Los Angeles, California and Seattle, Washington-based marketer and streamer Playlist Trav’s former clients include Bryson Tiller, The Weeknd, Young Thug, Lil Yachty, and 24hrs. Daily Chiefers caught up with Playlist Trav in Seattle.
What’s your earliest memory of music?
Oh, that’s a good question. I never got asked that question. I remember having drum sticks when I was young and stuff like that. I played the sax in high school, all four years.
How old are you?
I’m 31, I’ll be 32 in August.
Happy early birthday!
Thank you.
How are you finding new music?
I find music through Soundcloud or YouTube algorithms.
Do you remember the first early days of music discovery?
I used to always watch TRL. I used to listen to MTV Jams.
When did you hop on the internet and get on platforms to find music?
I was early. I remember AOL. I remember early MySpace. I was one of those… I didn’t really post pics. I chatted with people and found music. As far as Twitter, I remember early Twitter. I remember early on Twitter there were trending topics. Going viral was 500, 1,000 tweets.
Are you from a particular area where music was always big in your city?
I’m from a city outside of Seattle. I like the questions you’re asking, by the way. This is a little bit different so it’s cool. I think it’s important for someone who’s interviewing someone to ask questions. I want a Twitch stream and have unique interviews about how a track was made or interesting questions. But, there probably was big music there. When I was in my second home, there was an annual fest in a park.
What was your breakthrough moment in music discovery?
Soundcloud was the main thing. Twitter is a slept-on platform to find new artists. The labels are spending money on getting accounts and influencers to push the artists they sign. But, yes, Soundcloud. From 2014 to 2016. The Soundcloud algorithm just keeps going, finding twenty songs you didn’t know existed that you like.
How did you help Bryson Tiller blow up?
He blew up in 2014. I forget what month it was. My friend put me onto him when he had the black and white pic with the gold font. The track had 30, 40k plays. I was blown away. I knew he could be a superstar. I listened to Break Bread and a couple of other tracks. I thought he could be like a Drake level. I had five Twitter accounts. Two of them were Drake accounts. I had a Drake account with two r’s in the name. It was my account, I had it. I brought it up to 980k. I was getting the engagement. I had an account called DrakeReact. I had another account called RelaxVibes which was 400k. He only had 20k on Twitter, and I mentioned him. He DMed me back. I don’t know if it was him, someone on his team, or his manager. He was the first one I worked with.
Did you get the clients after Bryson?
Yes. Some of those are coming from working with labels. 24 was a little after he rebranded. He used to go by Royce Rizzy. I just spoke with him a week ago when I was in Vegas.
What is the longest amount of time you’ve spent working online that you’ve sacrificed certain things to get to where you’re at?
With the label stuff, you know how it is. Sometimes you get paid and sometimes you get fucked over. If you want to do something, go do it. Just put in the work. Don’t worry about the numbers. People get so caught up in the numbers. Just be consistent with quality work.
Is the header in your Twitter real?
Yes! Someone had a Carti account. I bought the account. I forgot how much I spent. I followed all my accounts, I had six to ten. It was crazy because the day after I did that he randomly DMed me. It was a very Carti thing to say. I remember messaging him back but he didn’t respond. I tried to work with him. It’s Carti, I get it. I seen him in person. I went to a show in Seattle and Carti walked past me and I said what’s up to him and he didn’t respond. He’s just different.
How do you feel about hip-hop today?
I love viral snippets on TikTok. Artists need to focus on TikTok.
Is there another way we can get another Ye, Hov, Drake, etc?
Nah. I don’t see it. It’s not going to be Yeat. It’s in a tough spot. Everything’s very social media-focused. It’s just tough. As far as artists doing good, the underground is going crazy. Yeat and them. Kids love that underground stuff. I like it too, I’m not going to lie to you. I’ll bump some Yeat.
Are you working with anyone new right now?
I’m supposed to be working with Hit-Boy because of 24hrs.
What’s your next project?
I’m about to start streaming on Twitch and have artists on and build a community. I’m about to drop a music course on how artists can brand and market themselves.
