Redfoo: Catching that viral wave
Party rocker Redfoo tells M of his social media prowess and how he still has much to learn from Kim Kardashian
Like most musicians, Redfoo can't get enough of social media, posting regularly on his go-to platforms like Snapchat and Instagram.
He also thinks it's "very crucial" to have an online presence these days.
So much so the US rapper is creating and developing his own app.
The 40-year-old- whose real name is Stefan Kendal Gordy- was in town to present and perform at the inaugural Influence Asia 2015 earlier this month.
He told M: "It's like WhatsApp but it's a chat for all of my fans and I'm going to be building it up so I can offer games for (my new) album."
Redfoo is best known for being one-half of hip hop duo LMFAO (alongside his nephew SkyBlu), which has been on hiatus since 2012. He will be releasing his first post-LMFAO solo album, Party Rock Mansion, on March 18 next year.
But before that, Redfoo brought his brand of party rock to Influence Asia 2015, the largest social media awards show in Asia which honoured the top influencers from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
There, he presented the Top YouTube Personality Award to Jianhao Tan and the Top YouTube Channel Award to Night Owl Cinematics.
He also performed his New Thang remix (Party Rock Anthem and When The Sun Goes Down), which closed the show.
While in Singapore, Redfoo managed to feast on chilli crab at Jumbo Seafood restaurant. The gadget lover even squeezed in a spot of shopping at Sim Lim Square, buying $400 worth of Christmas lights, USB LED lights, connectors, iPhone and headphone cables.
Fittingly, he's also a social media enthusiast, with 581,000 followers on Instagram, 1.06 million on Twitter and almost 3.7 million on Facebook. But he has much to learn from the likes of reality TV queen Kim Kardashian.
He said: "I met (Kim) a couple of times, such a nice person, but she's the one doing her own social media. She's sitting there taking her own pictures while you're talking to her. I love that. That gave me some confidence.
"My niece is Mahogany LOX, she's very popular all over the world just from posting pictures with some cat ears. She's into it and she's smart. She tweets all day long about things people can relate to. It's a science, it's fascinating."
What do you primarily use social media for?
I use it to connect with the fans, to market songs, new clothing, new products. I feel every artist can become their own magazine. It's really putting the power in the artist's hand, to broadcast themselves and show their personality. I use it to show people the lifestyle and to entertain people.
So what type of pictures do you post?
Pictures at the club, at a party, behind the scenes in the studio with the crew. I'm liking videos a little more because you can show more even though they don't get as many likes but I like them because they're funnier.
On that note, do you care about the number of likes you get?
It matters sometimes because that's an indication of people's interest. I have a lot of female fans and sometimes when I post (stuff) with another girl, they don't like that. Sometimes they push 'like' by accident and then they unlike it. As an entertainer, you need to know what the people are liking, what they're laughing at, what they're engaged in.
Has social media helped your career?
Sure, because we started on MySpace as LMFAO and it's do-it-yourself and you don't need to wait for the big label, the big TV show, the movie - you can start getting fans yourself.
You can even start a business. So I started doing music on social media and I'm independent. I work with Alternative Distribution Alliance (the independent music and film distribution arm of Warner Music Group), so for me to have 177 million viewson a YouTube video for (my 2014 single) New Thang - it's all because of social media and viralness.
A song can take a life of its own on social media if you're good at it. Not that I'm super good at it, but I made something and it just exploded. The great thing is that you don't have to pay - it's natural if you catch that viral wave and I think a lot of the stars these days are created through social media.
Who are your favourite celebrities to follow?
I've been unfollowing. There are these companies that have these blogs and the celebrities are getting a fixed income from these companies to post these links so their fans can hit the blogs and get advertising dollars. But the posts are so stupid.
It's like 'Man with six fingers - check this out' and it's posted by the most underground rapper. It's so ridiculous. It's not about their life anymore, they're just posting news. If I wanted to see that, I'd go read the National Enquirer or something.
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