Renee Rapp and Other Musicians Demand Accountability from Their Teams
It requires a community to create a pop star — yet the most audacious new artists aren’t hesitant to poke fun at their own successful strategists.
Artists such as Renée Rapp, Doechii, and Role Model have achieved international fame, partly due to their behind-the-scenes professionals. In that respect, they mirror every artist before them. However, in how they openly mock their advisers and teams, often through their lyrics, they stand apart.
“Wristwatch, drip drop, labels want the TikToks,” raps Doechii, 26, in her 2024 track “Denial Is a River.” “Now I’m makin’ TikTok music, what the f***?”
In a sense, she always was. Back in 2021, after her song “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” became a viral sensation on the platform, she captioned a video with, “I can’t believe my song is trending on TikTok.”
In the following years, her singles “What It Is” and “Nissan Altima” enjoyed similar viral success, leading to her increased activity on TikTok. This year, she took home the Grammy award for Best Rap Album with Alligator Bites Never Heal.
The timeline is surreal: The very aspect Doechii critiques her team about in “Denial,” one of the primary singles from that album, may have been a key factor in her winning the award.
Rapp, 25, has also transformed frustration with her team into creative material.
“My manager called me, said, ‘Where’s the single?’” she sings in “Leave Me Alone,” the lead track from her upcoming sophomore album, Bite Me. “Leave me alone, bitch, I wanna have fun.”
So, this new single centers around her annoyance for her team … precisely for urging her to release a new single!
Former Sony music executive Seth Schachner shared with Us that Doechii and Rapp are not alone in experiencing this type of tension with their teams.
“The current music landscape differs immensely from the past, and some artists and managers find it challenging to navigate when trying to break new acts or promote fresh releases — especially as social media can often be a more crucial entry point than the music itself,” he stated. “You might be working with the next Beatles, but a partner may primarily want to know about their TikTok audience rather than the actual music. [It’s] understandable that some friction emerges from this.”
The most astonishing success story in this new genre might be Role Model, 28, who generated excitement for his album Kansas Anymore by creating a humorous TikTok alter ego and rival, Saint Laurent Cowboy.
In 2022, the artist told GQ, “I’ve shared my music on TikTok before, but I typically delete it. My label suggests I post [there]. I understand why; if I were a label, I’d advise artists the same. TikTok isn’t about longevity, though. TikTok can be disheartening.”
Whether disheartening or not, Role Model’s reluctant compliance with his label’s requests served multiple ends: it satisfied his management, boosted streams for his music, and gave a virtual middle finger to those who pressured him into it.
“That was 100 percent my choice,” the artist stated (while making a face that implied otherwise) when asked about his digital alter ego on The Zach Sang Show. “It was my
idea to create a second account to foster community and connect with fans.”
Cohost Dan Zolot then voiced what we were all thinking: “Who is compelling you to say this?”
While Role Model didn’t directly call out his team, he acknowledged that the social media strategy was part of his album’s promotion. And once again, it proved successful.
The album became his most successful to date, with the track “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” reaching No. 12 on Billboard.
So, musicians, take heed: you can publicly critique your teams, but perhaps also consider their advice, as it seems they may know what they’re doing.
For example: The top song on Spotify globally right now is “Ordinary” by Alex Warren, who rose to fame through TikTok collective Hype House. The hit currently soundtracks over 650,000 videos on the platform — and you’ve likely heard it in your friends’ pregnancy announcements and cat clips.
