With the current social media uprising, musicians are at no loss of ways to promote their new tracks. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have become heavyweights for self-promotion, but you might not have heard of peer-to-peer sales app, Depop, as a platform for musicians to diffuse their music to potential listeners.
Introducing: BUSHROD.
Brixton-based musician, Jack Bushrod, suffered redundancy last year at the unrelenting hands of COVID-19, and has since been turning ears from around the country with his ingenious method of self-promotion. The “20-something” alternative rapper attached his Spotify handle to one anonymous buyer’s package, who sent a photo in to Instagram page @depopdrama. According to BUSHROD, this helped his new single “Grown-Up Conversations” to gain a much larger listener base.
BUSHROD released his first single, “D.I.Y. Kids” in January 2019, and has since attracted over 10k monthly listeners on Spotify and a further 14.5k followers on Instagram. His latest single, “Oxytocin” is a harsh reflection of the drug scene, yet is seamlessly carried on a funky hip-hop melody. Through his other singles including “Doing Ok” and aforementioned “Grown-Up Conversations”, BUSHROD addresses very real issues and mental struggles surrounding modern-day life.
I had the pleasure of speaking to BUSHROD about his music career, who told me of his struggles to get his music off the ground. “To new listeners of my music it may look like this has happened overnight but this has taken years and years of building.” This is particularly prominent since BUSHROD started making music as early as 11 years old after being heavily influenced by his musical family.
There is no doubt BUSHROD’s name will soon be catapulted into the spotlight, while he continues to release undeniably catchy music which highlights relatable everyday struggles. As he quite rightly said, “if people haven’t heard of my name yet, they will do soon – that’s for sure!”.
Header image via Banbury Guardian