In 2016, having a music video or a song on the radio or featured in a movie is an old-fashioned way of judging a hit. Rapper Sage the Gemini has had all those things, including three hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 (“Gas Pedal,” “Red Nose,” “Good Thing”) and an appearance on the soundtrack for the seventh Fast & Furious movie. But these days, music success requires innovation, like when Snapchat featured Sage’s latest single, “Now & Later,” on its interactive New Lens filter. Sage is an old pro at using new media to reach an audience, having first achieved success thanks to a viral MySpace video for his 2008 song “You Should Know,” which racked up 3 million views.
Since then, Sage has collaborated with superstars from hip-hop (Flo Rida, 2 Chainz, Ty Dolla $ign), R&B (Trey Songz, Tank, Jeremih) and pop (Chris Brown, Jordin Sparks, Nick Jonas) on a variety of singles, both as lead and featured artist. His second full-length album, Bachelor Party, is due out later this year, and promises to expand his sound even further. Whether you hear him on TV, on YouTube, on Snapchat or on some platform yet to be invented, Sage is pushing his music into the future.
Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel, 9 p.m. Jan. 28, starting at $22 plus tax and fee. 888.929.7849
