Hip Hop from a fans perspective. Hmm. Am I a fan? I don't consider myself as such. Fans get bored, and move on to the next. They aren't so much about the cultivation of a thing as much as they are the consumption of it. So then, what am I to Hip Hop and likewise what is Hip Hop to me? For about two months I've had this sitting on my desk, swimming round my head hoping a light bulb moment would occur that might allow me to write something about my take on Hip Hop and what I want from it. But that's not what happened. And I think I've figured out why. You see, Hip Hop isn't just one thing to me. I've just come back from a trip to Seattle to visit my cousin. Seattle has a busy underground Hip Hop scene. And it's far from underground. It's in the layout of the backwards road system. It's in the power lines fueling the buses. It's everywhere. And it's eclectic following stands by its network of performers without waver. This is just part of what Hip Hop is to me. It's a culture that constantly repaints the mural of the communities it resides in. Hip Hop is the reflection of realities faced by its constituents. Its responsibility is to be the voice of the many that go unheard. Being heard is something that Hip Hop does well. Transcending race, gender, age, cultures, it travels across the ocean to paint more murals of the lives we do not know. The being heard part, yeah that's not the issue I take with the distributers of this art. It is what's being heard on a mass consumer level that disappoints. And if I had to sum up the impersonation of this culture you hear on the radio and watch on the TV in one word it would be this - Empty. Today's listener of Hip Hop does not learn about the struggle of a people to be heard. They do not feel the hunger one endured as a child whose mother could not feed him. There is no understanding of the woman who is told and believes she has but one valued asset. There was a time when Hip Hop acted as the vessel by which social commentary was broadcast to the nation - the world even. Today these truths go unheard, drowned out by the praise of a rented life that Hip Hop today now portrays. Perhaps this is a result of wanting to display an image of success vs. the image of strife. It doesn't matter what the initial intent was when Puff Daddy came on the scene - or rather the screen- and completely disfigured the face of a movement that was coming into its prime. Maybe that's too harsh, but if you were in Hip Hop at that time you are well aware of the abrupt shift that occurred in the industry. When the moguls realized they could sell pop packaged in Hip Hop wrapping paper I doubt anyone stopped to think about the affect it would have on the culture from which the genre spawned. And trust I'm not saying there isn't need for the feel good do nothing more than make you wanna dance song, but I don't need to hear it on Monday at 7am; and then every hour after that until the following Monday when the rotation starts over. The variety, that eclectic mix that makes Hip Hop so unique has been traded in for a one size fits all version whose only purpose is to sell ringtones. That balance of work and play is missing from Hip Hop today. The industry has shifted to giving the listener what they think they want vs. what they need. And what the culture of Hip Hop needs, the youth now coming up in it today, is a history lesson. And that is said with the confession that I myself am still studying that history as well. Hip Hop's purpose like most genres is to investigate, inform, and inspire through poetic verse. That is what I expect from Hip Hop. When I listen to a track I anticipate a story unfolding, I expect to experience a work of art. It isn't just entertainment for me. Its how I connected with a culture I was disjointed from due to the community I was raised in. I couldn't necessarily relate to what was being described because I didn't live that life, but it kept me from being ignorant to the way that others were living. I was drawn out of my bubble and into a greater society. It developed my conscience, and deepened my sense of social responsibility. Today the only thing Hip Hop is talking about on a large scale is to be self-important, self-concerned, and self-serving. And there is no accountability in the self absorbed world that has been created parallel to Hip Hops origins stealing its image and throwing it's substance to the side. Most of what you hear from your major labels today is disposable. The saying "not everything that glitters is gold" is how you have to look at Hip Hop now. You have to really search for the gems; that perfect combination of beat married to verse that causes you to sit back and reflect on the story being told. It is no longer served up on a silver platter. But I guess these days, that's exactly where the adventure of Hip Hop hides. Add Comment Support System 07/31/2011
Support system The last quarter of 2009 was rough. I had to cancel the sixth installment of the "Bring Your 'A' Game Tour" because funding fell through, I hit writer's block with my book, I hadn't been back into the lab to finish recording, a promoter cheated me out of $800, and the IRS hit me for $1800 in back taxes. On top of that, digital distribution royalties had completely dried up because I hadn't dropped a new album in almost two years. Adding all of these things up with the fact that I have a family to take care of had me more stressed than usual and running out of answers. Then I was hit with a sudden ray of sunshine. I do most of my brainstorming, working, and relaxing in the wee hours of the night when the average person is asleep, partying, or on a booty call. This particular night, I'd been contemplating my next moves, and had begun dumbing down my marketing plan for the next album when Lori, on her way out the door at 5 am to work, walked up to me, gave me my customary goodbye kiss, then said something totally unexpected: "Babe, I just want you to know that I believe in you 100%", not the unexpected part, by the way. "I want you to know that I have your back no matter what. I know that you haven't been taking risks like you used to because of our family, and it has stalled you and your career. We need to do whatever we need to do this year to get you back to, and passed, where you were. I won't get scared of bills being paid late. I know you already have your plan for the year. Let me know what you need from me and how much we're going to spend, then let's make it happen." Then she walked out of the door. I was speechless; not about the have my back thing. She's always had that. I was, more or less, shocked at the fact that she went so far as to say that she wasn't worried about the bills. Lori stresses if a bill is late; as a matter of fact, we have gotten into more than a few arguments over me not caring if a utility bill is paid on the exact day that the bill says. To me, the due date is the cut off day; anything before that is fair game. So to have her say that was equivalent to having a Black president, thought to be impossible until it happened. I went to sleep shortly after, then woke up a few hours later to get Jr and Jemal ready for breakfast. I'd already shrugged off what Lori had said. "She was probably still half asleep or something", I thought. When she got back home I asked her if she remembered what she told this morning. "Yes I do, and I meant it. I believe in you, and I know you're going to do great things. Times are hard right now, but I know the only way that we can get out of these hard times is to take some risks". "Where did all of this come from?" I inquisitioned. "I read your last article. The quote from Warren Buffet made me think". She was referring to the last article I had written for 2009, "Long Term Investment," which was inspired by a CNBC townhall meeting with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates at the Cornell School of Business. The quote that Mr Buffet had made was, "If you wait to see a robin, you're too late because it's Spring already." "I realized that if we wait until the time is right to do a lot of these things, then we will never get them." That day we sat down to talk about the marketing plan, and about what I needed financially and in woman power to accomplish all of my goals for 2010, and we've been at it ever since. I've finished recording Underdog, and set a release date for it (shameless plug: July 23rd, 2010). I have two other albums completely written. I'm shooting videos for the singles, "Mr Blue Collar" and "Heard It All Before" which features Akil The MC of Jurassic 5. I, along with Lori, am actively working this marketing plan with new vigor. It's almost as if the last three months of 2009 never existed. I would like to say that I manned up and picked myself up from the canvas like Rocky and started throwing hay makers. The truth is that I would be lying to myself. I stepped back in the ring because I was injected with the steroid called support from my family. Support doesn't come easy though, especially for those in the entertainment business. It's mainly for these reasons: 1. Everyone wants to be an actor, singer, rapper, producer, or something of that sort. Of those only a fraction of them even get to see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Furthermore, there are well documented cases of their failures due to mismanagement, shady managers, shitty deals, etc, etc. 2. Record labels have led the world to believe that success can only be had through them. So if you're not signed they are led to believe that you won't make it. 3. The Average Joe works at their job everyday to get a pay check. It helps to ensure the feeling of security. There is absolutely nothing the matter with that, by the way. I really commend folks that do get up and go to work everyday; however, the music business is just the opposite. It doesn't represent financial security. 4. Most artists are driven by their passion for what they do, so a back up plan is usually a null and void issue. They work little side jobs with no real intentions of advancing so that it doesn't interfere with their aspirations and goals. These are strong points against going into the music business, and why my family and friends were not sold on my dream of being the greatest and most successful rapper that ever lived. From the outside looking into my head, to bet my life on making it in a business that is as crooked and lopsided as music is stupid at best. I was determined to do it and do it right. However, I soon realized that I couldn't do it alone. The pitfalls, locked doors, and glass ceilings of the music industry almost demanded the need of a cheering section in order to keep performing at a high level. More times than not, I have been picked up by encouraging words from people that are close to me when I've been in an industry induced funk. I had to work hard to get them to that point, and here are some of the ways I did it: 1. Eliminate spare time. Your life should go in this order: Family, work, music business, and music. Sleep no more than 4 hours. Friends, clubs, vacations, and any other leisure time should take a back seat for at least a year. For you, it creates the work ethic and focus necessary to succeed and survive in this business. For everyone else, it lets them know how serious you are. 2. Make a clear goals list with everything that you plan to achieve in the next five years. Make some very huge and outlandish projections; however, make smaller easily attainable ones, like "finish project by May" or "book a date August in Atlanta". Post them in your house where everyone can see them (I prefer poster board, and cross them off as you achieve them. Also, share them with your family when possible. 3. Be positive. It's very hard for folks to look at negative people in a positive light. Read books with positive messages, turn off the local news and pick up a news paper, and smile as much as possible. 4. Master your vices. Pick two things that could interfere with your success that everyone knows that you're into, and stop them cold turkey. For me, it was drinking and clubbing. I didn't have a sip of liquor from May 2003 until July 2004, and I stopped going to clubs unless it was to promote or perform. 5. Have results. If you're going to the studio, come out with a song. If you drop an album, sell some copies. If you play a show, rock the house. 6. Drop the dead weight. People judge you by the folks that are around you, and rightfully so. I'm not saying to eliminate contact with people that you care about, but you could keep your contact and hang out time with folks that bring trouble to minimum. 7. Share every good thing that happens to you, and internalize the bad. It's a fact that everyone messes up and gets frustrated, but venting should be at a minimum. Instead, tell them when you book that first out of town show, and play that song for them when you get it mixed down. Long term Investments 07/31/2011
Long term investments I’m sitting here watching this Warren Buffet and Bill Gates town hall meeting on CNBC. The show was done before business students of Columbia University so, as you can imagine, they were hanging onto every one of these guys’ words. As a matter of fact, every question that they answered was accompanied by an auditorium of claps. My first thought was that it was pretty ridiculous, but then I started to think about the time that I saw Russell Simmons speak at Clark. I was doing pretty much the same thing. Besides, Buffet and Gates were spitting knowledge, Mr Buffet in particular. For those that don’t know, in early November Warren Buffet purchased Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad company for $34 billion…yep, billion. He was asked about it by a student, and his answer was somewhat surprising. Not to quote him exactly because I can’t, but he basically said that he bought the railroad based on what he believes would happen 10, 20, and 50 years from now. I thought, “Wow A $34 billion investment based on a theory beginning 10 years from now.” That’s a long-term investment for that ass. I cut off the television, and began thinking about the plight of an independent hip hop artist such as myself, and how what I just heard could help me. See, I’ve always thought of myself as a long-term thinker, especially when it came to my career; however, like many, if not all, independent artists who use their own resources, I’ve often found myself dumbing down plans based on what’s available, which in turn, usually change my long-term strategies. I don’t want to get into examples because I don’t want my ideas just out there in cyber space, but I’ve probably canceled, pushed back, or stripped down approximately 20 planned projects over the last 10 years. Would Warren Buffet and Bill Gates do that? Another thing they talked about was how this is the perfect time to get ahead, which basically meant, the economy is slow – so prices are low. I believe Mr Buffet said, “If you wait to see a robin, you’re too late because it’s Spring already.” Relating this to the me as an “indie” artist, I started to think about all of the shows that got canceled, postponed, or passed on because of money. Or better yet, all of the CD’s that weren’t given to people at my show because I had to sell a certain amount, and they spent all of their dough on the show and drinks. How many fans could I have created off simple acts of giving someone a CD or by playing a show for a pay cut? The dilemma: When should the independent artist choose short-term results over long-term goals? The solution: Never…if it sacrifices those long-term goals. We are at a point in music when the general public’s want for something new has intersected with mainstream music’s inability to consistently meet those expectations. Adding to this, the average person cannot purchase music at the rate that they used to and the introduction of technology allows one to get information to people at an accelerated rate for little or no cost. This spells one thing, O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y Let’s get it. My first national tour 07/31/2011
My first national tour First off, let me apologize for the late release of this month’s article. I’ve been having the hardest time deciding what this issue was going to about. My first thought was to do it on how to book shows, then it was on getting press, then it was going to be about promotions; however, I decided against these because every one of the 12 million music industry books out there can tell you how to do any or all of these things. The purpose of Indie Hip Hop 101 is to give insight past the surface issues. So I mulled over it for a few weeks, but still came up with a blank. And then I talked to a young aspiring emcee who will remain nameless, and got slapped right in the face with it. This cat was asking me about how I put together all of these tours with no money or radio play. So I told him a little of how I go about doing what I do. Even though I was putting in an effort to be careful not to overload or discourage him, I could tell by his facial expression that I was failing miserably. I pressed on though, because he needed to hear it. Then the youngster slides out, “How do you make your money?” I laughed and replied, “Very carefully.” In truth, that’s when the light bulb went on in my head. The issue with the game today is that new artists have been brain washed by reality shows and fake “record deal” contests into thinking that it’s an easy feat to survive and succeed in this business. They think that the money’s fast and the fame lasts (that rhymes. I think I’m putting it in a song). So the next few months are going to deal with the realities of the business, or more specifically, the “how-to” behind the “how-to.” My first national tour The first time that I booked a national tour was with my band, First Team. I booked it out to Cali, up to Portland, and back to Atlanta. This was going to be monumental for a few reasons:
For most independent artists, your first tour will be your hardest to book, it will take the most time to book, it will cost you a lot, and you will lose the most money. I can almost guarantee it. The silver lining, though, is that you have to do it any way. I know, not much of a silver lining. Okay, try this one. Everything begins with a step, and if you don’t take this first step, you will never have the opportunity to take a second. Hip hop is full of cats that never take a first step; just look around the scene of your hometown. My first step took me almost 6 months at 4 hours/day to book 16 shows. All of this on top of already having a full time gig, a woman, and still booking and promoting all of our local and regional shows. Since this was before Myspace totally blew up the digital world, everything I did was by mail. Which meant that I sent out 6 months’ worth of press kits, which was about 275-300, at about $1.50 each. That’s not including the price of the ink it took to print the press kits and CD’s. What it took to book the tour paled in comparison to what it took to actually leave: I had to get a rental that would fit all five of us and our equipment; the cost of CD manufacturing; gas. Plus, leaving money with my lady to cover rent, bills, and expenses. Then, you have to somehow figure in that things won’t go as planned. Two months before the tour I reserved a minivan, but when I got to the rental place they were completely out and didn’t know when the next one would be in. So after bitching, a couple of curse words, and a where’s your supervisor, they gave me a week free on the rental; however, the largest thing that they had was a Durango. I don’t know if you know about a Durango, but it’s not an ideal vehicle for a band and their equipment. So somehow we had to fit our bags, the drums, our two amps, and two guitars in this. We did it, too; it just wasn’t very pretty or comfortable. Once we were on the tour, there were a couple of things that we had to account for. In most places, we were given hotels, but there were a few places where we had to accommodate ourselves. Eating out killed us too. We ate at A&W, Burger King, McDonald’s, Whataburger, Jack In The Box, Taco Cabana, and everywhere else you can name. I spent at least $20/day on eating; however, none of this combined even came close to the price of gas. Also, we were touring with Dropbombs, and their van broke down somewhere in Kansas. So we had to find them, rent a trailer, and tow the van back to Atlanta. Truth be told, the only reason we sold 450 CD’s was because we needed to to get back home. All in all, to leave Atlanta cost us about $1200/each, and we came back with $200/each, which I spent on the next bill that came through the door. However, by most standards, the tour was a flying success. After the band broke up, Evaready RAW and I continued to tour as solo artists. Two tours later we broke even. The next tour after that, I netted 3 months rent. Soon after that, the economy tanked and those guarantees were either split in half or turned to door splits, and hotel rooms turned to crashing at the promoters crib. We still toured very successfully, but we revamped how we did so. I became smarter and more efficient with our money and time. Here’s some of the things that I learned:
Infrastructure: Part 3 of 3 07/31/2011
Part 3 of 3 MANAGER At least once every few months, I come across someone that asks me to manage them, and I always tell them the same thing, “I don’t even want to manage myself. Besides, I am the last person you want to be managing you.” They always retort, “Why not?” “I’m an artist. What’s worse is that I’m an artist who runs my own career. I would never give you a fair shake. Let’s say an opportunity to play with The Roots came across my table, do you think that I would offer it to you over me? Your manager should represent your best interests at all times, no matter what. Besides, what constitutes you having a manager right now anyway?” “I need somebody who could help me get my foot through the door, and represent my interests.” “You have albums out?” “No.” “You touring?” “No. That’s why I need a manager.” No matter the person, the conversation’s the same. More and more artists have latched on to this idea that they have to have a manager in order to get ahead. So oftentimes they sign with the first or second cat that approaches them with a resume or a mouth piece without really knowing anything about managers and what they should be doing. Also, they sign these contracts full of legal jargon and one sided clauses that, in the end, enslave them to the people who should be working for them. Taking this into account, the first thing an artist should do before signing any contract, especially a management (publishing or label deal also) one, is go see a lawyer that is completely independent of the person whom you are making the agreement with. In other words, don’t let the lawyer of the person that you are doing the deal with explain the contract to you. You’re not their client. Most lawyers I know want a $1500 retainer before reviewing the contract and negotiating terms with the opposite party. Pay it, it’s worth it. The average manager compensation is 10-20% of the artist’s gross income. The spectrum is usually based on the work the manager believes they have to do. Newer artists are typically on the high end, more established ones are on the low end. Also, most managers want to be reimbursed for their expenses. For instance, if your manager pays for your studio time, at some point, they would like to recoup that cost without it being apart of their fee earned. Regardless of the agreement, every penny that is to be paid should be 100% explained in detailed in the written agreement, and all reimbursements to your manager should be done only at your approval and with a receipt that proves the expenditure. Choosing a manager is about more than the numbers though. It’s about trust. It’s about knowing that what that person brings to the table benefits you. It’s about having an active hand in your success. My disclaimer: What I am about to say is in no way a judgment on the profession of entertainment management. Also, the opinions of Quanstar do not represent the opinions of First Team Music (well, yes they do) or WordPress. Before I go on, let me say that I’ve never had a manager and have never come close to hiring one; however, the reasons for me not having one are based solely on not being able to find the right person for the job. So, Evaready and I created First Team Music to take ownership of our own careers. That doesn’t mean we haven’t stopped looking for a qualified individual. As a matter of fact, over the years I have and will continue to meet with dozens of them, hoping to find someone who could ease our load and handle the job of representing artists who already have a plan in place. Of course we haven’t found one, and I have promised myself that I won’t settle for someone who can’t do a better job of building the Quanstar and First Team Music Brand than I can. Before seeking or signing with a manager, I recommend everyone read and own This Business of Artist Management by X.M. Frascogna and H. Lee Hetherington and All You Need To Know About The Music Businessby Donald S. Passman. These two books, along with Kashif’sEverything You’d Better Know About The Record Industry (even though some of it is fairly outdated) will allow you the opportunity to make an educated choice on representation. They have proved irreplaceable for me. Also, as to not leave you hanging, here’s some practical advice from Mr. Blue Collar (me) himself. Before signing you should:
Infrastructure: Part 2 of 3 07/31/2011
Publicists I am an enormous cheap skate. I would rather tour in a PT Cruiser with no cruise control than a roomy minivan because it saves gas. I would much rather burn CD’s and print labels out of my house rather than send it out to be done. I would even rather sleep on someone’s floor over paying for a hotel; however, the biggest misstep that I’ve made in my cheapdom is not understanding the value of a great publicist. A publicist is as general of a profession as being a teacher. Some are Kindergarten educators while others are fifth grade. Some teach high school history while others teach eighth grade biology. Their specialties vary based on their specific accomplishments; however, they all have the same basic training and work under the same purpose…teach. The same goes for the publicist. Some specialize in event planning while others focus on sponsorships. Some work with nonprofits, and some work with music. Their one purpose, though, is to get their clients as much exposure as possible. Now don’t get me wrong, that exposure comes with a price. Most publicists that I know that deal in the independent markets charge between $1500-$2000 a month and want a 3 month contract. So really you’re talking $4500-$6000. Most times, the money’s due up front. For the average hip hop artist that’s scraping together everything that they have in order to survive and slowly prod ahead, this is almost an insult. I know, I’m one of of them. This is more than my entire recording budget. There was no way I could afford to pay that much for a publicist…I should have found a way though. Here’s the reasoning: The average independent is a one man show. We record, executive produce, book, manage, fund, and find a way to be an artist in between all of that. We either do a little bit of everything and really get nothing accomplished, or we excel in one or two areas and let everything else go to the wayside until we can figure out how to properly deal with it. The things that we concentrate most on is our musical content, booking and things related directly to them. The thing that usually suffers the most is presence (I’m using it as a synonym to exposure). With presence, comes value, with value comes money. In other words, the more you’re talked about, the more you make. Convinced? Great! Slow your role for a minute though (that rhymes). As I said a few paragraphs ago (still rhyming), publicity is a general profession, so it is imperative that you know exactly what you need from a publicist. Do you need press to support touring? A project? Are you looking for sponsorships? These are things that you should know before sitting at the table with someone to discuss being represented. This is your money…your hard earned money that takes food out of your mouth and away from your dream if it doesn’t work out. So make sure it does. Here are some things that you need to be wary of:
Infrastructure Part 1 of 3 07/31/2011
Every artists’ career is made or broke by marketing and infrastructure. Marketing is your advertising and is the engine that drives the car in the race. The best marketing strategies are pretty simple and easy to execute. All have general tasks across the board, but vary on specific terms and tactics which are based on the artist and the demographic that is being targeted. I am currently working on a series of articles that deal with marketing to the “underground hip hop” (I hate that phrase) and college demographics. This will take a few months to complete, so by process of elimination, my next three articles are about infrastructure. Your infrastructure is all about who’s handling your marketing and revenue streams; in other words, the pit crew that makes that engine run. The most important components of this is management, publicity, and booking. They determine how you’re going to get out there, who’s getting your music, where your music should be pushed, and when is the best time to put your music out there. For many independent hip hop artists all these questions are dealt with and answered by one person…you. This in itself is a pretty huge task, especially when adding the time and concentration it takes to write songs. Overwhelmed by these tasks, most artists, including myself, have shopped the market for help to alleviate some of the pressures of the “Do It Yourself” lifestyle; however, in the process of looking for a manager, booking agent, and/or publicist I can probably guarantee that most run across one of these people:
This perfect storm of give and take makes it nearly impossible to know who’s legit. I felt like I was making nothing more than a guess, and I wasn’t; however, I wanted that guess to be an educated one so I hit the books at my favorite “free read” spot, Border’s. The following articles are some of the things that I’ve learned about each. Part 1 of 3 BOOKING AGENTS Booking a tour is very meticulous. First, you have to figure out where you want to go, then you have to contact all of the promoters and clubs in each area. Compensation has to be negotiated, contracts sent and received, and, in most cases, deposits made. Booking agents take this stressful task out of the hands of the artist. Good booking agents are aggressive, and fight hard to get their clients the money they deserve. They DO NOT increase your money. If you average $500/show before you have an agent, you’ll probably get the same with the agent minus their fee. Here are some things that you should know before looking to to hire one though. First, a booking agent’s standard fee is about 10%-15%. If an agent asks you for a flat fee, like some might, they are probably not very legit. Why would you want to even do it anyway? If you have someone working strictly of a percentage of what you make, then it is only obvious that they would bust their ass to get you your dough because they get paid only from you getting paid. So be prepared to give that agent $50-$75 per show for that $500 that you’re making. It’s worth it. Please note, though, that just because you’re looking for a good booking agent doesn’t mean that they are looking for you. For one, unless you’re signed to a major labor or a touring heavy hitter none of the bigger firms will fuck with you (though there may be a few exceptions); the smaller agencies typically always have a full roster because if they don’t they probably won’t eat. The next thing, which is always hardest for entertainers to grasp, is that you may not be worth their time. Booking agents, as stated before, are compensated through a percentage of what you make. You being paid $300/show may not be worth their time, because that means that they would only get $30/show. For example, $300/show at 100 shows/year is $30,000. The booking agent would get $3000 of that. This is small beans in eyes of the booking machine; however, there are instances where agents may take you on as a client because of your upside. Who knows? Also, another reason why a booking agent may not be interested in picking you up is because hip hop is a specialized art form that deals with specific crowds. Meaning that, unless you are an established artist, there may not be 100 shows/year worth any real money available to you. Despite all of that, if you want a booking agent you should look into getting one; however, make sure your ducks are lined up because first impressions are everything in this business. Here are some quick points:
Make A Plan 07/31/2011
In 2001, when I joined forces with my business partner, fellow emcee, and close friend Evaready RAW and started the group First Team, our perceptions of the music business were the same as most that come into it. To get a hot product, get radio play, hire a manager, get signed, have a booking agent, and become millionaires within a couple of years. Lol. Suffice to say, after about a year the reality of the game slapped the shit out of us. We had a pretty good product but was still recording. Our efforts to get play on V-103 and Hot 97.5 (now is 107.9) weren’t working. We realized that most people that say they were managers knew less about the business than we did, and the few cats that did know what they were doing couldn’t be trusted to walk more than two feet in front of us (the subject of next month’s entry). We weren’t signed. Booking agents wanted a tour history, which we didn’t have. We had no clue of what it would take to succeed or, at the very least, properly function as artists and entrepreneurs in this industry, but I was going to find out. The beautiful thing about huge bookstore chains is that they let you just sit and peruse the inventory for free, and since money was short, I took full advantage of Border’s Books hospitality. Matter of fact, for 6 months I was there almost every day from open to about 7 or 8pm. Two books that I did purchase were This Business of Artist Management by Harry Blumenthal and Oliver Goodenough and Everything You’d Better Know About The Recording Industry by Kashif and Gary Greenberg. In these two publishings I was able to grasp the true nature of what we’d stepped into, which was a cesspool of tomfoolery; however, they also gave me a better idea of how to navigate through that cesspool by talking about compensation; roles of mangers, booking agents, and other music industry professionals; and what to expect from labels and production companies. So now that we knew what we were into, we then needed to figure out how to beneficially apply that knowledge to us. So we sat down with a pen and paper and asked ourselves some questions. Who is our audience? What did we want from music? When would we have a finished product? Where do we fit in? How do we succeed in the over-saturated market? What are our strong points? What are our weak points? Who are some of the people that we would like to work with? What are we willing to sacrifice to make this dream a reality? After we figured all of that out, we then began planning. First, we started with goals. We put down our lifetime aspirations for our group. Then, by using our lifetime goals, we came up with or 5 year goals. From the 5 year goal came the 1 year goals, and from the 1 year goals came the 6 month goals. From the 6 month goals begat our Quarterly plans. From the quarterly came the monthly, and from the monthly, weekly goals were added. We review each at the end of the perspective periods and tweak what we need to. Then the next thing that we did was to come up with a business plan. I know some of you may be wondering why you would need to have a business plan as an artist; however, I believe every artist should look at themselves as a business, whether you are registered as one or not. It gives you a realistic idea of what you can, will, and should accomplish. Where goals are what you want to do and the things that want to own, your business plan is the who, what, when, where, and, why. A very good plan is your complete career path, even providing possible bumps in the road that may come along. We made our plan, then rewrote it again, and again, and again, and again. We kept writing it over until we came up with a valid map for us with little or no loopholes. From beginning to end, it took us about 8 months, and we weren’t done there. I review it every year to update and alter when necessary. A couple of times I completely redid the entire plan to fit the what we saw as future market trends. Below is some key points of our current plan. Read it, and hopefully you could get some great ideas about it. Mission statement- To be the world’s leading hip hop music management company by innovatively connecting our artists with their audience.
Our principles-
Our primary objective is to create brand name status and longevity for our artists by:
Music is not the lottery. Not everyone is going to get a big break and luck is a figment of the imagination. If you want it then plan it. Peace. Next issue out Monday July 6th Quanstar Get your twitter upwww.twitter.com/quanstar Welcome To Indie Hip Hop 101 07/31/2011
Over the nine years of being an independent emcee and business owner of First Team Music, there are many things that I have learned that have directly contributed to the modest level of success that I am currently enjoying. This blog’s purpose is to share many of these things that I’ve learned through my experiences or from speaking to others. I know some of you might be wondering why I would give away knowledge that I have acquired through my own blood, sweat, and tears for free. After all, the music business is cut throat and I should keep every advantage that I have. There has to be an angle, and there is…I want to help people help themselves. Still not convinced? Okay here’s the logic: In all of the touring that I’ve done, I ‘ve had the opportunity to go a lot of places and meet a lot of people, and the two things that I’ve learned is that: 1)hip hop is everywhere, and 2)just about everyone wants to be a rapper. In Atlanta, there is no “just about” in front of it. I have yet to go a day without a cat selling me a CD, saying that he is the next big thing, and/or talking about how dope of a lyricist they are. Within itself, that’s not a problem because if you believe in what you do and want it you should go and get it; however, because everyone’s doing it the same way there is a bottleneck occurring on the streets right now, which means that no one is getting ahead in the game as fast as they should. Also, because everyone seems to know someone that’s always in the studio recording that platinum hit, the profession of emceeing, through the eyes of the average person, has become the equivalent of playing the lottery. The single most reason that I’m sharing my experiences is to give you alternatives to what you are currently doing, and get you out of that traffic jam. After all, if people don’t take you seriously, they won’t take me seriously. Well hope you enjoy the blog, and look forward to seeing everyone blow up. Peace. | AuthorEverything that I've learned and every piece of advice that I got is here. ArchivesFebruary 2012 CategoriesAll |
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