/Interview/ The brains behind: The SEO Rapper
23/06/2008 | Filed under Discover > Interview
Online marketing specialist Charles ‘Chuck’ Lewis, from Houston-based agency Pop Labs, has taken the web by storm. We talk to the one and only SEO Rapper
.net: Why did you start rapping about online marketing?
CL: I’ve been writing raps for over 10 years and for the past five years I’ve been working in web design and online marketing. I personally feel that I can flow about anything so when one of my co-workers requested that I rap about link building, I did it, and it came out good. That pretty much started it.
.net: How long did it take you to write Design Coding?
CL: Two days.
.net: What kind of effect have your YouTube videos had on Pop Labs’ business and your life so far?
CL: The videos have been driving a tremendous amount of traffic to the Pop Labs site and from what our sales team tells me, sales have been generated as well. The videos and the whole “SEO Rapper” persona has been a great explanation and example to our clients’ social media and how it can not only generate sales but also increase brand awareness.
For me personally, it’s been cool. I’ve attended tradeshows like SES and SMX but now people look for me and ask for autographs and pictures, which is fun. My co-workers call me an internet celebrity. I think they are having more fun with it than I am. It helped me prove to myself that I can rap about pretty much anything I want to without losing creativity and keeping it informational.
.net: How surprised were you when Design Coding got more than 200,000 views on YouTube?
CL: I wasn’t surprised at the amount of views because I knew it would get there. I was surprised at how fast it got there. I debuted it at SES NY and by the time we made it back to Houston it was already close to 10,000. A few weeks later, it was at 90,000. I figure there are more designers than marketers so the audience was bigger.
.net: Who are your online marketing/web design heroes?
CL: Heroes….? I wouldn’t call them heroes. I like Guy Kawasaki, he always has something informative and he’s a good motivator. I subscribe to Sage Lewis, he’s cool and he knows his stuff. Majority of the people I admire are internal here at Pop Labs, like Kelsey Ruger. He’s the director of IT and creative services.
.net: How did you get into SEO and SEM in the first place?
CL: Back in 2001 I was working for a web design company and we were experimenting on how to get sites listed in the search engines. I was building sites in my free time as well. I’ve also always had an interest in marketing and with traditional methods like TV, radio and print “phasing away” SEM and SEO was the way to go.
.net: Who’s your rap style influenced by?
CL: I wouldn’t say influenced, because I don’t think I sound like any particular artist. There are some artists who I listen to frequently and after listening to them, I get inspired to write. Jay Z is my favourite and then Weezy F, Bun B, ZRO, Scarface, Jadakiss, TIP and of course the D O double G. I’m a hip hop head. I don’t necessarily agree with everything these artists say and do but they are extremely talented and make good music.
.net: What does your entertainment company Mo Serious do, and how successful is your alter ego Poetic Prophet?
CL: Mo Serious is my life. It was created back in junior high school. I grew up in Missouri City TX (a Houston suburb). My friends and I always called it Mo Serious. I have a record label, Mo Serious Entertainment (currently deal hunting). I’ve released three projects and working on a fourth. I publish all my music through Mo Serious/ASCAP. We’ve started a mentoring program under the Mo Serious name for young men who need a strong, God fearing male to “lean on”. We have a production team doing audio and video production. We’ve been doing some real estate too. I’m in the process of building a location to house everything happening at Mo Serious, should be completed by the fall.
I’ve been doing Holy Hip Hop since 1998. I truly feel that the talent to write lyrics about basically anything is a God given talent. As a Christian, it is my job to spread to the word and try to lead people to Christ…, so I do that using hip hop as a tool. My peers gave me the name Poetic Prophet because after church I would rap about what the pastor preached about. I’ve released two albums and a mix CD and my third album will be out early next year and another mix CD this year. I’ve sold about 5,000 copies.
.net: What will your next raps be about? And what are your plans now? Is a SEO CD in the pipeline?
CL: The next raps… I’m working on a couple currently. I’ve had tons of requests. It’ll be a surprise so I won’t say now. Lyrical Marketing is the name of the SEO CD. I took the first five songs and some original tracks from a few producers and recorded them. It is available now.
As far as plans go, continue to build up Mo Serious, remain educated on the latest trends, techniques and tools for online marketing, service the accounts I manage at Pop Labs and help Pop Labs continue to grow and have a good time doing it all. In the end, hopefully I’ve done something that makes my children proud, didn’t compromise my faith and made a lot of money.
Comments
Gerardo / 24/06/2008 / 01:26 / http://www.volkdefense.com
This guy helped me understand the fundamentals of SEO and how to do it with your site. This guy is one of a kind and should open SEO services besides the Youtube videos, but still, this guy is amazing!!
R.J. Adams / 27/06/2008 / 06:31 / http://linkbuildingbible.com
Wow, that's awesome. I have enjoyed his raps. They are pretty funny. Iit's nice to have you guys sit down and chat with him and get his perspective on stuff. My favorite was his link building rap, because that's what I am focused on right now, but they are all pretty funny. I will definitely have to check out his other raps. Poetic Prophet, here I come. Maybe I could be the Eminem of the SEO rapping world.
Daniel Foster / 29/06/2008 / 15:53 / http://www.tavanza.com/
That's pretty cool. Who would ever think a rapper could promote SEO.
Chuck / 06/07/2008 / 06:35
Well .NET magazine was one of my favorite design based mags until I read this article. How about interviewing people who actually play a role in the industry, rather than some chump rapping about what anyone reading this mag already knows. Pathetic.
