I have been planning to write some words of encouragement to the many artists who I have come to know over the years and that I meet daily at events, and on-line. Frequently they ask me the same questions about which direction to go in the business. Not that I can give anyone a record deal (of which there are no good ones left) or a "free collabo" with KRS. Yet the area which I can serve the most good is in advice. Something I have constantly told the artists I come into personal contact with is; forget getting a record deal and making money. Just make good music. Don’t make music that you think is on the popular trend right now. It’s appeal won’t last. Make music that has some sort of originality, concept and skill to it. Make music that reflects a deep cord within your psyche, something that comes from an insight you have gained. This insight might be something everyone can relate to because they to have felt the same way before or something that makes them think about a new perspective on life. That is the real purpose of music at the end of the day. If you create good music and truly fulfill your purpose as an artist you will be headed in the right direction. How to make money in the business is the subject for another time. Here let’s talk about some of the keys to success, which have already been proven by others.
Originality in and of itself, is one key. Originality suffers in the face of this overabundance of songs and artists, however. In general, there is too much music in the hip-hop(product) genre. Everyone has mixtapes worth of music already laid down. Some have gone so far as to complete one mixtape per month or even one per week for an extended length of time. Some years ago, maybe around 2000 or so, it became the style to say, “ I got like a hundred songs!” Even though when rappers say that to me, I know that they usually don’t mean it literally. They simply want to imply that they are so talented that they have a lot of material. This is not actually a good thing.
First off, to have so many completed songs of which none are worthy of promoting anymore is a testament to your failure as a good artist. If you are so bored with the material you have produced that now you want to move on to something else, what does that say about the quality of the material or you as an advocate of the material? I know production software like Fruity-Loops, in the beginning, on down to Pro-tools now, have made the possibility to create music much easier. That however, is part of the problem. It is easier to create throw away tracks. Back in the day studio time used to cost a lot of money. So the joint you laid down was something you worked on for awhile and perfected before you got to the spot and completed it. That is no longer the case. Anybody can have a studio in their house and produce high-quality sound with no problem. All those tracks you complete that never see the light of day are not really your catalog. They are your practice sessions. Only the songs you produce that you are still willing to spit right now are worthy of being called part of your repertoire or catalog of recorded music. Any artist with a hit is blessed and/or cursed with the duty of performing that song until their significance fades entirely. And even then artists resurface years later to perform that song we remember from back in the day. If songs you created 6 months ago don’t sound good now, they probably never were that good.
Another problem with having a lot of music when you are a new artist is that no one can identify with you because they can’t remember anything you’ve done. You don’t have a signature song. Most artists are identified and can draw a crowd with less than five songs. They may have world-wide appeal and have only two songs that the majority of concert goers have even heard before. Imagine how many times they will end up performing those two songs if they are successful. As an unknown artist do you have a signature song yet? That should be your first mission. Yes do a lot of songs as practice to find your signature song, the song that people recognize you by. But don’t tell me I have hundreds of songs in my catalog. It makes a person like me think that most of them are trash or barely thought out freestyles that sounded good at the time but now seem corny. Anyone can put a catchy phrase or two together but the point is to make that into a full concept for a 3-5 minute, completed piece of art that can stand the test of time. If you want someone that has a radio station to play your music you should not hand them a CD. To me you are saying, “I don’t know which one of these songs is good.” You might think well “everybody likes different stuff.” That is true. There are preferences. However, a good song is a good song to an attuned Hiphoppa. If you hand me a song about baloney sandwiches and it has originality, concept and skills I will play it on shadesradio.com, period. Now I don’t personally prefer baloney sandwiches but I would have to say, “that was a great song about baloney sandwiches.” Biz Markie, back in the day, had a song called “Pickin Boogers”, KRS ONE did a song about vegetarianism called “Beef”. De La Soul did a song called “Oodles of O’s” about the letter O. Immortal Technique did a soliloquy dissing vegetarians called “Beef and Broccoli”. There are an infinite number of subject matters you can cover yet come across as a creative, skilled artist, while you search for your signature song. You might not even be the one who selects your signature song in fact. It may be someone close to you who can step back and characterize how people can best perceive your artistic elements of interest. That’s another reason to have a manager. It could also be crowds who respond in a particular way to a certain song you perform. Still, to force a program director to select your music for you is unprofessional. He or she is now doing your job for you. Plus I don’t want to sift thru your whole CD to find one song I will play. There are too many artists with too many CDs to listen to them all. Give me three songs at most. Remember you are not dope because you have quantity. You are dope because you have quality.
Sincerely, Kurt Nice
– Hip Hop Kultural Specialist for KRS ONE’s Temple of Hip Hop, Founder/Program Director for Shadesradio.com, a BDS tracked 24/7 internet radio station.
http://www.shadesradio.com
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