Skuuta D'rula Artist Analysis

Skuuta D’rula
Manhattan based rapper with an island twist
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Portfolio piece created by:
Hannah Gershowitz

FOUNDATION
Similar well-known artists:
Drake
Saba
Allan Kingdom
TARGET AUDIENCE
Demographics:
Skuuta D’rula has a pretty specific target market, most based out of his hometown of Manhattan,
New York. But he’s a big traveller and has lived in other countries including Tokyo and the
Virgin Islands. This makes his target market a diverse range of ethnicities, especially being based
in America’s biggest melting pot, New York City.
Rap is more prominently listened to by males but from observing Skuuta D’rula’s interactions on
Instagram, the majority of fans are female. When comparing to a similar well-known artist
Drake, we see that his fan base is 42% female, and 58% male. Based on that, Skuuta D’rula’s
fans would be about 50% female and 50% male. Compared to Drake’s fan base with 53% single
fans, and by the amount of flattering comments Skuuta D’rula gets, the majority of his listeners
are single. Both of their core demographics include mostly millennials between the ages of
21-30, with most of them in college or fresh into the workforce. They’re mostly lower to middle
class making an average of $48k a year, and typically living with roommates in a city.
Psychographics:
Hobbies/Lifestyle Choices: clubbing, shopping, working out, and traveling
Clothing/Accessory Brands: Kith (street ware), Zara (clothing), Adidas (shoes)
Food/Restaurant Preferences: sushi, healthy food, deli and diner food, dollar pizza
Other Artists: Drake, Saba, Fivio Foreign, Allan Kingdom
Movies and TV Shows: The Office, 8 Mile, Fast & Furious
Description:
Skuuta D’rula’s audience lives an urban lifestyle, into fashion, art, and music, specifically into
artists like Drake. Being millennials, they’re a very social group of individuals that love

clubbing, travelling, shopping at places like Kith, working out, and eating food like sushi with
friends.
Geographic:

Skuuta D’rula is based in Manhattan, New York City but has lived in multiple other countries
including Japan and the Virgin Islands. He’s a frequent traveller and is currently in the Virgin
Islands but heading back to Manhattan soon.
City 1: Philadelphia, PA
Example:
The Fillmore: live event venue
https://www.thefillmorephilly.com/
City 2: Binghamton, NY
Example:
Binghamton University
https://www.binghamton.edu/
City 3: Newark, NJ
Example:
New Jersey Institute of Technology
https://www.njit.edu/
City 4: Brooklyn, NY
Example:
Brooklyn Mirage: live event venue/ club
https://www.avant-gardner.com/brooklyn-mirage
City 5: Syracuse, NY
Example:
Syracuse University
https://www.syracuse.edu/

GETTING TO KNOW THE ARTIST
Talents:
Singing/ Rapping:
Skuuta D’rula has been rapping since he was a child. He did a talent show when he was a
senior in high school and based on the reaction of his peers, he realized that he has
potential. Back then he was influenced musically by Nipsey Hussle. He likes the west
coast sound of rapping/beats and the island sound as well. These varieties of sounds and
influences can be heard in most of his discography.
Live performance:
Depending on the performance, Skuuta D’rula can be performing alone or with his
friends/featured artists. While he does have a backing track that includes his vocals, he
raps live and only relies on the recording when he's jumping around and hyping up the
crowd. He has graphics behind him and lights but in his performances he is the main
focus. His live performance is very raw and genuine. He dances around but it's not
choreographed, it's what he feels from the music and crowd. When he raps it's not like
he's trying to sound perfect like the recording, he's rapping with his heart and genuine
passion.
Stage presence:
When Skuuta D’rula performs onstage he is a very energetic and captivating performer.
He knows how to work a crowd and makes sure to hype them up to his level. He is
skilled in getting them to jump by jumping around himself, when he shouts they shout.
The audience engages with his performance not only by rapping along with him but by
mimicking his energy. When he performs you can tell he loves what he does and it shows
how genuine he is in his music.
3 ELEMENTS OF EXPERIENCE
1. Recording
Skuuta D’rula said back in 2014, that he records with his friends in a studio. Living in
New York City, collaboration is a huge part of the music culture. He has yet to work in a
professional big-name studio but he does work at high tech at home studios he and his

friends have as well as smaller studios in the city. He spends his time perfecting his songs
and collaborating by bouncing ideas off of his team.
2. Co-writing
Skuuta D’rula said back in 2014, that he used to make his own beats, but then he
switched to using beats people made for him. He writes his own bars when he gets
inspiration which could be at 3am, while in the studio, while hiking, or even working out.
So far, he has not written any songs for other people even though in his 2014 interview he
said he might do that in the future. He also has not been a featured artist for anyone but
he has had many featured artists on his songs.
3. Publicity
Skuuta D’rula doesn’t have that much publicity, although he does have an active and
interactive social media presence on mainly Instagram. Back in 2014 he did an interview
with SmoothTV718 on YouTube. The interview was about his first album, his style, his
performance experience and his plans for the future. He has a strong presence on
Instagram and YouTube, with a lot of fan interaction. He knows how to engage his fans
as seen in his posts about bettering yourself and showing the real person behind Skuuta
D’rula. He frequently posts IGTV’s on Instagram and interacts with his fans by
commenting back and answering their questions.
ARTIST SWOT ANALYSIS

While evaluating our chosen artist using the SWOT analysis we noticed Skuuta D’rula had
strengths such as unique flow pattern, ear for beat picking, and a tight fanbase. These strengths
are what make Skuuta D’rula a unique artist. Skuuta D’rula uses his unique flow pattern to
attract a tight audience which ends up being his fanbase. Skuuta’s choice of beats match with his
up tempo vibe and video aesthetics.
Skuuta D’rula has weaknesses in online presence, as he does not have enough press release on
the net to give him a buzz. Skuuta D’rula also does not have the necessary marketing resources
to promote to a bigger audience. The way technology has evolved, not having a buzz could
potentially create a stationary movement for an artist’s career. This could also be the case if the
artist doesn’t have enough resources to reach a bigger audience.

Being a new artist Skuuta D’rula has opportunities to grow and develop as an up and coming
artist. Skuuta D’rula has traveled from New York to Tokyo and landed in the Virgin Island, this
gives him an opportunity that some newer artists don’t have. With the proper connections he
would be able to perform at the VI Jam Fest that is held in The Virgin Islands. The opportunity
of combining different cultures and making it into a unique piece is what Skuuta D’rula has done
with his work. He also has the opportunity to work with many different artists, videographers,
producers and more. Some artists that Skuuta could work with would be Gia Giavanni or Stylish
Lite. These artists have similar target audiences and could bring in more potential fans.
One threat that we can see within the career of Skuuta D’rula is always traveling so that would
make it hard for him to do live performances. Most new up and coming artists that are centrally
located are able to travel close by to do shows. We found this as a threat, because it would be a
challenge for Skuuta to travel within the Virgin Island to do shows compared to being able to
drive to shows. These threats could potentially be minimized when/if he moves back to New
York City.
ACTION ITEMS
STRENGTH 1 – Potential Revenue Sources
1. Live Shows
2. Radio Play
3. Streams
STRENGTH 2 – Potential Revenue Sources
1. Merchandise
2. Physical Copies
3. Youtube
WEAKNESS 1 – Potential Solution
1. Reach multiple Islands
2. Take advantage of making the genre unique (rap with an island twist)
WEAKNESS 2 – Potential Solution
1. Be in the United States more often
2. Do international tours

GOAL SETTING
1-Year Goals
1. Revenue Generating Goal:
a. The Goal:
After 12 months, Skuuta D’rula will finally be able to embark on a small tour to
promote his new album, the tour will be 10 stops. All stops will be in college
towns at local performance hotspots.
b. Why this time frame is attainable and realistic:
After spending the last 6 months organizing and planning he would have
completed the steps necessary to get to his goal of going on a tour. He’ll have
already set in stone his tour schedule, accommodations, and budget.
Skuuta D’rula and his team will have looked into the beginnings of setting up a
tour. He would have looked into his most popular cities, meaning where people
are most listening to his music. He should also have a good idea of where he
wants to perform. By mapping this part out he and his team can easily move on to
contacting the venues, finding accommodations and creating a budget/saving for
the money he needs.
It will be a Northeast Region mini tour of 10 stops. All of which are within 500
miles from New York City (his homebase) and local hot spots in popular college
towns for small performances. Those stops include, Brooklyn, NY, Queens, NY,
Binghamton, NY, Ithaca, NY, Syracuse, NY, Hartford, CT, Newark, NJ,
Philadelphia, PA, State College, PA and Charlottesville, VA. The performances
will be in local bars/clubs that are frequented by the college students. One
example is Trexx Nightclub in Syracuse, located less than 2 miles from campus, it
has a huge dance floor, a stage for performances, and a bar. Trexx can hold over
100 people on the dancefloor alone.
c. Progress Check-in:
By the 8th
month mark, Skuuta D’rula and his team will have contacted all the
venues and booked accommodations near each venue if feasible/necessary. He
also will have decided which mode of transportation is feasible based on the
budget he should’ve created from the initial research.

By month 9, he should have confirmed all tour venue locations, he should be in
the process of getting ready to sell tickets and promote. Once that is taken care of
he should be good to go for the final goal in 3 more months.
2. Content Creation Goal:
a. The Goal: Full length album and website
In one year, the content goal for Skuuta D’rula is to release a full length album
with at least ten songs and two to three features. Another goal is to create a fully
functioning website with an artist biography, links to all streaming platforms,
links to all social medias, and a merchandise page.
Albums, on average, take anywhere from a couple months to a couple years (or
even more) to finish. Skuuta D’rula doesn’t make his own beats so he collaborates
with others for production, because of this a few month deadline wouldn’t be
realistic. With a deadline of one year, that gives a little over a month per song if
the album contains ten songs. This gives plenty of time for promotion and
creating a website leading up to the release.
On month four, seven, and eleven, a single will be released, at least one with a
collaboration. By the end of month ten, all other songs should be recorded and in
the process of mastering. By month ten, promotion should be put into higher gear
leading up to the release of the album in month twelve. Also by month ten, the
website should be almost completely finished with a shop for merchandise, in
preparation for his tour.
3. Audience Growth Goal:
a. The Goal: Featured on 4 credible artist news sites July 2021
The goal is to create a digital buzz for Skuuta D’rula in order to get him noticed
by the PR teams of these magazines and websites. The goal is designed to give
him more coverage and in front of different audiences therefore increasing his
brand awareness. Some specific sites that are credible especially for hip hop
artists would be XXL Magazine, Respect Magazine, Dirty Glove, and Thisis50.

I believe this is an attainable and realistic time frame due to Skuuta already
traveling and his unique style of music being used to his advantage to land
features with big artists who are missing a certain sound on a track that could use
him. With this feature he will begin to pick up a slight buzz that he can then use to
his advantage.
April 30, 2020 we will review the progress. We will determine if Skuuta is on
track by reviewing if he has done a feature with a big artist or been published on
at least 2 credible news sites since finishing his six month goal.
6-Month Goals
a. Give two specific sentences describing the goal:
By the 6th
month mark, Skuuta D’rula and his team will have finalized all merch
and will launch it with the website launch. With international sales offered as
well, this will generate revenue for his upcoming expenses and future goals.
Since he already has an idea of what merch he wants to sell/create, he just needs
to find the right fit of who would help him create a final product to release on his
website launch.
Skuuta D’rula and his team will research who to work with to make his merch a
reality. He can go into the steps of finalizing designs and the kinds of merch he
wants to sell once he finds a manufacturer. This will allow him to be able to get
finalized versions for product photos. He can then add these to his final website
when it launches.
With the merchandise made for his website, he has connections to be able to
easily create a tour exclusive t-shirt. With touring comes merchandising, so a
sub-goal would be to create an exclusive T-shirt for his tour. He could put a
pre-order option on his site to get an idea of those interested in the tour.

At the 4-and-a-half-month mark, He should be on the road to getting the finalized
merch samples for the photoshoot. He should then focus on setting up a
photoshoot with his merch so he can get them up onto his website at launch.
At month 5, he should also meet with the merchandise manufacturers to see a
mock-up and approve or improve the design of his tour t-shirt. He should set
another time within the last few months before the tour to add the stops onto the
back of the shirt.
a. The Goal:
By month six, at least four songs and one collaboration should be completed. The
collaboration will be with other NYC based artists like Deem Spencer. New songs
should be written and ready to record. The remaining studio sessions for the
album should be booked, as well as setting plans with producers and other
collaborations.
Because the first month or two will be for planning, having four songs done by
the halfway mark is realistic. After completing the initial four songs and having
plans set in place, the rest should go quicker. The artist should have a group of
artists and producers that will collaborate with him on the rest of the project.
By month four, we will see if the artist is on track if he has at least two songs
completed and studio time booked for up to three months in advance. By month
three he should have contacted multiple artists for collaborations. If he is
following the plan and putting together a team of creatives to help him complete
this album, the rest should run smoothly and on track.
3. Audience Growth Goal:
a. The Goal: Claim Google Knowledge Panel

The artist will need to sign up for a Google account. After making a Google
account since the artist has content out he needs to obtain access to his Google
Knowledge Panel. With the Google Knowledge Panel the artist’s team can use
this to ensure that his online SEO is up to par as those of big named artists in the
industry. When Skuuta D’rula’s fans look him up on search engines this will
make sure that everything is all in one place and could potentially lead to him
getting a wikipedia page credited. Even though wikipedia is not a credible source
when researching, people still go to Wikipedia to find basic information.
I believe this time frame is attainable and realistic, because Skuuta D’rula has
content out already and it wouldn’t take long for him to obtain the knowledge
panel. This is chosen as a six month goal instead of three due to the priority of a
fanbase being first.
This specific goal would have no determination on if the goal will be completed
on time. This is a do or don’t.
3-Month Goals
a. The Goal: Local shows and audience awareness
Play a few small local shows and potentially livestream them to make some
money. This goal will create revenue and generate awareness for his upcoming
album, merch, and website while also reaching his international fanbase.
Skuuta D’rula is currently in the Virgin Islands where he’s getting tons of
inspiration for his future projects. He has about 9k followers on Instagram so if he
livestreams/IGTV’s some sets on there, he can generate buzz and promote his
upcoming projects. He also has fans from different parts of the world since he’s
lived in a few international places such as Japan. Reaching them would be helpful
in getting a wider variety of support for his future endeavors.

He’ll have to get permission to perform at venues unless he wants to perform at
his home for streaming. He can also set up a place (PayPal, Venmo, etc.) where if
fans want to support him monetarily they can. But if he chooses to do IGTV or
YouTube he can have ads that help generate money.
The places he picks should be local hotspots, or spots with good views to show
off the Virgin Islands or his other locations.
At the one-and-a-half-month mark, he should have his locations picked out and he
should have decided if he wants to set up a place to collect funds or use IGTV
only. This way he can spend the next month and a half promoting the
performances, preparing for the performances and finally executing them.
a. The Goal: Portion of songs planned
By month three, at least a third of the songs for the album should be written and
either have beats created for or have producers chosen to work with; studio
sessions for the next few months will be booked. The general ideas for the
website will be laid out and a website builder will be hired.
By month three, all plans should be set in place to make the year one goal
attainable and realistic. Three months is plenty of time for planning and getting
started on the track to the one year goal. Planning and scheduling is the main
focus in these first few months.
By the end of month one, the artist should have a list of studios, producers, and
other artists he would like to work with. The website domain should be purchased
and the artist manager should be searching for a website builder to hire on a low
budget. He will amp up his social media presence and start thinking about ideas
for new non music related content to keep his audience engaged, such as vlogs
and interviews.
3. Audience Growth Goal: 10,000 Followers on Instagram

a. The Goal:
Skuuta D’rula will need to maintain a consistent presence on social media by
going live on platforms such as Instagram, Twitch, and YouTube. He will need to
be persistent in dropping content for his fans. The content that Skuuta D’rula
should be delivering to his fans would be vlogs to give his fans an emotional
connection to him as an artist. He could start an Instagram TV series about
making music or do’s and don’t for an independent artist such as himself. Things
in thus nature to get people to engage with the artist.
I believe this time frame is attainable and realistic due to the fact that Skuuta
currently has a following of around 8,600 fans. That number could easily be
increased if 700 of his fans out of the 8,600 in total reshare his page and get at
least two of their friends to follow each.
One-and-a-half months in, it will be determined that if the artist is 700 followers
away from the target goal then we will know if he is on or off track.

Skuuta D'rula Artist Analysis

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