What’s up everybody? ‘Tool here back with another post. I’m pretty sure the title might have turned some heads sideways, but hey that’s what I’m here for, to be 100% honest with y’all. I’ve been producing and mixing for a while and have seen a lot. What follows is my take on how a lot of rappers are committing career suicide. Trying To Live Someone Else’s Dreams It can be hard seeing your favorite artists on every screen imaginable, hearing their hit single on the radio 20 or more times a day and not think about following in their footsteps. Getting inspiration is perfectly fine but trying to duplicate someone’s success is pretty hard if not almost impossible, especially in music. Be honest with yourself. Does the music you’re making motivate you, let alone your fanbase? Does it have substance that can stand the test of time 10+ years from now and still be relevant? Does playing one of your songs get a reaction that it sounds like another established artist’s song? If you have negative answers to these questions you may want to reevaluate why you’re really making music for. What I’m trying to make you see is that everyone has their own path. You may want to be a chart topping, mega touring artist. But the universe may have other plans for you. There’s nothing wrong with being independent and still able to take care of yours without a song on the radio, a million streams and every endorsement you could think of. Here’s a quick story about my journey. I started out rapping with some friends in high school. It was fun while it lasted but it wasn’t my passion. I got behind the mic and fell in love with producing which also turned into being an audio engineer. Now if I had followed my buddies’ dreams I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today. Not Taking The Business Seriously You want rap to be your full time gig huh? Well it’s time to catch up on some business tips my friend. Go to your local library and start reading up on how to run a small business. Get familiar with the terms, publishing, copyrights and royalties just to name a few. We’ve seen the same old story time and time again of artists getting taken advantage of in their “deals.” Don’t be the next TLC or New Edition. Get a leg up on the competition so you can make progress. This book really helped a lot. Affordable too. Stealing beats from YouTube won’t cut it. Trying to get a video done or photography “for the low” all the time isn’t a good look either. Understand that it takes money to make money. Some of you may be very talented and just don’t have the funds to stretch and that’s fine. Trust I know that life too well. Don’t get discouraged. Try bartering something of more value than you’re trying to get. So that doesn’t mean trying to trade weed for beats. If you have a skill you think a producer could use, let them know! No Call No Show More. Live. Shows. Plain and simple. There’s so much that can open up from being in front of a crowd. You can sell merch, network with other industry folks, get a feel for where to improve, the list goes on and on. When your fan base can connect with the music live, the world is yours. Especially when you put on a great show. That’s how you keep a fan in the long run, they’ll come back for more. Producers will start to seek you out to get work done. Other artists will want to collab. Book as many shows as you can. Try scheduling around something you have to release. Gotta new single? Do a few shows a month to build awareness. Album just dropped? Get the artists that were featured and run a show together. Just throwing some tips out there. I want to see you win. In closing this game isn’t for everyone, only the strong survive. I’ll see y’all at the top.
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instrumentoolI have a passion for teaching and writing. Some of my many thoughts are here. Archives
November 2020
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