Brehs, am I overreacting?

[The Prince of All Saiyans]

you need that @postnutclarity

 

[postnutclarity]

Just dye your hair some crazy color and make edgy music

Sounds a little gimmicky to me.

 

[postnutclarity]

...i had no idea postnut was a female.

Yep.

That’s because I maintain a pretty low profile on here.

 

[Dafunkdoc_Unlimited]

Sounds good, ma.​

I only have one criticism about this track: It's difficult to make out what you're saying sometimes since the beat is too loud and overpowers the vocal.

The beat shouldn't be more hyped than the MC, IMO.

One additional observation: Another female MC used that sample 30 years ago............



Classics never die!!!​

 

[TransJenner]

Sounds a little gimmicky to me.

Tyler did it and dropped the edgy stuff once he started going


U just gotta fade out the edginess once u being to lose your appeal

 

[FeloniousMonk]

The most he could tell me about his success rate was the number of streams his artists accrued in totality, which wasn’t much. And he never mentioned the length of time it took for it to reach that point either.

Yeah. The more I’m talking this out, the more I’m inclined to look elsewhere.

It’s just a little frustrating since the market is small where I am.

Yeah..dude is a wanna be scammer.

If he has to tell you and cant produce the analytics...red flag.

If he suggests paying for your own showcases he recommends..red flag.

Yes and the city where you live will have a lot to do with your success in the beginning.

I would suggest the first first thing you do is GET YOUR CITY ON LOCK.

You want your name to ring bells..

The REAL reason you need a manager is because you cant handle the day to day of your career due to time management AND they can take you to that next level.

Unless you got the finances/resources/connections to start your career, I'd suggest finding a entertainment/music related business to work or intern at.

If you're in school, create a collective where you guys can put on shows and events.

What work can a manager do that you cant do yourself?

 

[postnutclarity]

you need that @postnutclarity

Really fam?

I admit, I did chuckle at this a little bit.

 

[postnutclarity]

Yeah..dude is a wanna be scammer.

If he has to tell you and cant produce the analytics...red flag.

If he suggests paying for your own showcases he recommends..red flag.

Yes and the city where you live will have a lot to do with your success in the beginning.

I would suggest the first first thing you do is GET YOUR CITY ON LOCK.

You want your name to ring bells..

The REAL reason you need a manager is because you cant handle the day to day of your career due to time management AND they can take you to that next level.

Unless you got the finances/resources/connections to start your career, I'd suggest finding a entertainment/music related business to work or intern at.

If you're in school, create a collective where you guys can put on shows and events.

What work can a manager do that you cant do yourself?

Thanks for the pointers.

Really, all I need are connections/someone with connections and I’ll be good. Someone with a sharp business acumen who knows the industry and how things operate. I know how to network and talk to people, but I need to talk to the right people.

 

[postnutclarity]

Sounds good, ma.​

I only have one criticism about this track: It's difficult to make out what you're saying sometimes since the beat is too loud and overpowers the vocal.

The beat shouldn't be more hyped than the MC, IMO.

One additional observation: Another female MC used that sample 30 years ago............



Classics never die!!!​

Thanks.

But yeah the dude who engineered my EP could’ve tweaked things a bit more/better. When I gave him tips and pointers, he seemed to take it well but never answered any of my messages afterwards so...

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

who are his other artists, what are their hits, and are their careers in places you'd like to be or are they basically in your shoes - unknown? breh can't be talking about his "formula" with no proof.

 

[postnutclarity]

Tyler did it and dropped the edgy stuff once he started going


U just gotta fade out the edginess once u being to lose your appeal

You might be onto something. Hm...

 

[NoChillJones]

Alright so to give you guys some context in this situation, I'm a rapper who's been independent -- like deadass been doing this by my lonely for years.

Even posted some of my work on here before: The Coli's First Female Rapper?

Recently, I decided to seek management and ended up finding somebody yesterday. This dude a relative referred me to. I actually met him a couple times but never knew he was involved in anything music-wise. So I chop it up with duke, getting a feel for him to see where his head's at on some business shyt.

Maaaaaan.


Dude is SUPER uncompromising. He kept urging me to perform at this showcase (which I'd have to come out of pocket for) and claimed it was to build up my fanbase, but when I offered up an alternative (basically going the grass roots route of recording, releasing, promoting, etc.) THEN performing he wasn't even trying to hear it.

Told me I needed to put out a "hit" and then push it, whereas I wanted to focus on cultivating classic bodies of work then choose a "hit" from that. But he wasn't trying to hear me at all. Told me I couldn't do that, but most of the artists with longevity have done that.


Then proceeded to say he uses his "hit" formula with all of his artists and it works. But last I checked, artist management is not a "one size fits all" type of job. What works for some may not work for others.

At this point, I'm just ready to say fukk it and look elsewhere.

But I wanted to get alternative opinions before I made a final decision.

Why did you seek management if don't want to compromise yourself. Its your managers job to move things alone , this allows you to focus on the music.......either let him do his job....or don't.......give him 6 months of doing it his way.......you got nothing else to lose at this point right?

 

[postnutclarity]

who are his other artists, what are their hits, and are their careers in places you'd like to be or are they basically in your shoes - unknown? breh can't be talking about his "formula" with no proof.

Now that I think about it, he never mentioned any specific artists that he managed. Not in our convo anyway.

 

[TL15]

There are a LOT of rappers who record and record and record.

Investing in a showcase is a good idea (not saying it would work) because crowd connection is instant. If you have "it" the crowd will know and buy into you that way.

What have you got to lose

From the sounds of things you've been doing it your way for a while and it hasn't bubbled yet. Maybe doing something different will yield different results.

Besides...how the hell are you going to know what your "hit" is without getting it to the public?

Spoiler: What I would do if I was managing an artist

#1 create something to go viral in your city. You'd be surprised how simple a "Who the fyck is insert rapper name?" stickers posted around the city can be. Put 100 stickers up with your instagram name and it costs you like $10.

Find any way to get on local TV to start a local following. It could be on the news (cringy I know...but it's exposure) or even providing a song for a local business to run in their online ads. Anything to make you develop an audience locally.

#2 find shows to perform at and network with artists who are larger. Open shows for bigger performers, do open mic, hell read your "raps" as poetry at coffee open mics. Wherever there is a microphone in your city...be there. Get exposure. Get on the scene. Recycle the same 3 songs but get them out there and around.

Use this opportunity to siphon fans from others. Find the local acts bigger than you. Connect with them on IG. Collab with them. Find their followers and message them "hey if you like artist A, check me out...we did a song together, you might like my music". Rinse repeat over and over to any local acts that have a bigger following than you do.


#3 Create a "gimmick" that is within your wheelhouse. H.E.R. doesn't show her face. Nipsey Hussle did a $100 mixtape. etc. Find something that you can use to make yourself stand out. Maybe it's releasing a mixtape every week. Maybe it's a new song every day for a month. I don't know.

Once you figure out that gimmick. Get interviews. Find small online blogs and youtube channels and get interviewed. You use those interviews to get more people to you. Go on Fiverr and pay $10 for someone to interview you on their podcast. Find that one writer on Bossip who does rap and beg them for an interview. Find that one writer at Complex, or XXL, or Nahright, or whoever. Flood them with interview requests so that you can use their platform as leverage.


#4 Travel/Tour. Plan trips to out of town venues, small colleges, coffee shops, and hit the pavement. Do it on the weekends. Film it and make a dope ass documentary out of it, document everything. But get out of your city, network with rappers and musicians in other cities. Find black restaurants to perform at OR to sell your music at. Make it your "Indy" tour. People want to live on the computer and that's great. But nothing beats making a fan in person. Shaking their hand, and spreading your music that way.



There definitely is a formula to "making it". Not every rapper will be Jay or Drake or Nikki, but there are a lot of rappers who make a decent living who aren't as famous.

 

[postnutclarity]

Why did you seek management if don't want to compromise yourself. Its your managers job to move things alone , this allows you to focus on the music.......either let him do his job....or don't.......give him 6 months of doing it his way.......you got nothing else to lose at this point right?

But it was really him unwilling to compromise. What are you talking about?

I told him I was willing to make “hits” as long as they were included in a complete body of work.

Dude wanted me to make ONE hit. ONE. And then push that ONE hit until I got recognition. Does that sound like an effective plan to you?