Ret is one of the main names in national rap and collects partnerships with brands such as Budweiser, Nike, Rider, Sprite and Twitch
Filipe Ret is unanimous in the world of national rap. Today, Ret performs on stages at major events, but it all started in a battle of rhymes in the Lapa neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, 20 years ago, where his stage was often the bench in the square.
The 37-year-old rapper is living one of his best moments in 2022. With the success of the song “Me Sinta Abenoado”, which became the soundtrack of Pedro Scooby and Paulo André during BBB 22, he conquered a new niche of fans . The year was also marked by the release of the new studio album, “Lume”, which features Anitta in one of the songs.
Naturally, with success comes money and Ret has no qualms about talking his cache and celebrating every time it rises. Recently, he announced that the contractor who wants to have a presentation will have to disburse R$ 300,000.
“I value the numbers, whether of cache or listeners, and I see this as a way of measuring and seeking results. This is also part of the process of valuing the rap movement as a whole”, stated Ret.
Regarding publicity, the artist stated that brands looking for him increased significantly after the pandemic, a movement that accompanies the expansion of national rap. Today, Ret collects campaigns with brands such as Budweiser, Nike, Rider, Sprite and Twitch, in addition to being associated with the LaMafia brand.
To PROPMARK, Filipe Ret tells about his early career, the appreciation of rap on the national scene and about his relationship with brands.
How did your story with music begin?
I’ve liked rap since I was a child, but my story began around the middle of 2002 in a rhyming battle called Batalha do Real and taking place in the Lapa district of Rio de Janeiro. Everyone had to pay a real to participate and whoever won the battle, won all the money collected on the day. After a while I met MoLee. He had a computer and made music. It was there that I saw an opportunity to make my dream come true. We released some songs, I started promoting them on Facebook. People from Rio started to know me and I started to perform in the rhyming circles for free. Sometimes the stage was the bench in the square.
For you, what was the turning point in your career? When did you realize you were nationally known, for example?
I always work to broaden my audience. When I jumped my cache from 500 reais to 5 thousand, I believed that everything was going to change in my life. I always want to increase my cache. I think this is important to value my work and our culture.
How did your relationship with brands start?
This relationship was gradually built, especially after the pandemic. Before, the rap and trap scene still didn’t have this huge visibility. My relationship with brands accompanied this growth. Just as gender is bursting the bubble, I believe brands are seeing me in this movement as well.
How do you see this expansion of rap and what was the moment when you realized that this was happening?
It’s not often that we have such a huge expansion of a musical genre. I created my label (NADAMAL) precisely to encourage this scene. Gathering these talents as if it were a school for me. Everyone together evolving and exchanging information. All this generates a movement of growth and learning for the artists involved.
With this expansion of rap, did you feel an increase in demand from brands for you?
Certainly. More and more we see big brands closing with names like Xam, MV Bill, MD Chief, Lennon. If brands increasingly want to talk to young people, they need to invest in the scene. Our genre has as much or even more relevance than other musical genres for this audience.
What else has changed in your relationship with advertising over your career years?
I feel that the movement became more expressive post-pandemic. Before, there were short-term advertisements and they were one-off jobs. Nowadays, brands look to me for medium and long-term work. They already understand that this creates a bond of trust between me and the brand and vice versa. I talk a lot with Generation Z. I really believe in rap and trap as fertile ground for partnerships with young, lifestyle, consumer, night and party brands. I think it’s really cool that they started to get the vision of what’s going on and how we sincerely connect with our audience. It is very important that they understand more and more the value of speaking straight and being our allies.
Of the advertisements you’ve done, which one did you like the most?
One of the advertisements that I most enjoyed doing was with Twitch. I reacted to the videos of new artists and that’s even how I met Caio Luccas, a rapper who is now making waves in Rio de Janeiro and who is now part of my label, NADAMAL. I also did stuff with Budweiser, Rider and Sprite. And we have several other very cool things in the process.
You are a person who talks openly about numbers, your expenses and earnings, for example. At what point did you decide you were going to start talking about it?
The account needs to close. Mathematics is a way of seeing if things are working. I value the numbers, be it cache or listeners. I see it as a way to measure and seek results. I have a very direct relationship with the public and with the community that we have. For this reason, I find it very natural and essential to talk about numbers and expose how things are flowing. This is also part of the process of valuing the rap movement as a whole. And another, there are many conservative people who only look at the numbers. Therefore, I believe that talking about the relevance of our numbers creates respect and legitimizes our scene.
What do you take into account when closing a partnership with a brand/company?
The brand needs to have something to do with my lifestyle. It is also important that the brand conveys credibility and is connected to our world. I just partnered with LaMafia and this is a clothing brand that really matches my lifestyle. We are already working together on a first collection. The idea is that I am increasingly involved in the development of collections. We are going to deepen this relationship each time to deliver a product with the quality and strength that we represent together. It’s really cool when company and artist bet together on a solid construction like this. grafiticante to close a partnership of this size.
How do you see yourself as a brand?
Filipe Ret is a 20 year old brand. Since I went on stage for the first time, in 2002, I’ve been building it. And the fans that arrive, get to know my trajectory and end up rooting for my story. The whole scene sees me as an artist with a long career. In other words, Ret is a brand that values intuitive, creative and strategic construction.
