Hungry Hungry Hopefuls: The Hunt for Quality Music
Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Hey everyone! Hopefully everybody’s been living good, listening to some good music and having a bit of good luck. I am I guess, but there are some people out there in this Hip-Hop world that haven’t been as fortunate. Some people have been down on their luck and feeling that their hard work in their bedroom studio has been done in vain. Those people are the hungry Hip-Hop up-and-comers. Now I’m not talking about the people on the grind coming up righteously, nor am I speaking about the “starving artists” who have their plans on lock; hence the difference between hungry and starving.
Anyway, the thoughts that I am trying to disclose have much more substance than a rumbling stomach. The artist that aren’t so lucky these days are the ones that create ballywho (look it up) and throw it every which way to get a listen. The Hip-Hop is dead slogan clearly challenged a pond of hopefuls and encouraged them to prove otherwise. Now we have a plethora of “rap” cats with their arms up, mixtapes in hand screaming “No it’s not!!” in protest to the slogan.
It’s not a bad thing to have motivation on deck, but when you put together a mixtape, make sure that it’s tight. And by tight I mean well put together. Go ahead and bite off some popular beats, but have some original pieces on there as well. Since when has someone released an LP with a “Swagger Like Us,” “Out Here Grindin,” or “Foolish” freestyle? Never. Therefore step your game up. Don’t be offended if you’re new to the game. An artist can have one song and be a real artist. Rank doesn’t make you a hopeful, quality does. Don’t let me discourage you or place you in a category you don’t belong. Hopefuls know who they are because they accept it. As there is a different meaning between hungry and starving artists, there is a difference between quality and good music. I’m on a hunt for some quality tunes people! Mixtapes in today’s industry are on the come up because of the messed up industry. So create good music, because people WILL find you. Don’t be afraid to put out a great song. It’s not always a waste to put out those songs that you worked hard on. Saving songs don’t allow people to get an idea of the artist you really are. So go hard on the freestyles, but have something else to back up that lyrical fire with; substance, individuality and originality. Whatever you do make sure that your mix game is proper. If you’re still confused, here are a few rules to help you decipher if you’re participating in the ballywho mixtape circus…
You know you’re a hopeful if:
1- You know your stuff is mediocre, but still haggle myspace artists, bloggers and people in e-mails to give you a listen.
2- You know your stuff is wack, but go off of the fact that someone will like it “Cause everyone’s musical taste is different.” Sir…wack is wack
3- ¾ of your mixtape songs are freestyles over popular instrumental song beats.
( Along with the same course…at least create a different course guys)
4- Some unknown DJ is STILL yelling ALL over your mixtapes. (DESERT STORM!!!…..no mam)
5- You have continuous volumes of one mixtape. (Can we switch up the mixtape/lyrical concepts just once?)
6- You believe you’ve made it just because you have 43 downloads on Z-Share.
7- No one has ever heard of your mixtape..(writers, artists, producers, cover designers and engineers (if on deck) all count as ONE person.
8- It’s wack after the 14th listen. ( I have songs that I played 78 times on my ipod and they STILL bang so make like 702 and get it together!!!)
If you think you’ve found some dope quality mixtapes, go ahead and post a link or shout em out in the comments!!
On October 1st, 2008 8:03 am
man i know thats right… first! lol