ashotofjackdaniels

An Open Letter to the Rap Game…

When I was growing up, being a rapper was almost like going to the NBA. Only a select few made it. That’s not the case today. It almost seems like everybody raps. Even your ex-girlfriend or boyfriend raps. The gas attendant at the ARCO on Slauson and Labrea raps. Your favorite librarian raps. Rap rap rap. Fuck that ! I’m not okay with it being a million rappers these days. Especially when only 15% of them are great, and the other 85% will soon be looking for a job. Rapping is a job, but I’m talking about rappers having to find a real job once THEY realize it’s not going to work. Now don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of friends and acquaintances that rap, some of them are great, some of them are good, some of them are average, none of them are wack. Well, maybe some of them are, but all of them can’t make it. I’m not here to bash people, not here to kill anybody’s dreams…I’m just here to look at the rap game and elaborate on what works, and what doesn’t. At some point, somebody has to be the voice of reason…somebody has to say ENOUGH.

Bottom line, today’s music audience has A.D.D. and the best way to fight that is by making HITS. Point blank period. For every city or side of the country, you have a scene. A sub-genre so to speak. In that region, you have your circles. Now, within those circles, in order to make it out of your circle, out of your neighborhood, out of your city, out of your state, out of your country…you have to make hits. And that’s where the problem lies in today’s rap game…there isn’t enough hits. We’re in a vicious cycle right now of free mixtapes, local and small shows, low budget videos, behind the scene footage, Twitter, blogs, MySpace pages, etc… It’s a vicious cycle of NOTHINGNESS, looking the part and giving off the impression of doing big things. We see right through that shit. It would probably be a better idea for artists to actually do ONE big thing that’s great and changes the game, instead of FIVE small things that amount to nothing. The best way to break out of that and actually make some noise, is to make hits. Hits lead to record sales, which should be the main focus for artists these days. Making hits, selling records, doing shows. If you can’t do that, or aren’t doing that, you’re doing nothing and will be nothing. Call it what you want but, Daz from The Dogg Pound is a millionaire and he still sells records out his trunk.

Just as artists have more tools and access to be more visible, as opposed to the past…they also have to do THAT much more. One video for your mixtape or album isn’t enough…and let’s not talk about NOT shooting a video. The music video is the new mixtape. Over-saturation also plagues us, the audience. Nobody wants to hear 6 albums or mixtapes from one artist in a year. Sade comes out every 7 years or so, and does stupid numbers. Let the streets miss you for a little bit. Change lanes every once in a while, do new shit…surprise us. Collab with new and different artists. Don’t do too many shows, hell…do the right shows. And when you do actually perform somewhere, make sure it’s not the same show we saw a month prior. Quality over quantity…and always remember, less is more. Most importantly, gauge and measure the competition. Don’t do what the next man is doing, but at the same time…address what they are doing, and do MORE. Do shit big, do shit grand, do AMAZING SHIT. Change the game, make new lanes. That’s what’s missing, the competition level in the game got soft…nobody wants to out-do each other anymore…but you have to. From every album they did, for as long as they were in the game, Tha Alkaholiks never went Gold. Never. And they were HUGE in LA and the West Coast. You gotta make hits.

We’re tired…of you artists, forcing your free mixtapes upon us. Cool, we get it…you got new music but…package it, make it an event, make us WANT IT. Ok, you shot a video…cool…so did everybody else on Worldstarhiphop.com and OnSmash.com *What makes YOU different from THEM ?! It all comes back to making hits. If you don’t make a hit, or deliver a song that moves us, we’re not giving you a chance. That cover art, photo shoot, interview, and behind the scenes better be captivating too…

Oh yeah, keep giving out your music for free, we’re not tripping off that. We actually love it, it’s FREE. So instead of whoring yourself out, giving out free mixtape after free mixtape, test the waters. Put a price tag to the music, then you’ll REALLY know if it’s hot or not. Nobody cares how many downloads you have…they only care about how many records you’ve sold. Timing, marketing, promotion, image, brand and demand…mean more than any lyric you could ever say. Ask Susan Boyle: 700k sold first week. The game has changed.