Vote HipHop Music

Okay so you’ve finished your album so now its time to let the streets know about you. How do you do this? What is it? Well let me break it down for you.

First of all, before you do anything you should have identified your target market. These would be, in so many words, the people most likely to buy your music. You need to know as much about this market as you can.

Once you’ve found these people and finished your album you should let them know about your album. This will take some footwork and its not a short term plan. You need to have some flyers made. A flyer with some fancy graphics is great but a flyer with text on it is good enough to get the job done. Get as many flyers made that your budget calls for (yes, you need a budget). Then go to the places where your target market hangs out. This could be clubs, restaurant, obviously record stores, health food store, etc.

What most street promoters do is put flyers under the windshield wipers or in the door jams of the cars in the parking lots of clubs. Sometimes you might get chased away by a property owner so if they tell you there’s no soliciting, just leave. Most of the time you won’t have that problem, but if you do, just go to the next venue. On any promotional material, always make sure you put your contact information on it so that people can connect with you. You’ll miss out on some opportunities if you don’t.

And make sure you put on there where they can buy your music and have some samples of it on you. I learned that one the hard way! I ran into the Hip hop legend Scarface once and I gave him a flyer. He said, “I hear you talkin’ bout the music but I don’t hear it. Where’s yo CD?”

I’m glad I had one in the car or else I would’ve looked really amateur.

Always keep samples while you’re out! The key to this strategy is to use repeat marketing. This means that you have to hit those same spots and keep promoting your music more than once. Your budget is going to dictate how many flyers you can distribute.

You will meet a lot of people while you are out so make sure you have a pen and paper or some way to collect contact information. You will never know who you’ll run into on the street. Now this may take a while to generate a buzz but let’s look at it from a numbers perspective:

Let’s say you have an opportunity to run a full page ad in a major rap magazine like The Source or Vibe. Well let’s throw out a cost of $30,000 for the ad. Okay so you got a nice beautiful ad that will ONLY RUN ONE TIME in the magazine.

Plus people will generally respond to a marketing message over period of time. Research shows that it takes approximately 7 times so that ad ain’t gonna cut it. On the other hand if you had invested that 30 grand in street promotions you could have hit your target market at least those 7 times and then some. Do the math! I hope this gets your creative juices flowing on how you can get your name and music out to the streets. If you have any questions you can email me at mello@free-hot-rap.com.

By: Mello Melanin

About the Author:

Create a video blog

It was 1979 when Rapper’s Delight was released into the airwaves marking, what most people call, beginning of Rap era. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t born yet so I have no nostalgic memories of listening to it when it came out. The first time I heard “Rapper’s Delight” was in 1997 and it was sung by Erick Sermon, Keith Murray & Redman. I was about 12 years old and ignorant to the fact that it wasn’t an original song. I remember my older brother calling me dumb for not knowing it was a re-make, like he knew everything in the world… He wasn’t born when it first premiered either.

Today, Hip-Hop music is criticized over and over again from straying so far away from its origins. I have to admit I have done some criticizing myself but being apart of this generation of hip hop I feel that I should defend the music in some way.

First of all Hip-Hop is not dead, it’s very much alive. The term Hip-Hop is commonly refers to the music of Hip-Hop. But Hip-Hop itself is not music, it’s a culture and the culture of Hip-Hop is alive all over the world. Rap is the music of Hip-Hop. So when people say, “Hip-Hop is dead” (Nas), they probably mean “Hip-Hop music is dead” or Rap is dead. Whether they’re talking about Hip-Hop or Hip-Hop music, I feel that both are alive and well although it has changed from the times of the Sugar Hill Gang.

Imagine if the rappers of 2007 sounded like the rappers of 1987, that shit would be played out. In this type of music you want hear diversity and witness creativity. That is what we have to day. The diversity we have in Rap today is truly remarkable.

In the south you have the crunkness of Lil John but you also have the ecliptic sounds of Outkast. Then there’s the lyricalness of Ludacris and Lil’ Wayne, also reppin’ the south. In the west there’s the smooth gansta sounds of Snoop Dogg, the coolness of E-40 (going dumb with his stunner shades), and The Game’s gansta rap. In the mid-west there’s the lyrical, conscience, and comedic styling’s of Lupe Fiasco, Common, and Kanye West (respectively). In the east you have Jay-Z with his veteran flows, the intellectual thugness of Nas, and the smoothness of Fabolus. Of course there are a bunch of names and styles that I left out, these are the ones that came to my head first. I also want to add that not everyone out right now is great or even good, but there’s enough diversity where you can pick your favorites.

The point I’m trying to make is that Rap is flourishing. You have all these artists in all parts of the nation doing there thing to contribute to Hip-Hop music. Even outside of the US you have artist like Kardinal Offishall who’s starting to ring bell for Toronto with his flow. Although I can appreciate old school, I’m living in the now and Rap music is definitely poppin’ now.

By: Rey Benwah

About the Author:

Caffeinated Content

Now, more than ever, hiphop/rap and diamonds are making perfect music together. More and more hiphop and rap artists are making their own fashion statements and making their presence felt everywhere they go with new, larger and highly expensive “bling blings” – those shiny, precious gem-encrusted accessories that will surely get anybody’s attention. Undeniably, “bling blings” are in and are indispensable part of a hiphop/rap artist’s total appearance. Among the favorite accessories are diamond earrings that can cost up to millions of dollars.

Three of the hiphop community’s superstars known to love and wear diamond earrings are controversial producer/artist/fashion designer Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, rapper/producer Paul Wall and Wall’s childhood friend, rapper Chamillionaire.

Combs, dubbed as the “Bad Boy for Life” and known for his penchant for luxury and glamour, wears a diamond stud earring all the time. He also bought two pairs of diamond earrings for his twin baby girls just a few weeks after they were born. P. Diddy also gave ex-girlfriend actress/singer Jennifer Lopez several pieces of jewelry including diamond earrings from top jewelry store Tiffany. The flamboyant millionaire, who runs the Sean John Combs clothing line, is also regarded a fashion trendsetter. Fans usually imitate their idol’s style and we need not be surprised if they also purchase diamond earrings to complete the “P. Diddy” look. Paul Wall, on the other hand, known for his “grills” (those diamond encrusted teeth jackets) is usually seen wearing a huge diamond earring on his left ear. In fact, in his official website’s main page, you can’t help but notice his diamond earring as it reflects so much brilliant light! Meanwhile, 2006 Bet HipHop Awards’ Rookie of the Year and Grammy Award recipient Chamillionaire, best known for his hit single “Ridin’”, sports a pair of diamond earrings on both ears. Scan pictures of this celebrity online and you can be sure he has those costly pieces attached to his ears. Of course, female hiphop superstars like Mary J. Blige and Lil’ Kim often wear different types of diamond earrings, from drop diamonds to diamond chandeliers to flashy hoops.

The fondness for diamond earrings do not rest with the big named celebrities, though. Up-and-coming artist Brooke Hogan, daughter of popular wrestler Hulk Hogan and part of the VH1 reality show “Hogan Knows Best”, is often photographed wearing diamond earrings. Even street musicians or “ghetto” superstar wannabes also wear their own “bling bling” diamond earrings, albeit of lesser cost and possibly weaker clarity and cut. Nonetheless, one can deduce that diamond earrings and other “bling blings” have become quite an indispensable fashion accessory for hiphop and rap musicians worldwide. Indeed diamonds are here to stay and will always remain as part of any celebrity’s jewelry collection.

By: Jeffery Dodd

About the Author:

Caffeinated Content