Facebook US Hip-Hop Content Opportunity Analysis™ 2019-2022

Content Opportunity Methodology

1. Measure & Categorize. Sample a large number of social posts to find ones that are significantly outperforming the average.
2. Identify Top Themes. Identify the themes that are resonating most with the audience by sorting the themes by their aggregated performance metrics.
3. Identify a Benchmark. Identify content themes that are performing above and under an average benchmark for the industry based on views & engagements.
4. Identify Opportunities. Look at the data and find the content themes that are resonating with the audience based on a set of top creators.
5. Repeat For Each Platform. Repeat the analysis for every platform that matters to your brand and audience to find platform-specific opportunities.

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Facebook Content Bucket Definitions

• Rap Battles: This viral format is based on the show Wild ‘N Out which features a variety of rap battles between recurring show hosts and surprise hip-hop guests. ‍
• Responding to Comments: A series where artists are invited to read and respond to comments made about them from specific performances or in general online.‍
• Kids Grill: A series similar to Arts & Raps except where rappers are invited into a classroom full of children and they must answer their questions.‍
• Skit Rapping: Hip-hop content creators build scenarios for themselves to perform in, such as being an Uber driver and freestyling for riders.‍
• Hip-Hop & Fashion: A group of different series that explore the connection between hip-hop and fashion as both industries are heavily influenced by one another.‍
• #Throwback: Old videos sharing throwbacks of the classic moments that have paved the way for hip-hop today.‍
• Interviews: This format features a variety of unique ways that rappers engage with interviewers to share more about themselves with the audience. In addition to radio interviews, other series include Gangsta Rap International, The Couples Quiz, Ink Explained and the Questionnaire of Life.‍
• Word Prompt Freestyles: A series where artists conduct freestyles only with randomly generated words to showcase their true talent.‍
• Radio Freestyle: A series of rappers freestyling and performing on radio shows live.‍
• Revealing Meaning: A video format that explores artists breaking down the meaning behind their lyrics and the stories that built them up.‍
• Freshman Cypher: A format that introduces up and coming talent in a freestyle or performance with two or more rappers.‍
• Acoustic Rap: Videos that allow rappers to showcase more organic content by performing without technology and focusing on live instruments as their background music.‍
• Music & Food: Artists exploring food together while discussing the world of music.‍
• The Formula: Video formats that deconstruct how different songs and content were made. 

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Content buckets that had the highest average views & engagement in the USA hip-hop space include:

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Good performing content opportunities for the USA hip-hop audience on Facebook include:

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Substandard performing content opportunities for the USA hip-hop audience on Facebook include:

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Low performing content opportunities for the USA hip-hop audience on Facebook include:

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Viral Callout:

1. Rap Battles

Similar to on YouTube, Rap Battles are a viral segment with an average of 22M views and engagements due to Wild ‘N Out’s success. This video has led to higher averages in the segment with 72M views. 

Tactics to Implement:

• Viewer Intention & Attention: With the rise of interest in platforms like TikTok & Instagram Reels, viewer attention is going down. It’s not surprising that the top video is a compilation of best moments. When on Facebook, the viewer intention may not be as much on watching long form videos as the intention a viewer has when loading up YouTube. Compilations set expectations and allow viewers to watch a series of short clips without going anywhere.  
• Untraditional Creativity: Wild ‘N Out’s successful rap battles are entirely untraditional as they combine various segments of a show into a mixture of diss-showdowns and rhyming off each other. While untraditional, it still forces guests to tap into their lyricism and creativity to provide the best entertainment for the show. 

Content Opportunities: Another Wild ‘N Out segment that has seen high views on Facebook includes Hood Jeopardy (15M views). While untraditional to rap battles, it depends on one’s artistic creativity. A way to spin this is to think about existing formats that may appeal to different demographics and find a way to relate it to your audience in a unique & entertaining way.

*The following viral videos were omitted from the data set to avoid any skewing.

72M  Views

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Content Opportunities:

1. Responding to Comments

While predominantly popularized by Noisey’s “The People vs.,” this video format invites artists to read mean comments about themselves on the internet and respond. 

Tactics to Implement:

• Compilations: Similar to the Rap Battle segment, the second most viewed video in this category is a compilation of best moments from previous series. Compilations are successful because they set expectations for viewers and give excerpts to people who don’t want to watch full interviews.
• Format: These videos are about 5 minutes in length. They always feature subtitles for the viewer to easily follow along and capitalize on moments where artists are reading negative comments to capture their emotions.

Content Opportunities: XXL created a series where their freshman respond to mean comments about their cyphers. This could be an opportunity to leverage comments from previous content about artists hosted by Red Bull or other partners.

31M  Views

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26M  Views

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2. Kids Grill

Kids Grill is a format by Noisey that invites artists to a classroom with primary school students, where they are asked a series of questions and must respond in a way that is appropriate and meaningful for the children.

Tactics to Implement:

• Uncomfortable: Putting artists in uncomfortable or awkward situations is a theme across top performing content such as responding to mean comments or having to breakdown the lyrics from a song. This format leverages how artists communicate with an unexpected audience of children. 
• Length: These videos are about 5 minutes and length and cut between the artist and the children to show the facial expressions and interests of both parties. 

Content Opportunities: There is an opportunity to incorporate a style similar to this with contrasting demographics (adult content like rap with a PG audience) to influence prompts for freestyles or artistic challenges for artists.

13M  Views

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2.1M Views

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3. Skit Rapping

Skit Rapping incorporates content creators interests’ to build a series of scenarios where they can freestyle or perform for unexpecting audiences such as driving an Uber or delivering a DoorDash order.

Tactics to Implement:

• Storytelling: Videos cut straight into the driver picking up a rider. Some videos feature the creator asking the rider if they can freestyle for them while others cut straight into the video and tell a story through captions on the screen. 
• Reactions: This content is successful mostly because of the reactions of the riders, the top viewed video uses the caption “Uber Driver Makes Woman Cry Over Rap”. 

Content Opportunities: While this content category is played out and sometimes coming off as scripted, it speaks to an opportunity for more content scenarios, similar to the success of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke. A new content format could focus on a relatively mundane location that could be transformed for performances & challenges.

11M Views

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10M Views