Bobby Shmurda emerged into the rap game when social media was only beginning to have a grip on the culture. Vine and Facebook were at their height when “Hot N***a” came out but when Bobby was released from prison, it was a whole new ball game. TikTok and livestreaming began birthing stars, and Bobby Shmurda had to adapt to the current status of the music industry.
Perhaps, one of the most unexpected relationships he’s developed since 2021 was his friendship with Twitch star Kai Cenat. The two have linked up to do a handful of videos in the past but Bobby insists that they’ve developed a familial relationship.
“Kai, that’s my lil bro right there. I like that lil n***a,” he told HNHH in our latest cover story. “I think we did a skit then he invited me to his crib and we did the next skit and then we be chillin. We be calling each other all the time.”
Though the two have a genuine bond with one another, Cenat opened up Shmurda’s eyes when it comes to marketing. The rapper explained that having good marketing is just as important as having good music, and platforms like Twitch only help to expand an artist’s audience.
“Marketing is everything in the game, as I keep saying. You want people to see your sh*t. You can have the best music ever but if you want people to see your sh*t, you have to do good marketing because everybody is marketing nowadays so it’s like people will look at, instead of the music nowadays, they’ll look at the number. Or they wanna see your shi*ts certain places to take it serious. So you gotta have these marketing strategies. Some of them costs, some of them you go viral off of, it depends, but you have to be marketing.”
Check out our cover story with Bobby Shmurda here.