Step 01 — Foundation
The Phone Studio · Lowest-friction reps
What Nett did: BandLab on his phone, in mom's car and the laundromat. No mic, no treated room. Heavy synths, repeating 808s, mantra over meaning — production that hides vocal limits. Volume first: multiple snippets per week, not one polished song per month.
Do this this week
- Pick one free phone tool: BandLab / GarageBand / FL Mobile / Soundtrap. Delete the other DAWs for 30 days.
- Build a Snippet Folder: 30 slots (00-29). Goal: fill with 15-20 second loops — 8 bars, one hook, one visual.
- Rule: No mixing, no mastering for snippets. Export phone-mix. Done > perfect.
- Steal Nett's trick: Let the beat carry lyric. If you can say it in 6 words, loop it 4 times.
Billie parallel: Billie + Finneas wrote "Ocean Eyes" in a bedroom on Logic with a $200 mic. Family bedroom = same low-friction loop.
Things to consider
- Phone quality is a feature — lo-fi reads as authentic to 13-19 ears. Don't hide it.
- You need stolen time: commute, lunch, laundromat. Not "studio time."
- Keep samples royalty-friendly (Splice free, BandLab loops) — avoid early takedowns.
- John Summit did this with house: laptop + pirated loops → SoundCloud bootlegs daily. Same reps logic.
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Test: Can you make a snippet in 45 minutes from phone? If not, your tool is too heavy.
Step 02 — Foundation
Join a Gang · Micro-scene before audience
What Nett did: NOVAGANG / 1c34 / WitchGang on Discord + SoundCloud. He traded verses for beats with producers (OK, zoot, etc.), got covers, reposts, and Discord hype — free distribution before any fan existed. He was useful to 10 artists with 2k followers.
Do this this week
- Join 3 Discord servers + 2 SoundCloud collectives in your micro-genre (search: rage, jerk, plugg, sigilkore, house edits, bedroom pop).
- Give 2:1 — two free verses/beats/covers before you ask for one.
- Pitch template: "Yo — love [track]. Got a loop you'd want a verse on? No promo, just wanna trade. Can turn in 24h."
- Make a Gang Sheet: 10 names, their follower range, last drop, what you offered.
Sombr parallel: Built via TikTok collab chains + indie Discord before Interscope. John Summit: Midwest house Discord → bootleg trades → bookings.
Things to consider
- Don't chase big artists. Target adjacent size (0.5× to 2× your following).
- Discord > Instagram DMs. Server culture rewards daily presence, not cold pitches.
- Produce visual trades too: offer cover art or TikTok edit for a beat.
- Warning: Gang-hopping kills trust. Pick one scene and stay 90 days.
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Pitfall preview: Skipping this to "go viral alone" is why 90% stall. See Pitfalls →
Step 03 — Velocity
The Snippet Engine · Post fragments, not songs
What Nett did: Posted a 13-second Twitter/X snippet of "drankdrankdrank." Let kids screen-record and repost to TikTok, gatekeep ("newgen!!"), argue. Full song came after demand existed. Result: 1M monthly before any album. Retention-edited sound — claps, chants, Subway-Surfers pacing — built for re-watch.
The system (copy exactly)
- 5 snippets/week — vertical, 12-20s, one hook on loop, captions, no intro.
- 3 variants per snippet: different visual (car, laundromat, bedroom, Roblox/Sims), different text hook.
- Post 1 to TikTok + Reels + SoundCloud + Twitter/X, but seed 2 to your Gang for reposts.
- Metric: Track reposts, saves, screen-records — not likes. Saves = demand.
- Only expand snippets with >3% save rate into full songs.
Sombr ran this at 30× volume in 2025 — still works, just noisier. Billie seeded "Ocean Eyes" as SoundCloud snippet before DSPs.
Creative rules
- Hook in first 1.5s. No build. Nett's ear: beat starts at full.
- Visual = phone-quality, not studio. Car, laundry, hallway. Kids trust lo-fi.
- End on loop point — viewer re-watches to catch lyric. That's retention.
- Caption with question or gatekeep bait: "is jerk dead or am i trippin?"
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Unique mechanic warning: Nett's Twitter→TikTok arbitrage was late-2023. In 2026, prime is TikTok & SoundCloud-first. Adapt channel, keep loop.
Step 04 — Velocity
Surf the Micro-Genre · Don't invent, ride the wave
What Nett did: Didn't invent rage/jerk — he timed it. In 2023-24, rage, jerk, and plugg were cresting in 13-24 feeds (Xaviersobased, Yhapojj, Osamason as lead surfers). Nett's "jerk + witch-house + trance" packet landed where demand already existed.
How to surf without chasing
- Map 3 micro-genres adjacent to you (e.g., for rap: rage, krushclub, sigilkore; for house: speed house, phonk house, jersey edits; for indie: digicore, glitch-pop).
- Check weekly: SoundCloud charts, TikTok "new music" tags, Discord pins. Are 13-19 feeds posting it?
- Rule: 70% your core + 30% surf — add one surf element per snippet (e.g., jerk claps, witch-house pad). Don't genre-hop wholesale.
- When surf fades (3-4 months), keep the fans, drop the tag. Nett still jerk at heart, even as tags moved.
Things to consider
- 2026 watchlist: rage is cooling, jerk mutations, phonk-rage hybrids, digicore + jersey rising. Don't bank on 2023's exact sound.
- John Summit surfed tech-house → festival house mutation; Sombr surfed indie-TikTok → alt-pop pipeline. Same principle.
- Use Chartmetric/SoundCloud Pulse to see micro-genre velocity, not Spotify Top 50.
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Pitfall: Copying Nett's exact 2023 jerk drums in 2026 = nostalgia act. Kids moved. Surf forward.
Step 05 — Aura
Engineer Aura · The non-musical moat
What Nett did: "Ungodly levels of aura" — bleach-blond flop, sleek fits, crystalline voice, mum private life. "Hold my hand if you think it's for life" vulnerability + lean lore creates cognitive dissonance kids obsess over. Aura is not looks alone — it's consistency + mystery + beauty + nonchalance (definition his fans use).
Aura kit (budget)
- 1 signature: hair, glasses, mask, nail, tooth, jacket — repeat it in EVERY visual. Nett = bleach flop. Billie = green roots. Summit = sunglasses at night.
- Fit uniform: 2-3 thrift + 1 statement piece. Photograph same mirror, same hallway. Repetition = iconography.
- Private by design: Share process, not personal life. No address, no family, no politics early.
- Vulnerability line: One raw lyric per snippet ("it gets weird growing up") — dissonance creates lore.
Cheap icons beat expensive shoots. 30 hallway mirror vids > 1 studio shoot.
Things to consider
- Aura without music = costume. Need 50 snippets before aura matters.
- Don't cosplay Nett's exact flop. Find your one thing kids can draw in math class.
- Roblox / avatar fit matters — kids swap hair tips and Roblox guns to your tracks. Design avatar too.
- Easier for house/DJs: mask, uniform, booth energy = same mechanic.
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Pitfall: Over-curating kills nonchalance. If it looks like a moodboard, kids call you industry plant.
Step 06 — Aura
Fashion as Second Distribution · Sound brings boys, fit brings everyone else
What Nett did: Heaven by Marc Jacobs, Vogue World Paris, Miu Miu — not rap press. These placements bypassed algorithmic audio and imported a female + fashion-forward 30% of audience who'd never search "rage rap." Tees flipping for $1k proved scarcity economics.
Do this at 1k-5k followers
- Make one merch artifact: tee, balaclava, cap with single icon. Not discography — logo. Print 30 via local shop or Printful. Number them.
- Trade fits with 2 micro-brands (Depop, local thrift flipper, art student). Offer to model for their lookbook → they post you.
- Seed to style TikTok, not music TikTok: outfit checks with your snippet as audio. Tag #heaven, #archive, #opium-core — not #newmusic.
- Price high, stock low. Scarcity > sales early.
Sombr's vintage tees; Billie's oversized streetwear; Summit's house-uniform — same: fit as billboard.
Things to consider
- You don't need Marc Jacobs. You need one art kid who can make a tee people photograph.
- House / electronic artists: same logic via rave fit, not rap tee.
- Measure: Track female save rate after fashion posts vs audio posts. If gap closes, it's working.
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2026 shift: Fashion TikTok is now bigger discovery than music TikTok for under-18. Use it.
Step 07 — Aura
Withhold · Availability kills aura
What Nett did: Posted barely afterSnippet. Private life mum. Drops felt like events because absence built demand. Media: "tantalisingly unavailable … throwback to when celebrities barely posted." Counterintuitive in an algorithm that rewards daily posting.
Scarcity calendar
- Post snippets 3-4×/week, but full songs 1×/month max. Let 3 snippets die for every 1 you expand.
- 48h silence after a high-save snippet. Don't reply to every comment. Let gang defend you.
- Drop day = ritual: same time, same cover template, Discord listening party first, DSPs second.
- Never explain meaning. Let comments argue lore. Nett never explained bars — kids project.
Billie withheld visuals before "Ocean Eyes" blew up; Summit teased IDs for months before release. Same withholding premium.
Things to consider
- Scarcity only works after demand. If you're under 500 saves, post more, not less.
- Silence ≠ disappearance. Stay present in Discord voice chats, not feed.
- Album too early kills scarcity premium — see Pitfalls. BAFK came 13 months after snippet.
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Pitfall: Posting nothing before demand = algorithmic death. Sequence matters.
Step 08 — Conversion
IRL Conversion · 50-person pit beats 50k passive plays
What Nett did: Transformed streams into mosh pits. Early shows: Bushwick Market Hotel wood floor juddering, Mercury Lounge oversell → kids smash security scanner, Rolling Loud chanting through audio cuts, chasing his car after. Spotify rank still modest (#9,593) — but cultural density extreme. That's the trade he chose.
Your first 90 days IRL
- Book one basement/house show, art room, or skate park set per month (capacity 30-80). Not venue — community.
- Bring merch artifact (30 units). Sell at door, not online first. Physical scarcity converts.
- Performance rule: chant-ready. Leave space for crowd to shout hook even if mic cuts. Nett's crowd did.
- Record vertical, post 3 clips next day — social proof for kids who weren't there.
- John Summit's ascent was live-first: bootleg → local club residency → regional chain → festival. Same ladder.
Things to consider
- Don't wait to be booked. Throw it with your Gang + one skate crew/art class.
- For non-rap: house DJs — same with warehouse; indie — house show, not bar gig.
- Metric: Photos in your tee / 30 attendees. That's conversion, not Spotify saves.
- Legal: Get permission, don't smash scanners. Energy without liability.
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Why this last? IRL without steps 1-7 = empty room. Steps 1-7 without IRL = numbers on a screen.
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30-day sprint: Week 1 = Steps 1-2 (build folder, join gangs). Week 2 = Step 3 at 5 snippets/week. Week 3 = Steps 4-6 (surf + aura + tee). Week 4 = Steps 7-8 (withhold + book room). Everything measurable in
Toolkit.
Don't optimize — sequence.