How to Hack Pop Culture for That Viral Moment

How to Hack Pop Culture for That Viral Moment – The Curtis Roach Case

We’re taking a look at what happens when Hip Hop artist Curtis Roach is “Bored In the House” and how tapping into trends can put you on the map.

Urska Jaksa

Jul 16, 2020

In the beginning of March, when lockdown was THE thing most people talked about, Curtis Roach posted a TikTok Video, “Bored In the House”. The relatable video went viral with millions of people lip-syncing to it. Granted, there were bigger fish to fry at that moment, but for the regular new age “heroes” who just had to stay at home to help fight the global pandemic, tackling boredom with entertainment hit the spot.

Think about pop culture as a system composed of stories. At this very moment, some of the stories are trending and if you detect the buzz, you can tap into trends strategically.

Here’s what we can learn from the case of Curtis Roach.

➡️ Lesson 1: Hack the popular moments to catch the spotlight

We’re talking about a marketing strategy with the goal of turning popular moments into spotlight opportunities.

The essence of it: Watch what people are talking about, follow trending topics on social media, and be attentive of current news, events, and trending figures, because you can leverage trends by joining the conversation. If you’re already immersed into the situation, you don’t need to go far (like Curtis, who indeed stayed in the house where he was bored).

#1: Make your message (on whichever platform or form it may be) relevant.

Creativity counts – think about inserting your message in a way that hasn’t been done before. Being a copycat won’t make you stand out – make it natural and in line with the picture of yourself that you want to send into the world. Be on-brand, so to speak.

#2: Include pieces that are easy to remember and pick up.

We already touched on this subject in a feature on Cardi B, who knows that viral catchphrases make hit tracks. And the latest proof is her rant about the coronavirus health and safety situation, which got edited by DJ Snake into this gem. Yes, this video alone has been watched over 11M times. Give it a listen now and let us know tomorrow how many times it has popped up in your head.

#3: Adjust the tone to the situation.

It can be funny, entertaining, a learning moment, etc. – just make sure it’s not tone-deaf.

Viral catchphrases make hit tracks.

How this helped Curtis Roach, you ask? Tyga was one of those who noticed his viral video, and a collab, posted to YouTube in the end of March, followed. To date, the versions on different channels have over 20M combined views.

Curtis' TikTok video got its follow-up and the follow-up caught fire as well. There's a high chance of a word "bored" and dance moves inspiration.

Hint: Don’t forget to add relevant hashtags to your content, so you can catch the wave of trending topics. Here you can find some tips on how to navigate Instagram, including the use of hashtags.

➡️ Lesson 2: Take it to multiple channels

Curtis also posted the initial video to Instagram and YouTube. Even though the video was initially a hit on TikTok, the attention he got spilled over to other social media and streaming channels.

See the graph of his Career Performance below, and take note of how the beforementioned collab starts the upward trend. The graph shows the Viberate popularity points, which combine data from social and streaming channels in one metric, through time.

Can five minutes of fame build a household name?

There are hundreds of cases that prove going viral doesn't guarantee long-run success. Sometimes a little bit of luck helps, but having your music to back it up is a must. Releasing good content to increase the momentum is crucial to proving you're not a one hit wonder.

Being consistent and practising this very strategy of chiming in when the moment is right always helps.

We dived into the case above with Viberate's music analytics. You can try them out yourself in a 30-day free trial. There's loads of features you can work with – stay on track with all your stats and trends in the music industry, scour the Charts for information exactly like above and make smarter decisions with data-based insights.

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Cover photo: Curtis Roach (official page)

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