Indie rapper Tom MacDonald clocked over 1 million YouTube views in less than 24 hours with his new single Don’t Look Down. The video is trending on YouTube and #1 on the iTunes Hip Hop Charts.

“This never stops feeling unbelievable to me. No gimmicks. No clickbait. No controversy. Not even a chorus! AND WE STILL DID THIS!!! I know there’s folks punching the air right now” says MacDonald.

MacDonald has no label, no big marketing and promo. It’s mostly all him driving the MacDonald machine. MacDonald keeps on reminding everybody that he has no music label. I’m not even sure if that’s a talking point today. More entertainers are building multi-million businesses without the help of a label. Sure, the label may promise global exposure. But who needs global exposure today? Sure, radio pays better than streaming, and labels still own radio, but radio wouldn’t play MacDonald anyway. Radio is today’s jukebox. It has the same classics on repeat. Not that a major could help MacDonald, but if they did strike deal, you wouldn’t know about it. The major would have an arrangement with a subsidiary label and they’d make money from a distance.

The buzz around MacDonald doesn’t come from marketing and promo. His notoriety comes from work ethic and superstar talent. He’s raising the bar for each song. He connects to an audience and gives them everything of himself which nobody nearly does today. He’s non-stop talking to fans, if he’s not creating a new video, he’s live streaming.

Politicians and internet influencers dominate the discussion while artists fell by the way side. Artists want to be neutral, but neutrality no longer exists. People just don’t buy songs, they buy values. This is Tom MacDonald’s ace in the pocket. He addresses cultural talking points – social issues, race, gender and the economy. He isn’t afraid of the big man because he wasn’t created by the algorithmic machine.

MacDonald claims he’s the new Slim Shady. And quite frankly, he is Em with more cojones.

You don’t get it still
I am the one
(Don’t look down)
You don’t have to admit it to yourself, you don’t have to admit
(Don’t look down)
You don’t have to tell the whole world that when you look at me, you have to look up to me
And I don’t look down
(Don’t look down)
Everybody, please keep on talking, I am a f#$king superstar