Independent Hip Hop

We have been operating under the mantra “it’s not about the music anymore” for some time now. So we been trying to step up our promo and merchandise game. Got some nice t-shirts coming your way soon (hint hint wink wink).

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I think I’m delirious. I guess I’ll continue cruising myspace until I fall asleep at the keyboard.

I need a vacation.

I’m staring at cables, cords and gear and realize it’s time to move the studio again.. After a year here at HallWay Studios East it’s time to move back out west. Which is not really a bad thing except for the fact we’ve yet to secure a location for our new home base. The ideal situation is for us to fine a place where we can have the studio and share office space at one location but limited budgets call for limited space. In the mean time will have to put some stuff in storage and use a friends studio until we can get up and running again, (sigh). Well I better quit cryin and get unscrewin so I can get packin.

Burning some midnight oil tonight. I’m always up late every night but tonight I’m more focused than usual.

Sent out a bunch of emails trying to drum up some new leads. Actually did some “sales tracking” and “statistic analysis” to try to figure out how to push more units.

Damn I sound like a suit…

Do people even buy CD’s out of “the trunk” these days?

Need sleep….I’m out.

So we teamed up with an up and coming label if you will to assist us in marketing, promotion and distribution; run by indie veteran Dizzy Dustin of “Ugly Duckling”. We’ve been patiently waiting while loose ends get tied up in anticipation that this deal will finally give us some of the leverage needed to make our mark.

So, I’m waiting on a call to confirm if our 7:00 meeting is still going down tonight and it got me thinking. Believe it or not patience is probably the most important skill needed in this game. I realized next to physically recording or performing music I’ve spent the majority of my time in this biz waiting.Waiting for the tape to be striped (new school cats probably don’t know what I mean), waiting for the track to be laid, waiting to get level, waiting for my turn to lay my verse, waiting for the track to be mixed, waiting for my (tape) copy to be dubbed. And that’s just in the studio, I won’t get in to all the waiting on the quote unquote business end of things the shit is endless. So, as you can see my wait it is not over I just hope that at the end of it all we get what we’re worth in life.

Hope you all will wait with me. Peace

I logged into the Triple Helix Myspace today. It seems like almost everyday there’s at least 1 person who leaves a comment or drops us a message, with real, genuine appreciation, props, and sometimes thanks for the music (And I’m not counting the “fake props” where someone’s just trying to post up their advertisement). And every time I see that it means a whole lot to me. Because that particular person listened to the music, or watched the video.

Listening may not seem like much, but when you listen, we view it as a grand effort on your part. Getting people to “lend you an ear” for 3-4 minutes these days is not easy. Phonte of Little Brother said it best on their Myspace Page

As artists coming along in the digital age, the key thing to remember is that we are not fighting for people’s money, so much as we are fighting for their time and attention. I mean, real rap……content is everywhere. Free downloads, screensavers, raingtones, Youtube clips, etc. Consumers are constantly bombarded with free shit

The amount of music & artists out there is overwhelming. While the digital age has made it so much easier for fans to get the music they like, it’s also made it easier for us musicians to try and shove more shit at you.

I’ve never been a fan of overly aggressive promotion, which puts me in a bind. If I speak too loudly, you might tune me out…..if I don’t speak loudly enough, I’ll get buried in the ocean or noise. It’s a very thin line to walk. Which is why whenever someone takes the time to stop & listen to any music from our team, I am gracious.

I just figured I should jump in real quick and say a few words, you know get the formalities out of the way. We thought it would be interesting to give you an opportunity to see the inner workings of what we do. So with that said, let’s begin.
In particular Bamm and I met on a sound stage in Burbank,CA. I believe the year was 1998. Our respective groups were due to do a taping for a new MTV show. It was pretty much a televised talent show, think an urban American Idol before there was an American Idol. The short lived show “The Cut” , hosted by Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes (R.I.P.) gave us our first taste of national exposure. Exposure that was consequently short lived as well, LOL. But hey, you gotta start some where.

Needless to say a bond was formed that day that has carried on to present. Bamm and I for the most part are involved in running every aspect of the “little label that could” as he so fondly referred to it as; and with a host of help we plan on being around for a while. Trust, there is plenty of shit that has gone on from that infamous day in 98 to now. So stick around, eventually you’ll get all the details. I just wanted to say “welcome” and I’ll talk to you soon..

I been producing and rhyming almost since the beginning of my career. It came out of necessity cause, frankly, me and Nameo couldn’t afford to pay producers for beats. I was like “Psssh, I can make beats” (though I had only rarely touched anything really close to a professional production tool in my life). But it was one of those things I just “felt” I would be able to do. I’d always revered producers/production and studied their techniques, but applying it was quite the learning experience…… layman’s terms – my first beats were WACK.

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I guess it’d make sense to start from the beginning…here’s a little history on the label.

Back in the mid-late 90′s I was attending UCLA. The internet was still fresh-out-the-box back then and I was insanely hooked. It was through the internet that I found out about Ill Crew Universal (ICU), a hip-hop foundation dedicated to spreading the history and culture of hip-hop worldwide.

During the time of working with ICU, I was studying a lot about the music business. Being a member of ICU helped get me into a lot of conferences and seminars where I could learn more. Once I finally understood what exactly a “record label” was (and I think it hits us all like a ton of bricks…haha) I figured I should just start my own label and be an indie.

And who are we? We’re the “little label that could”. The label has been around for several years, but we came in at a time when the music industry went through a major climate change (nutshell: all minor labels got the ix-nay). And now the music biz is on the cusp of yet another paradigm shift. We’re just riding the wave, holding on for dear life. So we figured it would be fun to chronicle the road ahead.