For decades, artists have used recording studios not only as a means to record their music, but also as a space to be creative in, and generate new ideas inside. The traditional recording studio is not only a room with equipment, but also an engineer (turns the knobs), a producer (provides input regarding song structure and album concepts), and multiple assistants. Today, more and more people are pursuing recording as a hobby, and setting up recording studios in their living rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms, and garages. This is a much more affordable way of recording your music, but doesn’t come without its disadvantages. 

If you’re the artist, you have to ask yourself “What do I want to get from this experience?”. Do you want other musicians? Do you want production advice? What’s your budget?

There are many small studios popping up that have exactly what many people are looking for - good quality recordings of their work that they can share.. As you know, it’s easier to get music out to the masses than ever before, and if you have recordings on bandcamp, soundcloud, myspace, or other websites, you can share your music with the world.

That said, larger, more established recording studios can afford more expensive tools to make you sound better than you thought possible. It’s up to you which option is right for you. Larger studios have a greater overhead, and therefore need to pay the bills. Rates at these studios are generally higher than that of small studio rates. Rates at a well established studio can be anywhere from $75 - $200 per hour. Lesser established studios generally charge between $15 - $40 per hour. If you figure that your standard hip-hop album takes 10-12 hours to record, you’re looking at around $1,000 - $2,000 to record at a large studio, and somewhere around $200 - $500 to record at a small studio. It’s a big financial difference, and if you’re happy with the quality from the small studio, it’s the perfect situation. 

Another perk of the small studio, is more often than not, really inspired people set them up and work in them, so you know that a lot of love goes into the work. Sometimes in large studios, the workers are just there to put in the hours. Also, since the rates are lower, you get more work for less money in the small studio. 

The other option which many people are turning to is home recording studios.. Extra bedrooms or garages make great spaces, and you can get an incredible setup for less than $2,000 that will offer you a lifetime of recording in your own home. For a good hip-hop setup, you need a computer, recording software, a microphone, and an interface that allows you to plug the microphone into the computer. Here are my recommendations priced out - 

Computer: Hewlett-Packard, custom built from their website - $800 (Mac equivalent is 3-4k)

Recording Software: Pro Tools 9 - $500 (You pay more, but it’s the 
industry standard, and well worth the price)

Microphone: Audio-Technica AT4033 - $200-$300 on the “used” section at guitarcenter.com

Interface: Edirol UA 5 USB Mic Pre-Amp - $289 at soundprofessionals.com 

There you have it - everything you need to have a great home studio for under 2k. 

As I said before, it’s up to you to decide what you want from a studio. Do you want to build a home recording studio so you can record at your house 24/7? Do you want an affordable professional recording experience, where you walk away with a CD in hand ready to distribute to the masses? Or do you want to go all out and spend the money for the big time recording experience, and have the next platinum single? Choose your own adventure..

Life is simple. Life is simple. Life is simple.

No matter how many times I was told or read a book that preached the calm and order in simplicity, I never listened. I bring this up because I was having a random conversation with a fellow entertainer about influences, environment, circumstances, and how they cause people do this or that. You know, the same old bullshit. It's funny how people always say the same things.

Interrupting his spiel, I said, “Homie, you are making this way too complicated. Life is simple, brah. You're born at Point A and you die at Point B...all you have to do is figure out the middle.”

“That's the complicated part”, he replied.

“Noooo, that's the hard part”, I interrupted. “Complicated and hard are too different things. One means that you can't figure it out, and the other means it simply takes a lot of work to accomplish.”

We disagreed, of course, and moved on to other business. Later that night, though, I heard someone else talking about something similar. What are the chances people would be talking about their problems in terms of complications and too much going on in the same day within my listening radius? Pretty high actually, but I needed inspiration because I hadn't written in this blog for a few months. So I allowed myself to think it was some sign from the universe telling me to spread my words and thoughts on the simple life. I came home and immediately started writing.

Funny thing is that I didn't know how to convey my message. Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) has been done to death, as with everything else. That is, until the following day. I was helping my son with his homework when the answer revealed itself to me. “Life is Mathematics. All you have to do is simplify and solve.”

I hate to take y'all back to school, but you remember those Math worksheets we got when we were young? This particular one had these long ass equations. You take a look at the first one and notice it has a bunch of x's, y's and a couple of z's to throw you for a loop.

3x-3y+4y+2x+16y-x+3x-4x+z-x-x-3y+12x-6x-3x-x+x=10z


“What the fuck?” is your initial thought, especially with it being the first problem. You're terrified to scan the rest of them. Then, you think about the directions you were given and what you were taught, “Simplify and solve.” So you begin to do just that.

First, you put everything in like terms, meaning the x's go with the x's, the y's with the y's, and the z all by itself. The z on the answer side of the equation is all right as is. So, after doing the number shuffle, the equation now looks like this:

3x+2x-x+3x-4x-x-x+12x-6x-3x-x+x-3y+4y+16y-3y+z=10z


It's looking a little more pleasing to the eye now because you put everything in like terms; however, it's still too long. You need to do more. It needs to be simpler. So you add 3x and 2x to get 5x. You take away x to get 4x. Plus 3x gives you 7x. Minus 4x gets you 3x. Minus another x gets you 2x. Take away one more and that's x, then add 12x, which is 13x. Shave 6x from there and get 7x. Taking off 3x gets you to 4x. Minus one more x gets you 3x. Plus x and plus x gives you the first part of problem, the “X-factor” if I may say (corny I know)...5x. It looks like this:

5x-3y+4y+16y-3y+z=10z


Now it's time for the equally annoying but now as complicated y's. So we start with -3y plus 4y, which is the same thing as 4y-3y. (Come on son, it's classic elementary stuff. 4Y is really +4y and -3y speaks for itself. In relation to negatives and positives they can be switched with each other as long as they maintain their value, meaning that as long as the 4 stays positive and the 3 stays negative we're good. I think. Lol.) That equals 1y or just y. Tack 16y on that and you get 17y. Lastly, take 3 away and that equals14y. The z stands on its own.
The problem now looks like:

5x+14y+z=10z.


Looks much easier, right? Actually, there's another step after that to make it even easier, but I'm stopping now because my head hurts too much already from teaching this to my five year old every week. It still serves the purpose.

Too often, we look at the chaos around us and try solving it without ordering and simplifying what we're going through or what we're trying to achieve. We get frustrated, bitter, and depressed because we've failed to uncomplicate our life; consequently, we get very little, if anything accomplished, and eventually quit.

Trust me, I understand...your situation is unique. You have this and that and that and this, and something or other, and so on and so forth. I've been there. I felt overwhelmed and trapped. I felt the weight on my shoulders. I didn't know where to start, and I couldn't see through the clouds enough to seriously plan anything. Then, I started simplifying it.

I made my family and work life x, the music business y, and leisure time z. I put all the like terms together, stopped worrying about things I couldn't change, looked at how I could improve the ones that I could, created a plan to do so, and then took it one step at a time. Shit is still hard, and doesn't always get done when it should; however, because I have a simplified view of the equation called my life, I am able to instantly identify why it may not have gotten accomplished and adjust to it. If I can do it, you can do it.

What's up indiehiphop101ers. Ghani Gautama here, founding member of Street Temple Emcees, one fourth of United Underworld, one half of Salty Dogs and your sister's favorite hip hop vagabond. Quanstar was kind enough to have me come do a guest article so here it goes...

In September of 2010 I moved from Atlanta, GA (my home for 10 years) to Charlotte, NC. It was a business and personal move and in my short in my new digs (9 months as of writing this) I've been able to keep my show schedule full, acquire professional management and secure a venue that allows me to throw my own monthly events. All of this in addition to maintaining my obligations to my Atlanta cohorts. None of this was by accident. I took some very teachable steps to make this so and I'd like to take this chance to share some tips with you.

Why move?

There's a lot of reasons and they will differ from artist to artist. Perhaps it's a personal move or an opportunity to conquer a new market. Whatever the reason, it is important to remember that it can be either a disaster or a victory and this all depends on your attitude. Even if it's not an outright business move, if you approach it as an opportunity, it can become a beneficial move. These five tips worked for me and I am confident if you follow them you too can orchestrate a successful relocation.

ONE) Don't Look Back In Anger

One of the factors that went into my decision was the saturation of hip hop acts in Atlanta. A lot of artists go to music hot beds (like I did in Atlanta) to get their careers off of the ground. This can be a good idea, there are lots of opportunities and connections to be made but it also puts you in a BIG pond with a lot of even BIGGER fish. In my case I felt that I had done all that I could in Atlanta without conjuring up some magic money to throw at the situation. Regardless of your reasons for leaving, NEVER and I repeat NEVER do so bitter. Make sure you thank everyone who's helped and supported you while you were in your old location and keep in touch with them. It's easy to say "this town sucks," flip a bird and ride off into the sunset but you will at the same time alienate and anger a city full of supporters (and potential supporters) and severely limit your chances of coming back. If you look at your move as a new beginning and not as an ending it will help you project this positive attitude.

TWO) The Three R's: Research, Reach Out and Reciprocate

Okay, so you've decided to move you know the location, what now? First thing is hit the internet. RESEARCH venues and promoters in the area and see what acts are active on the scene. Then go onto your social networks and REACH OUT to artists that you like and who are doing things that you want to get involved with. Reverbnation.com is a good tool for this. When you contact artists, be sure not to approach them with a hat-in-hand attitude, let them know who you are, give them links to your music and ask them if they have any advice they can give you for breaking into the scene. If you followed tip one you should still have you contact from your last place of residence so offer to set them up with shows down there if they would like. It's tempting to ask them to put you on, but trust me if you have what it takes the shows will come. Artists are busy with their own stuff, if you bring something to the table you put yourself in a position to be viewed as a peer and not some new jack with his hand out. Once you get this info start going out and supporting these people. You can't ask them to help you if you won't support them. Keep showing your face and eventually you'll get your shot and when that shot comes, RECIPROCATE, don't make people regret helping you because the news that you're an ingrate will travel fast and your opportunities will dry up even faster. I'd also recommend adding a fourth "R," RESPECT, this goes for life in general but definitely applies here and should play heavily into the next step.

THREE) Killer Instinct

This is where things get good. You've been out to some events, shook hands, and maybe even got a few chances to shine on the mic. Now it's time to go for the gusto. When you're out at these shows supporting your fellow artists, keep a sharp eye and ear out for the movers and shakers on the scene. Introduce yourself to promoters and venue owners and don't be afraid to sell yourself. You might be new to the area but your entire body of work is your resume. Let them know what you've accomplished and that you are available to work. It's important to remember that these folks don't generally discuss business at shows so get their contact info and contact them through the channels which they prefer. I call it "killer instinct" because it is what sets amateur artists from pros and it's something that many don't possess. It is imperative that you conduct such conversations with confidence and professionalism so don't drink too much and watch your language. That being said don't be stiff or get too exited, as they say in sports, act like you've been there before. Approach these people in a way that reflects that you already have things going on and that if they pass on you someone else will jump at the chance to work with you. In sales they call this "fear of loss," in music you have to be a little more subtle in how you communicate it but the concept still applies. Knowing how to go for the "kill" and get your own events going will allow you to you to repay all the people who have helped you in your new city as well as provide new opportunities for your people back in your old city.

FOUR) Be Prepared

It's the Boy Scouts' motto but you should make it your own. Technology has made things extremely easy for hip hop musicians. I keep sets of 10, 15 and 20 minutes on the mp3 player in my phone and always carry a eighth inch to quarter inch audio cable and USB cable with me whenever I go out to anything. There's also a myriad of compact USB storage devices available so there's no excuse for being without your set, at the very least, burn a few CDs of different lengths and never leave home without them. You never know when an chance to play will fall in your lap and-especially when you're new to town-you never want to have to turn that chance down due to lack of preparation. I mean, really, a $10 jump drive that weighs less than an ounce can open so many doors.

FIVE) Humility, Humility, Humility

I say this thrice because it is that important. It is important to be confident, but never forget that the people who can help you the most have more than likely been building their business in the area for a long time. Even if it isn't the most crowded show or you don't get the best time slot, ALWAYS say thank you, not just on stage but in person at the show and again after the show by phone or e-mail. The same applies to your fellow artists, even if you don't personally care for their style of music, dap them up and tell them "good show." When people pay you compliments, look them in the eye and give them sincere humble thanks. This is always important but even more so when you're new in town. People are going to be more inclined to help a person who is humble and grateful more so than someone who isn't. It's also important to remember that whatever dues you paid in your old town don't mean anything in your new one so pay them with the same humility and vigor that you did back when you first started. Paying dues should actually be easier the second time around because you will have a clear cut strategy on how to move up in the game unlike when you were a young buck flying by the seat of your pants.

I hope this helps, it's important to note that there is no magic bullet to doing anything in this crazy business but these pointers helped me out a lot. My most recent relocation has been a swimming success and that is in no small part because I utilized all of these tips. If anyone out there has any more tips to add PLEASE post them in the comments.

Stay Thirsty My Friends,
Ghani Gautama ghani.gautama@gmail.com

A couple of years ago at The Hip Hop Congress Conference, I walked in on a few folks talking about what people at these conferences talk about:

"The State of Hip Hop and what we can do to save it."

Under normal circumstances, I'd immediately change course and run for shelter to protect myself from all of the bullshit that's being shot out of people's mouths; however, the conversation was taking place in the hotel room that I was staying in, and I was waiting for the pizza that I had ordered to be delivered. So, I found a seat on the other side of the room with the television and turned to ESPN.

I can't remember who the anchors were, but they seemed to keep me interested in the show enough to ignore most of the hullabaloo on the opposite side of the room despite the fact that The Lakers, Dodgers, Angels, USC, or Serena Williams weren't the constant topic. I mean, I still heard the usually blurt points like, "Hip Hop is dead" and "Kids listening to Hip Hop nowadays don't know the histrory." For the most part though, the ignorance of the "Hip Hop Elitist" was stopped by my sports filter.

What is a Hip Hop Elitist, you say? They are those hip hop fans that usually listen to songs from artists that you wouldn't normally hear on your local "mainstream" radio stations, with the exception of Common, Nas, and Kanye West. They are immersed in the culture, usually being an emcee, producer, DJ, B-boy or girl, or something that allows them the credentials to be overly critical of what they listen to.

Being that I'm describing most of you reading this blog right now, including myself, it is a safe assumption that you think that there is more to this Hip Hop Elitist thing. You're right. See, the Elitist goes a step further than just mere taste and preference. They actually believe that they own the keys to the gates of "Hip Hop," and anything that they don't like is not getting in that gate and, therefore, is not hip hop.

Back on topic. Almost two hours after stepping in the room, I'm sitting there at the TV listening to NASCAR Today, still waiting on my pizza, clinging desperately to the words of Brad Daugherty when my concentration broke (probably because I realized that I didn't know anything about NASCAR, other than Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart) and heard "All radio plays is that wack shit," which was true; however, they took it further by saying that, "people don't know what real hip hop is, and the radio and record companies don't want to give it to them."

"Every time I think I'm out they drag me back in," I thought. So I took a deep breath, sighed, and said, "That's not true."

"What's not true?" someone replied.

"Your entire statement is bull shit." I was setting him up.

"What are you talking about? Hip hop has changed. It used to be about reporting what you see going on. It used to mean something. Now they disrespect women, make up dances, and talk about being in the trap all of the time." Of course, his fellow Aristocrats nodded in agreement.

"First off homie, hip hop changing has nothing to do with what you just said before. Days change, people change, and music changes. Does Chuck Berry sound like The Beatles? Do they sound like Jimmy Hendrix? Did he sound like Rage Against The Machine? Do they sound like Creed (please excuse me for comparing Rage to Creed)? Does Creed sound like Mars Volta?" I think I lost him with Mars Volta, but I'm sure he got my point.

"That's not the same thing. Hip Hop is more than music. It's a culture."

"Do you really think that hip hop is the only musical genre that was developed out of a culture or vice versa? The music always defines the culture and the times. Woodstock defined the times, and the music reflected that.

"Furthermore, you have to understand that record companies are corporations and the only thing that matters to corporations are profits. They profit by giving people what they want. People want what they like. If a radio station is playing a song, it's typically because their listeners are responding positively to it."

"So you're saying that makes the music good?" he cut in sarcastically.

"Nope. I personally don't like most of the things that are played on mainstream radio or on most of the music video channels, with the exception of VH-1 Soul."

"Then why are you arguing with me about this? I don't understand. You must be playing Devil's Advocate."

"No, sir. I legitimately think that you're wrong." He frowns and I continue, "Just because you don't like something or think that it's wack doesn't mean it's not hip hop, it just means that it's wack to you.

"Whether you like it or want to admit it, hip hop is Bentleys, booties, dope dealing, and dancing (truthfully it has always been, but I didn't say that because I was closing a door and had no interest in opening another dumb ass conversation) as much as it is graffiiti, breaking, Djing, and freestyling. It is a reflection of what our society is. If you want to change the music you have to take on the task of changing society; however, that then brings up the question of what you would change about society. Frankly, that's a discussion that could last for years.

In my opinion, you should be interested in how you could get the Bentleys to listen to the graffiti. In other words, instead of exorcising wack music from hip hop, you should be figuring out what makes that wack music resonate with the people that like it."

Well, that conversation went on for another hour until my pizza came. I'm pretty sure he didn't agree with anything that I said, nor did I expect him to, which is why I tried to avoid the whole conversation in the first place.

However, my point was valid. Too often we in the music industry hear something that we don't like or relate to and brush it off as BS. We feel that it's beneath our music and tastes to subject ourselves to it. That's fine. This is America, you can like or love or whatever you want.

The issue is that when people don't respond to our music like they respond to the BS, we get upset and defensive when we should be objective and analytical.
Why is my music not resonating with an audience like I feel that it should?
Is my music as good as I think it is?
What can I improve about it?
Am I pushing it to the right audience and demographic?
Do I have a sound marketing plan?
Am I taking advantage of all avenues available to me?
Does what I expect to get out of this in the short term reflect the time and money that I'm putting into this?

And then comes the most important question..."How are these wack cats getting all of this pub?"

Answer: They hustle, and they hustle hard. They are everywhere people are with CD's and fliers in their hands, most of the times giving them away for free. They are in everyone's face and at every radio station trying to get their music on. They eat, sleep, and drink getting put on. Eventually, they do.

So, the next time you hear another stupid song on the radio about the newest dance or how someone's Maybach is looking clean as hell with half naked strippers hanging out of it, think about what they did to get their wack asses where they are. Then, apply it to you.

PS- I just wrote this whole article on my Android.

Laws of AttractionFrom Quanstar's new book, "Water From Turnips", due out soon

I read somewhere that we are sum total of the people of what we have around us. Since the beginning of time, there have been countless books and philosophies developed on this theory. The Bible itself says "As a man thinketh in his heart then so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). More recently, a powerful documentary named "The Secret" talks about this very thing. Whatever the source, this is a true Law.

When I came into this business, I was looking for a break. So naturally, I came across two types of people:

Those looking for breaks
Those looking to take advantage of people looking for breaks

E met Karl through Keuh in between the time that Ant was locked up and we hooked up with 4 Kings. Keuh produced most of the tracks on our first album, Anti-Social, and he is a good friend of ours. Karl was supposedly helping Keuh get some of his tracks to label A&Rs. E told me that Karl liked our music, and that he wanted to talk to us about being signed.

From the time I met him he dropped that game on us. Told us we were hot, he has a meeting with Rawkus and Universal the following week about Keuh and that he wanted to take our shit with him. The no brainer answer was "Hell yeah! Make that shit happen." So he talked about what songs he liked, and asked us where we're recording at. The regular old small talk that usually sets you up for something, but I'm open at this point, so it doesn't matter. We'd just started recording Anti-Social, and we were already about to get signed. The fact that it was Rawkus was the icing on the cake. I was going to be doing songs with Talib, Mos, and Kool G. Rap. We were going to tour the world together, and, you never know, they might get us in with Spikicker and OK Player. By this time next year, we're going to be on the cover of The Source (did I ever tell y'all that I'm hella imaginative). I'm sure he saw what was going through my head, because at that point he dropped that it would be $500.

We kinda came out of the coma, and gave each other a look. So he started gaming us again. "Usually for something like this, niggas will charge up to 5 times of what I'm asking, and they want a percentage and ownership included." We knew that was true. He wanted to get started right away, so we gave him half up front (mistake number one). He didn't have a contract on him, so he was going to run home and get one, then hit us back (mistake number two). He called us later that day to say that he couldn't get the contract to us tonight because he had to fly to Florida for some meetings. But he would get up with us this week when he brought Keuh his contract from Rawkus..

Later that week, E and I had realized that we hadn't heard from Karl so we decided to call him. Obviously he didn't answer, so we left a message. We then called Keuh who said that he talked to him an hour ago, and that Karl was driving in from Macon to bring his Rawkus contract. However, when Karl got here, and showed up at Keuh's house, he told us that he left his briefcase in Macon. This went on for about a month before I realized fully what had just happened. To make a long story, we never got signed, we never got a contract, Keuh never sold any beats to Rawkus, and we lost $250. Doesn't really sound like that much, but that was an 8 hour studio session or a hot track. It was a night on the town, or a round trip plane ticket to Cali.
For about a year, I hoped that I saw that nigga again. He was going to give us our money back one way or the other, and then I was going to put my fist through his grill for wasting my time. Then one day I decided to let it go. People like that always got what was coming to them, and why should I stop moving forward to waste my time on this fool? Life was a lesson, and we'd just learned one: Being hungry and ambitious is different from being desperate and naive. Nothing in this business is typically that easy, and everyone is shady. Stop shooting for the stars. Instead build a rocket ship, and fly there.

I still occasionally see dude around, and far as I know he is still doing the same shit. As a matter of fact, E's brother Vincent, an extremely talented actor all the way up in New York, was about to hire him as his representative a couple of years ago until we stopped that shit. We've moved on to bigger things, and Karl is still doing his same ole hustle.

I could've done the obvious. I could've been soured to the industry, convinced myself that making it in the business was a pipe dream, and that I should forget about all of this up in the air shit and find a "good job." As a matter of fact, I would've done that earlier in my life because failure meant that I wasn't supposed make it. I chose to learn that it was time to get serious though, learn from the incident. No one is going to give it to me, so now it's time to take it piece by piece.

After this Karl incident, I had to rethink our plan of attack. So for about two months I sat back and observed hip hop. I listened to everything that I could get my hands on. I read every trade publication that talked about hip hop. I spent countless hours on the Internet searching for answers. How do we get signed, and be bled by the industry? Then one day it all clicked. We don't. We put our middle fingers up, and do it ourselves, but there is a lot of things that needed to be done before we could just go all out.

First, this was my vision so I had to make it happen. Not saying that E shouldn't have some accountability, but what I want to do is kind of crazy so I shouldn't expect others to completely latch onto it until it starts to work. Even then, though, I shouldn't expect them to take the lead. I'm the one that thought it up, and I should be the one that sees it through.

Second, I needed to figure out where hip hop was going to be in one year, then five years, then ten years; in addition to this, I needed to figure out where we fit within those time limits. Also, I needed to come up with a plan that is based on future industry trends rather than the current ones. It needed to be flexible, cost effective, and easily downsized.

Furthermore, the plan needed to be as independent from outside intervention as possible. I know that at some point we would need some major dough backing us, but I needed to get us as far as I could with what we had before we started bringing "Big Wigs" into our situation.

Third, I decided that I was going to give everything that I had to this plan no matter what. Either I was going to rise or sink with it. I would not abandon the ship if my life depended on it. Happiness was secondary. Comfort doesn't exist. Unless it is my child (which I didn't have at the time) or wife (which I still don't have), it takes a second chair.

Last and definitely the most controversial, my music is my God and I am its Prophet. My rhymes make up my Bible, and my songs are the chapters. People are with me or against me. If you're against me I don't have time for you. If you're with me, I hope you can keep up. Either way, I'll be back for everyone when I get to where I'm headed. For me, this was another cataclysmic moment, because Karl allowed me to realize that wanting a "big break" and not taking charge of my reality was being a victim.

I'm not much into watching news channels because they seem to care more about polarizing their viewers. Fox paints the Democrats out to be loons and Anti-American socialists, MSNBC describes Conservatives as money grubbing Jesus yelling racists, and CNN shifts between the two descriptions every hour. Personally, I like my news to be objective and not in pep rally form so I choose to read all about it in the Wallstreet Journal and on Bloomberg.com, but even they are starting to be silhouettes of their former selves in order to compete.

The other day I was flipping through the stations and stopped on one of these "news sources" to hear some story that had to do with the Tea Baggers. It was a rally of some sort. The clips had the speakers talking about taxes being too high, the cost of health care, the elimination of the public school system, abolishing OSHA and the IRS, and how minimum wage is killing small business.

Intrigued about how this many people can dispute the relevance of something like OSHA, whose sole purpose is to ensure safe work conditions, I cut off the television and went to Youtube. What I found was nothing short of "what the fuck?" No I'm not talking about the signs calling Obama a nigger, socialist, or The Anti-Christ. Nor am I talking about the "healthcare is white slavery" phrases. I'm talking about the amount of folks that are letting these people shove feces in their throat and convince them that it's caviar.

You are a worker or professional in the middle class whose entire life will be spent working for someone else, and you believe that one of the reasons that the economy and the country is so jacked up is because the government requires companies to operate under certain standards and pay their employees a minimum wage. Not only that, you are for disbanding the public school system, despite the fact that you can't afford private schools because you're either unemployed or under paid due to the economy. I even saw a video that had a lady talking about the government had no business in the health care system; even though she was holding a sign that said,

"Government, keep your filthy hands off of my Medicare."

The best way to describe my thoughts was "facetiously disturbed." Don't get me wrong, I am all for what is supposed to be the basis of the Party's gripe, which is constitutional responsibility; however, I find that their claims, wants, and anger aren't centered in that. It, more or less, uses the U.S. Constitution as an excuse to push agendas.

The fact of the matter is, there are a lot of wealthy folks using this as an excuse to push through things that better their situations at the expense of the lower earning brackets. For example, the whole hullabaloo about the taxes being too high sounds great to a person who doesn't know anything about the history of income tax rates. If they did they would know that taxes aren't really that high if you compared them to our past tax rates or most industrialized country's tax rates.

As I'm watching all of this, I couldn't help but to think about the music industry and how it parallels the Tea Party. The Tea Party is exploited by wealthy folks who were looking to further their self interest by tapping into the anger of the average joe, and convincing them that the very things that will help them are the things that are hurting them; in addition, they make these folks believe that if we can get things passed that help me, then it helps you too.

In the same vein, the Music Industry is run by record company execs who want to make as much money off of you as possible while giving you as least control as possible, while convincing you that they are completely looking out for your best interests.

Let's go back twelve years to when Napster opened the flood gates to piracy. Every record company in the world was doing everything that they could to shut it down.Why? Well, the obvious reason is that it cut into album sales, so that was, in part, understandable; however, I was dismayed by the amount of artists that actually came out against this also.

For those that don't know, the average artist signed to a label, major or independent, very Rarely (with a capital 'R' that really means almost never) receives a royalty check.

For example, Happy MC signs a 4 album deal with the hip hop label, "Eff Me Over." First, Happy should understand that it's really a one album deal with 3 options for the label. In other words, if you sell they will probably pick up an option, and if you don't they will release you.

Happy will get somewhere between 9-15% of album sales sold in traditional outlets and varying percentage rates of albums sold in other ways. That rate is "all-in," which means that his cut takes care of producers. Since Happy got this new, up and coming cat, Dirt Money, to lace him with tracks it only costs him somewhere around 3%. Also, the label deducts 25% for packaging. After all of this, Happy's royalties are about .90/album.

Now comes the interesting part: that advance that the label gave him, the studio that they insisted he record at, and all of the promotions that they did all have to be paid back through that .90/album. "Eff Me Over" spent, or said they spent, $225,000 on all of the above for Happy. That means that he has to sell 250,000 albums before he gets a dime off of royalties.

After realizing what his deal really entailed, Happy MC has turned to Mad Rapper; however, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Unless he was foolish enough to sign away his publishing and performing rights, which a lot of cats do, he can make his dough on the road.

Taking all of this into consideration, logic should dictate that he would want to get his music to as many as possible, because that increases the chances of more folks being at his shows; however, he doesn't see it that way. So he stands with the record companies and their shell organization, RIAA, to stop folks from sharing music over the web without permission, despite the fact that he won't make money from royalties.

Booking your first out of town show is much like losing your virginity:
- you don't really know what you're doing.
- the anticipation is euphoric.
- the feeling is even better.
- it's over before you realized what happened.
- you exaggerate when you brag about it.
- the longer away from it you get, the more you start to believe the bullshit that you told your friends.
- you can't wait to do it again.

My first time came in 2003. My now defunct hip hop band, First Team, released our debut project, Anti-Social. We'd been playing all over Atlanta, and began building a decent following; however, after months of playing the same songs to the same people in the same places, we decided to step our game up and book some out of town gigs.

Because I didn't have the dough to buy them initially, I would sit in the cafe section of Border's until it closed with a notebook and copy information on venues from books like The Musician's Atlas and Billboard's Musician's Guide To Touring and Promoting. For those who may not know, these books are probably some of the most important things that an independent artist can own. They are released annually, and provide very useful information. For me, it was the state by state listing of venues and press.

I didn't have a computer at the time, so I would spend an expensive amount of hours at Kinko's, and would run up my cell phone bill calling the venues to make sure the information was valid. After two months of red eyes, deteriorated hearing, and cotton mouth I narrowed it down to about 100 venues that we could potentially play at. Now it was time to hit it.

Back then, there were no epk's and "send me a link to your myspace". If you wanted a show you had to send it by snail mail. That meant a bio in color (none of Microsoft Word shit), an 8.5"x11" black and white photo, a CD with at least 3 songs on it, and a couple of press clippings in a manila envelope with a stamp.

Knowing that Kinko's would cost me an arm and a leg to get that done, I went to Staples where it only cost me my left arm. Since I am right handed I didn't mind it so much. I put the packets together, and took them up to the post office to hold the line up for 20 minutes while the lady weighed every package and put the right postage on it.

Altogether, I spent something like $500, which was my entire check, to get the packets together and send them out, and I hadn't even booked a show yet. It had to be done though, so I didn't complain to anyone, but I did get a second job so that I could make rent.

From everything that I'd read and was told by people that toured regularly, I should wait a few weeks and then contact these places about shows. Well, that took a whole other batch of trips to Kinko's, and minutes ran up on my cell phone. It got so bad that Sprint switched me over to an unlimited plan that cost $100/month, and it cut down my bill by a couple of hundred.

Another couple of weeks went by and I finally got a reply from one spot in Chapel Hill, NC called The Skylight Exchange. The deal was that we could have the door, and something to eat. Really? Shit, we would've probably done the show for a bottle of Tequila and a pack of cigarettes (I don't think any of us even smoked cigs, but you get the point). I told everyone in the band the good news. Now all we had to figure out was how we're going to get there.

There were 5 of us and our equipment (bass, guitar, drum kit, and amps) to account for so we couldn't just take one of our cars. Instead, we had the bright idea to rent a 15 passenger van so we could ride up in comfort and style. Besides, we weren't worried about it because we'd make it all back at the show.

The drive from The A to Chapel Hill was about 6 hours, which was more than enough time to allow my imagination to set the stage of what was to come at the end of this trek.

How many folks would be at the show? Around 100

How much merch should I aim to sell? After the crowd hears us play, we'd probably sell everything we had, which was around 50 CD's.

Then I thought, "Damn, maybe I should've brought more"; however, once we got there I realized that I'd probably brought too many.

By day, The Skylight Exchange was a small independent book store, and hang out spot for many of the "better than Barnes and Noble" hipster kids that showed their disgust for the corporatacracy by shopping at "indie" multi million dollar chains like Urban Outfitters. We felt pretty good about that though, because that was our core college audience.

The thing that made us say, "Whoa!" was the performance space. Basically, after 8:30 they cleared out the tables and chairs in the middle of the floor, put a riser for the drums there, and it was showtime. This didn't even bother us. Shit it was a show...our first show out of town. It didn't matter where we were playing to us as long as the people came and we made money. Then I looked to my right, and got bothered.

About a month earlier, I had printed up about 400-600 fliers and 20 posters and sent them up to Skylight, as they'd asked. I was under the assumption that they were going to be putting some up and handing them out to promote the show coming up, but I should've known what happens when I assume.

Bringing everyone up to speed on what the situation was, we decided to take the stack of fliers and pass them out after sound check. Not fully letting go of my visions of playing a packed house, I figured if we took the couple of hours we had before the show and hustled fliers, we could still live that reality.

We hit Franklin St (the main street in Chapel Hill) hard. We taped fliers on poles, put them on parked cars, handed them to folks walking down the street, and hit up the workers in restaurants.
We handed out so many fliers that people were like, "You guys just gave me one".

Despite that, we had more than half the stack left. That's when we stopped and actually looked around to notice that, even though we told everyone we came across about the show, there weren't that many people out and about, especially for a Friday night in a town supported by a major university.

My first thought was that there was a football game going on, but since it was Friday I dispelled that pretty quickly. Then I thought maybe there was an out of town game going on; however, this was University of North Carolina football in the early 2000's...not basketball. So I would think it highly unlikely that the town would be practically deserted of its student populous for just another game.

Stumped, I did what I should have done in the first place, ask someone walking down the street about it. We were told that the school was on Fall Break. "Fall Break?", I thought to myself, "What the hell?" Between the 5 of us, First Team had 3 Bachelors Degrees, a Masters, and almost 30 years worth of college under our belts, and none of us knew what Fall Break was.

To be honest it didn't matter much, because the bottom line was that we were about to play a show in a town that...
...we'd never been to.
...wasn't promoted by the club/bookstore.
...was on Fall Break.

Still we kept our chins up and our faith in the night strong (most likely because that's all we had left at this point). Some of it paid off before the night was over, too. Of the 30 people in attendance, at least 20 were met while on our last minute promotional blitz, we sold 20 CD's, and walked away with $60 off of the door (we decided to drop the door to $2 from $5 because of all of the things that came to light that night).

After the show, we drove straight back to Atlanta, spending the entire six hours conversing about the night, and how dope it was. Over the next couple of years, we played Chapel Hill four more times (Three of which being at The Skylight, including once when Yahya (our drummer) fell off of the drummer riser in the middle of a show), booked shows throughout the Southeast regularly, and had a national tour. I attribute all of that, including my solo career, to that night in Chapel Hill.

The Wall

For the independent hip hop artist, or any entertainer for that matter, the most important thing is figuring out how to break through that wall of noise between you and your audience. This is no easy task, either. The wall consists of three smaller ones cemented together - too high to go over, and dug in too deep to go under. So the only option available is to go through it.

The first layer is as solid as brick, and is the thickest of the parts, though nowhere near the hardest. It's reinforced with rows of steel beams. So after you chip through a little brick, you'll have to cut through the beams, then go back to chipping through brick until you get to the next beam.

The next one is similar to a thin layer of glass, so it's easy to look right through it; however, this can be a dangerous misstep. Some artists fail to notice it and, doing their best impression of a pigeon without its bearings, smash right into the wall. Others shatter the wall completely, eventually being slowed down by shards of glass lodged into their bodies. Both are extremely ineffective.

The last wall is the equivalent of reinforced steel that's not much thicker than the previous one, but is stronger than the other two put together. You can't see through it, or hear what's on the other side of it. Also, the layer is equipped with artificial intelligence that eventually adapts to whatever method is used to break, bust, or drill through it.

As if these weren't hard enough to get through on their own, things are complicated further by all of the other folks that are on the same journey as you. So now you're in a race to get there before everyone else, and that leads to a log jam because all of them are seeing the same way as you.

Sounds like some hard shit right? Well, it is. The music business is an extremely competitive and challenging arena that off of default creates more and more obstacles which, in turn, expands the division between the artist and the audience. For the independent, every division seems galaxies apart, and due to lack of finances and opportunity, those galaxies are expanding exponentially.

Despite that, you have to figure out how to make it happen. This is your dream, this is your destiny. It's up to you to figure out your production and studio costs (First Wall), the best and most cost effective way to manufacture your music (Second Wall), and how to market it to your audience (Third Wall). So shut the hell up and make it happen (a little self therapy).

Before I go I would like to leave you all with a couple of things that have helped me:

First Wall - Cut costs, cut costs, cut costs! The worst thing that you could do is make the studio stage of your album the most expensive. So don't do it.
-Don't settle for the first studio you come across. Shop Craigslist and word of mouth for the best rates. Also, run away from big names, lounges, and amenities. As a matter of fact, if you could find someone with a studio in their house you'd probably save at least $20/hr.
-Before you step foot in the studio you should have a hard timeline set of when you expect to finish your project. For instance, I began recording "The Underdog" on Nov. 9th, 2009. I gave myself until the beginning of March 2010 to finish recording my project. I was done a month earlier.
-Figure out a realistic budget that includes everything. Keep it modest. Do not break yourself trying to get the best engineer, production, and mastering money can buy. Get the best that your money can buy.
-Perfection is for people with money. People want your album when they want it, not when it's perfect. Keep that in mind when you're in the process.

Second Wall - Be realistic.
-Don't press up 10,000 CD's because you "got a hit on your hands." Everyone has one of them. Start off with pressing up 100. If you're pushing more than 100/week, then go to 1000. When you're pushing more than 1000/month, then go up again.
-Look into alternative, less expensive ways to get your album out, like download cards.
-The only distribution you should worry about is digital, unless there is a retail distributor putting money behind your project. Otherwise, save the money that you would normally spend on CD's and slide that to your marketing budget.
-CD Baby, Reverbnation, and a few others have pretty digital distribution campaigns.

Third Wall - This is the last thing between you and your audience, which makes it the most important. Not getting through this final obstacle makes surpassing the previous two meaningless. Let's call this wall marketing.
-Think like a major corporation with a million dollar product and no money to match it. Bill Gates will do whatever he has to do to get a product that he believes in to the world, even if he doesn't have the money to do it. All it takes is a little creativity.
-What's your demographic and psychographic (I realize that I bring these up a lot, but that's because they are that important)? If you don't know what they mean then find out, and then go back to figure out your demographic and psychographic.
-Think about what you want to do with your audience years from now and set it up. Make everything connect and make sense to your fans. -That's the only way that you'll keep them.
-Look at things that everyone else is doing, and try something different. If people are handing out fliers to promote their shows, instead you should hand out a sampler CD with your shows' information on it. If they are standing on the street corner selling music, then you should walk up and down the street giving yours away.