Our history with El-P goes back to the Definitive Jux days. Years before El-P and Killer Mike collaborated to form today’s hottest rap group, El-P launched an innovative and influential record label that touted releases from seminal artists such as Aesop Rock, RJD2, Cannibal Ox, Murs, Cage & many more. After revamping the historic Def Jux YouTube channel we were tasked with helping launch the Run The Jewels channel in July 2013, and we’ve continued to work closely with their team ever since. Throughout the past 5 years, Run The Jewels has released some of the most amazing video content we’ve seen to date. If you haven’t done so already, go watch the mind-blowing Cyriak cat-kaleidoscope video treatment for Meowpurrdy, the controversial silhouette animation of Early, one of YouTube’s first 360° music videos for the song Crown, and possibly the greatest holiday music video of all time: A Christmas F*cking Miracle.
In 2016 we started preparing for the release of their highly anticipated third album, RTJ3, which has been the most successful release on their YouTube channel so far. The album was publicly announced to drop in January 2017, but was secretly scheduled for free release to fans worldwide at midnight on December 24th. In the months leading up to that release, we helped build momentum for RTJ3 with an official album video trailer, a worldwide tour video announcement, and the exclusive YouTube premiere of 3 new singles from the upcoming album. Finally the availability of the album was announced on Christmas Eve via a hilarious Portlandia clip featuring Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Killer Mike, and El-P.
Throughout the RTJ3 campaign we launched a total of 17 videos over the course of 3 months. Our video strategy was designed to meet two objectives: increase overall watch time on the channel, while simultaneously driving viewers to RTJ’s official website to buy exclusive merchandise, concert tickets, and physical copies of the RTJ3 album. By implementing a cross-promotional strategy utilizing enhanced metadata, cards, end screens, and annotations on each video, the channel received over 26.6k clicks directing RTJ’s targeted fan base back to their official website. These efforts also resulted in 10.2k clicks leading to additional RTJ content and an overall gain of 31k subscribers in just 3 months.
During the 3-month RTJ3 campaign, the channel racked up over 10.5MM views and 430k hours of watch time. On the actual day of release, the channel received an impressive 24k hours of watch time in just one day. We created a specific playlist for the entire RTJ3 album stream including exclusive promotional content for the album, which gained 1.1MM views and 54k hours of watch time in just one month after the release.
