There are a lot of social media geeks, few listen to hip-hop.

A great artist doesn’t have fans, but brand evangelists. In “Direct Message From @JayElectronica: A Fan Engagement Case Study,” I explored digital brand engagement from the perspective of the fans. The above figure is a social media value chain model as executed by the artist. [Hi-Res]
Research in the economic impact of social media and direct-to-fan marketing is limited but artists like Lupe Fiasco, Nicki Minaj and Jay Electronica prove that strategic implementation of this marketing innovation will yield results. At a time where the record industry is in a severe decline, new and effective strategy is crucial to its turnaround.

Hell hath no fury like a follower scorned. After a flurry of anti-Bush tweets from Chicago bred emcee, Lupe Fiasco, fan Robert Nalette (@detroitrobbie) unfollowed him.

In response, Lupe Fiasco retweeted the announcement and soon after, the post was nowhere to be found. Nalette deleted it.

Fiasco didn’t have to respond to Nalette’s attack, he knew several of his 250k+ followers would. And they did. Nalette was the recipient of over 100 opposing mentions that ranged from polite disagreements to racial insults. The twitter bullying presumably became too much for Nalette and he activated the private setting on his account.