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Today we’d like to introduce you to Trenton Pinkston.
Hi Trenton, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My journey began in the Fall of 2015 as a freshman in high school. I had just came across two classic albums that would soon spark my love for hip-hop music: “Illmatic” by Nas and Slick Rick’s debut album “The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick”. Prior to this, I was just a casual fan of rap music. Whatever was popular in the mainstream at the time was mostly what I would listen to on most days. Listening to these projects sparked my interest in diving deeper into the genre, especially material from previous generations. Soon I became invested in artists such as 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Kendrick Lamar, and Wu-Tang Clan.
A passion started to develop for the art form and I wanted to share it with others as I continued to learn more. Social media seemed like an obvious outlet for me to do that. I was bored one afternoon in my bedroom and decided to start a page on Instagram. The name “Hip Hop Appreciation” rang a bell and perfectly described my intentions for creating it. My first post was a photo of 2Pac in a blue beanie that read “THUG LIFE” across the top. I remember putting a filter over it and captioned a quote from his song “Trapped”: “Work me like a slave while they laid back. Homie don’t play that. It’s time I let ’em suffer the payback”. That was on Halloween 2015. It’s been up from there.
I would post multiple times a day about different artists, classic songs and albums, and underrated rappers that I thought deserved more appreciation for their craft. It didn’t take long for me to attract a decent following and get involved with a community of other rap pages and fans who shared the same passion as me. This would continue throughout high school and the beginning of college as my hip-hop knowledge expanded and I improved at content curation as well as engaging with my audience. The possibility of the platform being a potential business opportunity didn’t hit me until the COVID-19 pandemic. Before then, it was simply a rap page that eventually grew bigger than I originally expected and I was grateful for that. With well over 100,000 followers around this time and with some money coming in from promotions I had been doing for small artists over the course of the prior year, I decided to take it seriously. I stepped up the quality of my edits and began incorporating more news-related content.
In 2021 the page brought in about 60,000 followers, which was the largest amount of new followers I had seen over the course of one year at that point. As of March 2023, the page has over 220,000 followers including Chance The Rapper, Ab-Soul and REASON of Top Dawg Entertainment, Benny The Butcher, stic.man of Dead Prez, Kareem “Biggs” Burke (co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records alongside JAY-Z and Dame Dash), and the legendary Rakim and LL Cool J. Artists such as SZA, Big Sean, Smino, JID and Cozz of Dreamville, Joey Bada$$, Tory Lanez, Slim Jxmmi, Rapsody, DJ Premier, Cordae, and even Kanye West have all engaged with the platform in some way along with many others. The account reaches millions of people every month. I’m very proud of how far it has come and want to continue growing and expanding my business.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Considering my story is still very young and has mostly been centered on social media, I’m sure I still have many challenges ahead of me. It can be difficult to remain consistent with creating, curating, and posting content after a while. I have only missed a handful of days over the last seven years where I didn’t post. That can become draining at times especially when you are doing it all by yourself while balancing school and a social life, which is why I plan on searching for help with social media management in the near future.
Another challenge I’ve faced is being able to keep engagement consistent. Building up a large following is one thing, but having an engaged following that’s fully invested in your content is another. At one point early on, I was terrible with engaging with my audience and wouldn’t respond to most comments or random DMs because I wanted to seem professional like the big blogs and pages. But I quickly learned that in order to get the level of consistent engagement I want, communicating with my following is necessary. The quality of your posts also goes a long way. There are still periods where overall engagement isn’t where I’d like. That’s when I take time to curate quality content that I know works well with my niche. As long as I’m consistent then the results usually pay off.
Comparison is a mental challenge for me as well. Even though I am thankful for the following I’ve gained, there are moments where I feel like it should be bigger than it is now and compare myself to other platforms who may be growing at a faster pace. When this happens, I try to check myself and focus on channeling that energy into motivation and improving my content while finding ways to complement the algorithm.
We’ve been impressed with Hip Hop Appreciation, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am currently a full-time student at Georgia State University, I’m also an aspiring entrepreneur and plan on expanding my business upon graduating college towards the end of 2023 which includes hiring employees and freelance collaborators, starting a website, merchandise, and investing more into creating original content. I offer promotions and advertising to independent artists, record labels, brands, and media companies through my Instagram page (@hiphopappreciation), that’s focused on hip-hop music and culture. It currently has over 220,000 followers as of March 2023. I have recently been able to branch out into interviewing artists as well. Through this platform, I have learned many tools in social media marketing and management. What sets my brand apart from others is the research and effort I put into my content and how I engage with my audience.
I’m proud of the following I have been able to gain and the millions of accounts I’m able to reach monthly since I started the page in high school. Major artists who I admire have either followed or engaged with the platform. I could have never imagined that type of recognition when I first started. I enjoy sharing my love for hip-hop culture with a community of people with similar interests and receiving feedback from them. Being able to provide people with a platform where they can engage with others, discover new music, and expand their hip-hop knowledge while helping talented young artists grow their fanbase is what I am most passionate about.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Being consistent and my commitment towards making my brand a success. Also, having a passion and vision for what I aspire to do.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiphopappreciation/ https://instagram.com/hha_tre?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hhappreciation?_t=8aGhGliZYgo&_r=1
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hhappreciation
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9VyID6nLEIPoO2yn3mAp0w
- Other: linktr.ee/hiphopappreciation
Image Credits
Kaylah Johnson Xavier Willcox Trinity Meadow
