, but because even the most unaware music head is aware of Pusha’s brand purpose this tweet went viral and picked up a ton of earned PR.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Occupying a niche can be rewarding if you’re able to carve one out.
While most competitors are changing with the ebb and flow of cultural trends, those brands and creators that have a world of their own can often create at their own pace and keep a steady flow in terms of monetization.
There are downsides for sure though.
If the market ever moves so far left that no one is checking for what you do anymore then you’ll likely have to figure out a way to pivot.
In Push’s case, the culture probably isn’t moving away from street rap or coke rap anytime soon (for better or worse). That said, I’m gonna keep listening to his most recent album “It’s Almost Dry” — another coke reference.
Brambleton, Neck & Wrist, and Let The Smokers Shine the Coupe are my favorites. What are yours?
Peace.