You’re talking about one of the best, if not the greatest rapper living, and certainly one of the best of all time here… he’s like the Elvis of Rap… considering his latest album puts him one #1 album above Elvis and thus #1 all time for a single performer. He is also an artist who has been making millions in #1 albums AND apparel since the mid 90′s… (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay-Z) well before the social media buzz and every nut trying to be a social or internet marketing genius.

The reason Jay-Z trends is because he takes enough time to develop and create an excellent album and people talk about it. It’s not just a rap album that the hood kids will enjoy, but a hip hop album that spans his entire fan base and because he has such a strong fan base, it’s absurd to think that his social media exploits is what did it for him… Also, I was hoping to read a little more of what Jay-Z’s social media marketing strategy was.

Rhapsody and Roc Nation may have come up with little contests and hash-tag games but these are common for new and well-awaited releases… there is always gonna be some hype there. How much money does it really cost to ask people to retweet?

Just taking a look at the image you posted, you see “Christmas”, “Halloween” and other holidays are also trending well. Does this mean that St. Nick is furiously typing away at his Macbook in order to keep Christmas up on the searches?

Let’s not forget the release date, 9/11. I know there were plenty of people who would argue about that, regardless of a positive or negative feeling… and don’t get me wrong, I had plenty of tweets come through from friends who were excited about the album, who then bought the album, and then did multiple reviews on the album but did they inadvertently make money for Jay-Z? Possible, but chances are that if you weren’t a fan before, you weren’t running out to get the new album, regardless of whether or not your social networks said to do so.

Having fans tweet isn’t HIS social media campaign. It’s not even close to a campaign, it’s more like an electronic “Pass it Down the Line” game. If Twitter wasn’t around, Jay-Z would still have sold millions simply b/c he is that good.

Being on Oprah was a great move, but as anyone who is familiar with the “Million Little Pieces” guy knows that Oprah can make or break you… but it’s not just that. Both Oprah and Jay-Z were heavy advocates of the Obama camp and “J” even gives “O” a little shout on the new album.

Would Jay-Z say that going on Oprah was a marketing move? He might, but I think he’d first say it was a “no-brainer.” Who wouldn’t want that exposure? In other words, Jay-Z went on Oprah, not because he HAD TO in order to sell records, but because he wanted to and had a remarkable opportunity to do so with “O”.

Brilliant marketing, Yes. If anyone knows his demographic, it’s Jay-Z.

Social media (as is related to your particular line of business), No.

Simply put, you can’t possibly base the success of Jay-Z’s new album on Twitter or any other social media program. There are 10 other #1 albums that take care of that.