keep that same energy

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Hey! I’m officially back from leave and have a few things to share.

First, I’m excited to announce Trapital’s new partnership with MoonPay! You can read more about that in the next section.

Second, if you haven’t already, go check out my Trapital Podcast interview with Talib Kweli. This was a special one. We talked all about artist independence, Black Star’s return, why his album is only on Luminary, and a whole lot more.

Today's memo is about Desus and Mero. Now that their show has abruptly ended, it's a perfect time to revisit their wise content strategy that got them to this level. There's a reason I said they had The OutKast Edge! So while your mourning the loss of the iconic show, let's dive in for a trip down memory lane.

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the leader in web3 infrastructure

I’m excited to kick off Trapital’s new partnership with MoonPay!

Trusted by major crypto brands and millions of people worldwide, MoonPay is the leader in web3 infrastructure. Their mission is to onboard the world into web3, a reimagination of the internet where you can transact with peers globally and own your digital identity.

MoonPay is helping Timbaland’s Beatclub and Snoop Dogg’s DeathRow Records bridge the gap between artists and fans. They are changing the face of music ownership and distribution. Now they want to help you do the same.

MoonPay’s tools will help artists:

• deploy NFTs in minutes with Hypermint, MoonPay’s self-service minting platform reduces the time-to-market for their art from months to days
• enable token creation, management, and distribution of your work at scale
• build out your portfolio of valuable digital assets

If you’re looking to mint collectibles on blockchain, or create a proprietary NFT marketplace for your brand, MoonPay has you covered.

Whether you’re a musician, record label executive, or marketer, MoonPay’s technology can bring your music release strategies to life.

Visit MoonPay to learn more.

new pod: talib kweli

I had a great conversation with the one and only, Talib Kweli:

• Black Star’s return to making music
• why the latest album was released exclusively on Luminary
• why he moved away from Patreon
• TikTok’s influence in music
• doing 200 shows per year for two decades

Listen to the Trapital Podcast here:

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why desus and mero's content strategy worked

It’s official. Desus & Mero on Showtime is over. The dynamic duo is separating due to differences with their manager. The brand was strong. The brand was brolic. And now the brand is on to its next phase.

The brand accomplished a lot in the past ten years. The former summer school classmates rose from Twitter fame to Complex and MTV shows, and then to their own podcast and late-night TV.

Their chemistry was strong, and the content was on point, but good content is rarely enough. Let’s break down the difference-makers that fueled their rise.

the rise to fame during Twitter’s hyper-growth phase

In the early 2010s, Twitter was the wild wild west. It was a lawless corner of the internet where people tweeted about what they ate for lunch and added useless hashtags at the end of every tweet.

But it was also a time for the platform’s hypergrowth. As I wrote recently about TikTok, the users who grow to power during a social network’s fastest-growth phase will always have outsized results. The same was true for Twitter in the early 2010s. It was perfect timing for power users like Desus Nice and The Kid Mero to get an early-mover advantage.

When new Twitter users wanted a “crash course” on Black Twitter, @desusnice and @thekidmero were must-follow accounts. It was a rite of passage to fully experience the bird app.

the mixtape-album strategy

By the end of 2013, the duo released their first podcast and internet show, Desus vs. Mero, on Complex. That led to MTV shows like Guy Code, Uncommon Sense, and Joking Off.

But the real shift happened when they launched their own podcast, The Bodega Boys. This was home base for the diehard Desus and Mero fans. If you wanted their inside jokes, the podcast was your jam.

Desus and Mero managed The Bodega Boys the same way rappers often manage mixtapes. It was a place for the rawer, less-polished content that the day-one fans loved. They wisely kept The Bodega Boys podcast active until December 2021, even when the bigger checks came from VICE and Showtime.

Here’s what I wrote about this back when Desus & Mero on Showtime when it first launched in 2019:

For Desus and Mero, this was an opportunity for the creators to build their own audience while benefitting from the major network exposure. This combination works well for many creators. The major network show is their top-of-funnel much like their social media accounts. The podcast was their IP that they owned, and they protected it deeply. But it’s sad to think that the podcast will now be inactive given the years of work they put in.

nothing lasts forever

When Desus & Mero left VICELAND for Showtime in 2019, VICE’s CEO Nancy Dubuc shared her skepticism, “They’re going to a platform that their audience doesn’t pay for. I told them, ‘You can always come back.’”

While that could have been taken as a salty comment given how things ended with VICE, she may have had a point.

Desus & Mero on Showtime often felt overly polished for the uncut brand of the Bodega Boys. More of their interviews started to feel like another stop in the “illustrious guest’s” press junket.

This type of shift will inevitably impact each host’s decision to move forward. It’s hard for two creative talents to stay on the same page for a few years, let alone an entire decade.

Plus, the duo are at two different places in life. Desus is a bachelor. Mero is a Dad of four and living the family life. Lifestyles will always play a factor in business decisions.

To call the run “over” would imply that either Desus or Mero go back to life before Twitter fame. That’s impossible. Their separate paths will be fascinating to watch. In music, groups split up all the time, then acts become solo, then the group goes on a reunion tour years later. The Desus & Mero podcast reunion tour could be a reality someday.

Twitter has been a launchpad for many successful creators, but it’s hard to think of any other creators who came up more from it than these two.

They no longer have their premium network show, and their podcast is officially done. But they have their name recognition, and that will give them a leg up in whatever they choose to do next.

money moves

• SoundCloud and Warner strike licensing deal on fan-powered royalties​
• Phil Manzanera earns more from Jay Z and Kanye West than he ever did from his own band
• Why the metaverse will revolutionize everything​
• Why Desus and Mero broke up​

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coming soon from Trapital

Podcast: How music is monetized with Zack O’Malley Greenburg. This was the first pod I recorded since coming back from leave, so it was perfect to sync back up with Zack, who has been on leave himself. We talked about music monetization, the end of “genres,” and the beginning of our journeys on being girl dads.

want your company featured in Trapital?

We are looking for a few more sponsors in Q3 who want to reach the artists, creators, and execs who read and listen to Trapital on a regular basis. Want your company to reach Trapital's audience? Reach out to us here.

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