LOGIC AND EMOTION

Logic's highly anticipated third studio album, Everybody, drops on 5/5. It's his first full-length since 2015’s The Incredible True Story (Def Jam/Visionary Music Group), which debuted at #3 with 135K sold in its first week, although the Maryland rapper did pop off the surprise mixtape Bobby Tarantino last year; it spawned his first charting single, “Flexicution.”

Logic was signed to Def Jam in 2013 by No I.D., after a string of successful, independently released mixtapes that garnered critical acclaim and millions of downloads. This laid the sturdy groundwork for the new set; Logic is currently forecast to hit 200k SPS in Everybody’s first week.

“Logic’s relationship with the audience is the foundation of who he is,” Def Jam SVP, Integrated Marketing & Digital Strategy David Bell explains, “so our strategy was looking closely at that.”

To set the tone, Def Jam launched a campaign called “All About The Fans,” encouraging people to submit candid videos explaining what Logic’s music means to them; by participating they had a chance to be literally painted into the album artwork, which instantly creates an interactive companion piece to the music.

A powerful content rollout followed, launching with the Everybody album trailer, then a music video for “Black Spiderman” and, two weeks after that (4/28), a promotion for the affecting song “1800-273-8255 (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline)” featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid. To give context to the song and the partnership with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline organization, fan video submissions from the album contest were cut into and released as PSAs for the hotline.

The timing, although coincidental, could not have been in better alignment with the zeitgeist, considering the buzz and controversy around the current Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, a show that has catapulted the issue of teen suicide to the forefront of social discussion. With the CDC publishing a study last year that revealed suicide rates jumping a staggering 200%, this is an exceedingly relevant topic for our times.

“It’s the gospel of what he means to his fans and a perfect tie-in to the song and the organization,” said Bell, who added that Logic is “an amazing D2C artist, which ties back into his fandom.”