Today is a new day. Today is a chance for me to do things better than I did yesterday. There is no greater blessing than the ability to change/improve..whatever you'd like to call it. As I get older the need for change and improvement smacks me in the face everyday. As I become aware of more things and analyze the direction I'm headed in I'm seeing a lot that I REALLY need to step away from for the simple fact that the only thing it will do is keep me from reaching my goal. The difficult part is having to say "Fuck how you feel about it". You'll find that a lot of the things that hinder you involve the people you associate with. In my case the people i speak to hover between long time friends and music friends. I try to keep things as positive as possible. Whatever category I have them in I like them to be the type to have a positive influence on either my personal life or professional life..sometimes both. With music I have to cut some artist loose. Its nothing personal..but it does have to do with me personally..haha.
"I can't help the poor if I'm one of them" - Jay-Z
There was a time when I didn't have a way to get my beats to major artist and A&R's...the A&Rs that come to you are usually bullshit...a lot of times you do a little research and you find out that they are simply an intern at the label office. Thank God I finally hooked up with people that truly want to see me succeed and people that can get my beats to the places they need to go. When that isn't an option for you as a producer you're best bet is to team up with the artist that are putting their best foot forward on promoting the music they make and the best foot forward on creating a fan base. If you think about it...the artist fan base is your fanbase also. You ARE part of the soundtrack aren't you? While I'm on the hamster wheel of working with independent artist the BS that I've had to put up with has made me stronger. The mistakes that I've made in working with independent artist has made me stronger also. I try my hardest to learn from my mistakes and the mistakes of others around me. A mistake that I've made is under the "paying dues" umbrella. Paying dues is necessary, but the dues aren't the same for everybody and why would they be? Dealing with different types of people is something you'll learn whether you're doing music or not. The largest amount of dues you'll ever pay are changing the parts of you're personality, and changing the habits that keep you from success. Thats when the struggle really begins. Think about it...I've been the way I am for 26 years and its going to take a lot of focus and will power to tweak who i am so i can make it. Case in point...my wanting to help people has hindered me. I at least need to pic and choose who I'm going to help out. I need to find out who is worthy of my help. I've taking the first step in operation "Get the fuck out of my life"..haha..do you like the name for it?...yeah I know you do. One thing I will say is that I have some good Karma saved up. There are folks that I should have left hanging that I help out anyway. Its funny how naive and stupid I've been. Lets go through some examples of the decisions that just slow me up in the short and long run.
- MC Jiggy Fly wants to buy some beats for a project that I know, and in the back of MC Jiggy Fly's head..he knows the project aint comin out either. Along with that, the amount that he's paying is a super short change to who I am and what I've done on the beat. The song will be recorded in a shitty sounding studio and the track wont make it past his neighborhood if it even makes it on cd...When I should just tell him NO..or give him a price so high that he just hangs the phone up...in the past I chose to entertain his foolishness
- Taking lots of time to help a super confused artist figure out where to start. If this music is truly your dream you will do what it takes. If you're drowning you'll either learn how to swim or end up food for the sharks. I get super confused myself and should be taking the time to figure my way out...I guess its the blind trying to lead the blind
- Giving tracks away..or selling tracks (for amounts not worth the short term benefit) that can be sent to get placed on a major. These days I look at every beat as a lottery ticket..but in this case the only gamble involved is who I give the track to. I can either win a little or a lot..that's if I give the beat to a serious artist...if I give it to a flunky..the time and effort used to create the beat was for NOTHING
and thats all for now.


http://onpointmag.info/?p=237

