In Week #2 I featured a Reflection Eternal record, featuring Mos Def, J. Cole, and... Jay Electronica. Well last week it was clear that DJ Enuff wasn't the only one who felt like Hip-Hop radio deserved to hear Jay Electronica, as "Exhibit C" was heard within the rotation of several commercial channels.
Week #4 of Hip-Hop's livest year yet introduces you to some more radio ready MCs, who your local commercial radio programmer might want to check up on, Final Outlaw as featured on Jay Smooth's illdotrine page, Loer Velocity currently being pushed by one of the key players behind the legendary days of Def Jux (DJESE), and Homeboy Sandman who's gotten just about every cosign an MC can get without a major label budget (starting with the Source's "Unsigned Hype").
1. "Fallen Heroes"
2. "World of Poverty"
3. "Extreme Measures"
Peace to everyone that came out to see me, Zee, Fadil, Mal B, and Wiz at the Haiti Benefit last night (I'm told we raised some good funds for a good cause). To everyone who's coming out to check me at the "Freedom Hip-Hop" show tonight... see you in a minute!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
How to Make a Living as an Artist in 5 Steps
I was challenged by the Willpowa Network to explain, "How to Make a Living as an Artist". Here's how you do it...
1. It's easy to let day to day things interrupt your art, but you can also let your art interrupt the day to day things.
Keep a pad and utencils around, if you're at a computer, keep a txt, paint, or recording program open (depending on your art). If you have a cel phone, learn to quickly open the voice recorder, tasks, notes, or memos so that you can quickly write down new ideas as they come.
2. Breathing is involuntary, because it is vital to your survival. Consider making your art the same.
Set a minimum goal of 10 to 60 minutes daily to practice your art. If you miss your daily goal, don't even worry about it. The more you try, the more you'll succeed. This is a focused set of time, even if it's just 10 minutes, for you to do your thing. No TV, internet, phone, or any other interruptions... and no judging. There will be time to edit later, but now is the time for unrestrained creativity!
3. Plants do not survive in the dark, and neither will your artistic career.
Find a job where you can use your artistic ability. If you really can't do that, then keep pictures of your art, or your performances where you work - and bring up the subject of your art whenever you can (try lunch time, not randomly in the middle of a staff meeting). If you are at a job that doesn't support you being an artist at all, find a school, library, or non-profit organization where you can volunteer.
4. Great ideas and energy are just that - if people can't own it, they won't pay for it.
If you've done all the above, the people who you are volunteering or getting paid to help regularly, will be dying to support your art. If you don't have it packaged, they'll have to shop elsewhere. If it's music, keep a few CDs with you whenever youi're out. If it's visual, print out a couple posters or shirts. If it's performance, have lots of business cards with you. The price doesn't have to be on the package, but you should be prepared to answer the question, "How much do you charge?" They are paying to get something that they can't have without paying for - a ticket, an experience, something tangible - remember that.
5. People view ads and buy stuff everyday - why not yours?
Find out where your type of art is being advertised or promoted, and add yours to the list. Newspapers, blogs, radio, there are so many avenues for this, so dedicate a day out of each week to do this. And the reverse is true too... If you start your own blog, video channel, or other outlet, people will start to depend on you for content... and advertisers will pay you to promote their content as well.
Here's my blog:
Now Go Make a Living as an artist!
1. It's easy to let day to day things interrupt your art, but you can also let your art interrupt the day to day things.
Keep a pad and utencils around, if you're at a computer, keep a txt, paint, or recording program open (depending on your art). If you have a cel phone, learn to quickly open the voice recorder, tasks, notes, or memos so that you can quickly write down new ideas as they come.
2. Breathing is involuntary, because it is vital to your survival. Consider making your art the same.
Set a minimum goal of 10 to 60 minutes daily to practice your art. If you miss your daily goal, don't even worry about it. The more you try, the more you'll succeed. This is a focused set of time, even if it's just 10 minutes, for you to do your thing. No TV, internet, phone, or any other interruptions... and no judging. There will be time to edit later, but now is the time for unrestrained creativity!
3. Plants do not survive in the dark, and neither will your artistic career.
Find a job where you can use your artistic ability. If you really can't do that, then keep pictures of your art, or your performances where you work - and bring up the subject of your art whenever you can (try lunch time, not randomly in the middle of a staff meeting). If you are at a job that doesn't support you being an artist at all, find a school, library, or non-profit organization where you can volunteer.
4. Great ideas and energy are just that - if people can't own it, they won't pay for it.
If you've done all the above, the people who you are volunteering or getting paid to help regularly, will be dying to support your art. If you don't have it packaged, they'll have to shop elsewhere. If it's music, keep a few CDs with you whenever youi're out. If it's visual, print out a couple posters or shirts. If it's performance, have lots of business cards with you. The price doesn't have to be on the package, but you should be prepared to answer the question, "How much do you charge?" They are paying to get something that they can't have without paying for - a ticket, an experience, something tangible - remember that.
5. People view ads and buy stuff everyday - why not yours?
Find out where your type of art is being advertised or promoted, and add yours to the list. Newspapers, blogs, radio, there are so many avenues for this, so dedicate a day out of each week to do this. And the reverse is true too... If you start your own blog, video channel, or other outlet, people will start to depend on you for content... and advertisers will pay you to promote their content as well.
Here's my blog:
Now Go Make a Living as an artist!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Rapoet's 2010 Playlist Wk #3
Week #3 of Hip-Hop's best year ever includes a joint I saw Rakim do live the other night (from his new album "Seventh Seal"), a collaboration between Icon the Mic King and Elzhi (of Slum Village), and a leaked version of a new song featuring... yours truly
1. "Won't Be Long"
2. "Wordperfect"
3. "Feel So Bad"
1. "Won't Be Long"
2. "Wordperfect"
3. "Feel So Bad"
Monday, January 18, 2010
Rapoet's Downloads: Reflection Eternal
Like I said in the last post, Hip-Hop will be very lively in 2010. More Proof:
Download the new Reflection Eternal Mixtape here
While you're downloading that, listen to this collab I did for Furyus in 2005 called "MLK DAY"
I'd like to think that putting this out there in the universe paved the way for Will.I.Am and Common who put out this "I Have a Dream" song for the "Freedom Writers" sountrack in 2007. It helps that Common says (in the song), "Dear Self, I wrote a letter just to better my soul... My story like yours yo, it gotta be told."
If you're still downloading the new Reflection Eternal Mixtape, check this out:
While celebrating Martin Luther King Day, I spoke with a veteran of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement regarding the role of SNCC (the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee). SNCC was extremely influential in getting non-White Americans to liberate themselves from legalized racist oppression during the 1960s.
The funny thing about talking to people who were actually active in the Civil Rights Movement (in my experience), is they usually laugh when you ask them about how it's portrayed in the latest popular media reference. For example, Martin Luther King is overwhelmingly portrayed as the accessible Civil Rights activist, while being contrasted with Malcolm X, who is portrayed as the unapproachable one.
The truth is that Martin and Malcolm were only 2 of a large number of courageous people who made countless significant non-violent sacrifices to achieve freedom for all human beings (and we should be aware that many of them lost their lives and family members even before Martin and Malcolm were murdered).
Another misconception is that SNCC (as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) was primarily concerned with Black and White people being able to play and work together. Although that seems like I fine idea, it is an extremely oversimplified version of what was taking place. Sometimes, when you oversimplify things you actually take the truth out of them.
Black and White people were certainly already working together during the 1960s. However, if you've ever seen (or been one of) two people at the same job who didn't get along, you start to understand the issue.
- Imagine one of those people could never get a promotion, or receive equal pay, no matter how hard they worked
- Imagine people were allowed, and even encouraged, to physically and verbally abuse one of those people
- Imagine one of those people was not allowed to use the working bathroom, water fountain, cafeteria, and other standard areas of the job site
Now you start to get a truer image of what it was like in the 1960s. And it wasn't just about Black and White people. Much like the case of Mumia Abu Jamal was not just about a "Black man" and a "White cop". It challenges the entire issue of whether we should even have a death penalty, which might legally execute a person wrongly accused. SNCC challenged the entire issue of discrimination and prejudice. Not just against Black people, but against all people - including discrimination by White people against other White people! By the way, there are many other types of people besides "Black" and "White" in the United States, and the Civil Rights Movement directly improved all of our lives, all-inclusively.
To say that one loves their dog is fine. However, most people do not send their dog to school, do it's homework, marry it, and so forth. Most importantly, they would not let their dog take them to court, invest their money, or leave them at will. In the same way, to say you want Black and White people to work together is fine. Yet to say that during a disagreement, everyone is entitled to legal representation; when their is an election, everyone is entitled (and permitted) to vote; when there are facilities on the job site, everyone is given free access to them; these rights go far beyond Black and White people getting along. They go straight to the core of what happens when any human being doesn't get along with another human being, in a civilized society.
I feel that one of the most amazing, unique things about SNCC was that people like Bob Moses went door to door asking disenfranchised African-Americans, how their lives could be better, without being patronizing or threatening. Being able to listen to other people's frustrations and then work together to help them reach their goals was the true essence of SNCC, in my opinion. That is much harder to do, and more significant than "White and Black people holding hands." I salute those who did this work in the Civil Rights movement.
I believe they paved the way for the Zulu Nation, Temple of Hip-Hop, and others such as myself, to continue doing this work through Hip-Hop Culture today. We go beyond getting people of different colors to say our lyrics, write our names, play our beats, and do our dances - we do the difficult work of getting them to respect each other, and themselves, as they respect us...
You can see this About.com article for a review of some of the major activities and laws that were passed during the Civil Rights Movement.
Download the new Reflection Eternal Mixtape here
While you're downloading that, listen to this collab I did for Furyus in 2005 called "MLK DAY"
I'd like to think that putting this out there in the universe paved the way for Will.I.Am and Common who put out this "I Have a Dream" song for the "Freedom Writers" sountrack in 2007. It helps that Common says (in the song), "Dear Self, I wrote a letter just to better my soul... My story like yours yo, it gotta be told."
If you're still downloading the new Reflection Eternal Mixtape, check this out:
While celebrating Martin Luther King Day, I spoke with a veteran of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement regarding the role of SNCC (the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee). SNCC was extremely influential in getting non-White Americans to liberate themselves from legalized racist oppression during the 1960s.
The funny thing about talking to people who were actually active in the Civil Rights Movement (in my experience), is they usually laugh when you ask them about how it's portrayed in the latest popular media reference. For example, Martin Luther King is overwhelmingly portrayed as the accessible Civil Rights activist, while being contrasted with Malcolm X, who is portrayed as the unapproachable one.
The truth is that Martin and Malcolm were only 2 of a large number of courageous people who made countless significant non-violent sacrifices to achieve freedom for all human beings (and we should be aware that many of them lost their lives and family members even before Martin and Malcolm were murdered).
Another misconception is that SNCC (as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) was primarily concerned with Black and White people being able to play and work together. Although that seems like I fine idea, it is an extremely oversimplified version of what was taking place. Sometimes, when you oversimplify things you actually take the truth out of them.
Black and White people were certainly already working together during the 1960s. However, if you've ever seen (or been one of) two people at the same job who didn't get along, you start to understand the issue.
- Imagine one of those people could never get a promotion, or receive equal pay, no matter how hard they worked
- Imagine people were allowed, and even encouraged, to physically and verbally abuse one of those people
- Imagine one of those people was not allowed to use the working bathroom, water fountain, cafeteria, and other standard areas of the job site
Now you start to get a truer image of what it was like in the 1960s. And it wasn't just about Black and White people. Much like the case of Mumia Abu Jamal was not just about a "Black man" and a "White cop". It challenges the entire issue of whether we should even have a death penalty, which might legally execute a person wrongly accused. SNCC challenged the entire issue of discrimination and prejudice. Not just against Black people, but against all people - including discrimination by White people against other White people! By the way, there are many other types of people besides "Black" and "White" in the United States, and the Civil Rights Movement directly improved all of our lives, all-inclusively.
To say that one loves their dog is fine. However, most people do not send their dog to school, do it's homework, marry it, and so forth. Most importantly, they would not let their dog take them to court, invest their money, or leave them at will. In the same way, to say you want Black and White people to work together is fine. Yet to say that during a disagreement, everyone is entitled to legal representation; when their is an election, everyone is entitled (and permitted) to vote; when there are facilities on the job site, everyone is given free access to them; these rights go far beyond Black and White people getting along. They go straight to the core of what happens when any human being doesn't get along with another human being, in a civilized society.
I feel that one of the most amazing, unique things about SNCC was that people like Bob Moses went door to door asking disenfranchised African-Americans, how their lives could be better, without being patronizing or threatening. Being able to listen to other people's frustrations and then work together to help them reach their goals was the true essence of SNCC, in my opinion. That is much harder to do, and more significant than "White and Black people holding hands." I salute those who did this work in the Civil Rights movement.
I believe they paved the way for the Zulu Nation, Temple of Hip-Hop, and others such as myself, to continue doing this work through Hip-Hop Culture today. We go beyond getting people of different colors to say our lyrics, write our names, play our beats, and do our dances - we do the difficult work of getting them to respect each other, and themselves, as they respect us...
You can see this About.com article for a review of some of the major activities and laws that were passed during the Civil Rights Movement.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Rapoet's 2010 Playlist Wk #2
Here's Week 2. If you thought Hip-Hop was alive in 2009, just wait 'til you see what it does this year...
1. "Just Begun"
2. "Locusts"
3. "Shootin"
1. "Just Begun"
2. "Locusts"
3. "Shootin"
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Rapoet's 2010 Playlist Wk #1
I'm going to do U a favor. For those who don't know I've been a DJ for over 10 years. Not the kind that juggles, scratches, and so forth (although I'm pretty good at changing pitches and matching tempos). I'm the kind that digs for good music every where. Open mics. Commercial radio. Obscure underground websites. And everywhere in between. The kind that has to rip open the packaging, and test it out before I judge it.
So like I said, I'm going to do U a favor. I'm going to give U a list of 3 songs that you can listen to right now with the same computer U R using to read my blog.
1. "Life Is Better"
2. "A Star Is Born"
3. "Day in the Life" (at 18:00)
Which of these songs is your favorite?
Any artists that want to be on my next playlist can put a video on youtube and post the link on either this blog or my main comments page. If you're not an artist, but you want to post a link to one of your new favorite songs, that's cool too.
HOWTOBEANMC #20,100,107: Most people think of a playlist as a list of songs played in a certain order, but in the music business... the most important playlist is a list of a DJ's top played songs of the week. DJs report their top 10 most played songs to magazines that put them all together to find the national top 10 songs of a genre. When I first started DJing at a pirate radio station in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I played whatever I wanted and free styled on the air with my friends, most of whom were unsigned artists. Later on, when I became a Music Director of an FM radio station, I reported the station's top 10 to magazines like CMJ and Thembisa Mshaka at Gavin. By the way, the most reputable top 10 reporter in Hip-Hop right now would probably be RapAttackLives
So like I said, I'm going to do U a favor. I'm going to give U a list of 3 songs that you can listen to right now with the same computer U R using to read my blog.
1. "Life Is Better"
2. "A Star Is Born"
3. "Day in the Life" (at 18:00)
Which of these songs is your favorite?
Any artists that want to be on my next playlist can put a video on youtube and post the link on either this blog or my main comments page. If you're not an artist, but you want to post a link to one of your new favorite songs, that's cool too.
HOWTOBEANMC #20,100,107: Most people think of a playlist as a list of songs played in a certain order, but in the music business... the most important playlist is a list of a DJ's top played songs of the week. DJs report their top 10 most played songs to magazines that put them all together to find the national top 10 songs of a genre. When I first started DJing at a pirate radio station in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I played whatever I wanted and free styled on the air with my friends, most of whom were unsigned artists. Later on, when I became a Music Director of an FM radio station, I reported the station's top 10 to magazines like CMJ and Thembisa Mshaka at Gavin. By the way, the most reputable top 10 reporter in Hip-Hop right now would probably be RapAttackLives
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