Guidelines To Getting Into The Industry

        Most people in this world have problems with succeeding in the music business.  Here are the guidelines to get you where you want to be in the Hip Hop industry. The game is split up in multiple different sections such as: mastery, business, production, promotion and networking. These are the highlights of what can make or break an artist’s career. Consequently, an artists’ music might sound phenomenal on a track, but with limited advertisements and exposure, they can only go so far until their career crash and burns. There are over a million people trying to blow up from rap in the world today. For instance, rappers must invest in their preparation and presentation if they want to be successful in today’s music industry. 

The first step in mastery of Hip Hop is the study the art of 16 bars. Within the art, An MC must master rhyme, flow, versatility and crowd motion.  One must be unique with his/ her own style to survive the current change in today’s music.  There are numerous videos out there to help you out with getting better and progressing in industry.  The more people you deal with, depending on how hard you work, the bigger your name will be. This is called holding down your name.  Besides having a trademarked name, copyrights are very important because there are crooks that will steal your music and make all of the profit. One thing that will make any artist stand out is the quality of his/ her music. 

        Here is a quote to live by: "Dealing with music, always choose quality over quantity". Therefore, the lifespan of your music will last longer than an ordinary person recording in their mama's basement using only a computer, microphone, speakers and software. After the production process is finished, make sure the music that you are releasing is mixed and mastered professionally unless you or somebody else know what they are doing in the lab. 

Mixtapes, flyers, posters, music videos, magazine ads, web banners and live performances are the key elements to expanding your fan base. Take this into perspective: If you had the choice between buying a cd of a rapper that you never heard of or someone that you have been seeing advertised everywhere, which would you buy first? There are a lot of new artists that turn down great promotional opportunities and miss out on becoming the next elite talent to ever touch a microphone. 

Social networks are great promotional resources; yet do not limit yourself to only internet and online activity. A successful artist must focus on each and every aspect of entertainment, gaining access to radio, television and all physical editorials. 

        “Fortunately, the internet provides a number of tools. These include dedicated academic websites, off-campus profile pages on Facebook, Twitter, Academia.edu, Linkedin, Google citation counts, personal websites, blogs; the list goes on.” (M. King, 2012). To officially blow up in the music industry, it really takes extreme hustlematics. One of the main roles of a MC is to be a hustler. Meanwhile, the two most important factors of Hip-Hop survival are: 1) If you don’t thoroughly invest in your music, nobody will buy your albums or mixtapes  2) Creating a strong supply and demand for your music will increase overall customer participation.

         While promoting yourself, shoot some tracks over to as many djs as you can and you never know.... your music might be played in the clubs, on the radio or even mixtapes. One company that I can say that shows love to real talented artists is +Coast 2 Coast Mixtapes and I'm not just saying that because that my crew, its true... C2C has the largest DJ coalition in the game today. Every mixtape they drop is featured by a new major artist every month sometime every week. Check out their website and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about, you feel me?   And since everybody listens to music, the person you seen on television might be listening to you right now! 

         To become a major recording artist, the ratio is 1:1,000,000,000 people because everybody is competing against each other in the same race of achieving fame and stardom but listen it's harder for a female to get in and take over the #1 spot. Legendary femcee artists like MC Lyte, Queen Latifah & Roxanne Shaunte said themselves that "Only one female at a time has the #1 spot in the Hip Hop/ Rap genre" and I know d*** well that a lot of females can go harder than whats being broadcasted in the media commercially but you won't never know because they aren't promoted like they should. 

       The most important step is the business aspect, always do your research before contacting a record label, DJ, manager, booking agent and so on & so forth. If you do not have supreme knowledge on the industry then you are fighting a losing battle. Like Raekwon the Chef said "Ain't no such thing as half-way crooks" meaning either a person is str8 up crooked or they're legitimately real. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS read contracts before signing them because you don't want to sign your soul in blood/ sell your soul for materialistic values. Life is more important than geedy green, limousines, fancy strings, top notch queens and diamond bling. What you'll rather have... Eternal Life (Spiritually Wealthy) or Temporary Fame (Financially Set For Time Being)?

       All Eyez Are On You! Depending on what you do and how you do it, you could have the world today and lose everything tomorrow by making one (1) foolish mistake;  so I would advice you to don't the hype and just live your life the best way you can. The media will be quick to try to destroy your image so keep your nose clean and your eyes open at all times. Also don't try to do what another person that already major did to get in the industry, for everyone has they're own method either if it's flooding the mixtape industry like Lil Wayne; hustling on the streets while performing like Chamillionaire; or even buying a record deal like Trinidad James. These methods in the previous statement does not work for everybody, it's all about what type of person you are and how hard you work. Ayee... Lebron didn't win the 2013 NBA Championship Finals for trying to be like Jordan, Kobe and Doctor Jay, he was put on his game face and balled hard up and down the court with his team.

Even though everybody’s trying to get to the #1 spot in the Hip Hop industry, remember that only a certain few really become famous musicians. Being a famous Hip Hop icon is like trying to find a needle in the hay stack. It might take you a couple minutes to a couple decades. In most cases but tragically, certain MCs or rappers don't even make it to the major leagues unless if they are decreased (i.e. Mac Dre, Big L, Big Hawk, etc.). One thing to put into aspect is the more you invest in your music, the better the outcome will be in the long run.  You will find mastery, business, promotion and networking really helpful in your journey. To make sure your career don’t crash and burn, promotion is the one of the main important elements in Hip Hop survival. 

         Stay focused! Avoid hateration and by following these steps, it should be easier for you as an artist to achieve your goals from now to infinity.  The choice is yours, only you can decide what your destiny is; it's not your parents, friends or siblings to make that decision. Thank you for coming through and showing interest in learning from the EMPIRE. Like Brotha Pac said "Keep your head up.... you gon see better days!" Much love & peace to everybody in the world!