11 Things Every Indie Rapper Needs In Their Career
Here is a list of 12 Things that I think every indie rapper needs in their career. These are in no particular order and are only my opinion. They are:
1.Buzz2.Studio3.Great Engineer4.Producer5.Fans6.Shows7.Promoter8.Airplay9.Djs10. Marketing & Promotion11. Business Tools"Here is a list of 11 Things that I think every indie rapper needs in their career. These are in no particular order and are only my opinion. "
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Buzz is an important part of your career as a rapper. The bigger the buzz the better. A huge buzz draws anticipation for your record. Do what ever you can to get your buzz up to astronomical proportions and watch how your career blossoms. Buzz usually means people are whispering abut you or your music. Its always a good thing to have your name on the tip of the critics mouths. In my opinion word of mouth travels fast and is still one of the biggest ways to get the word out about your project/music. Also keep in mind
that not all buzz is good buzz and even bad buzz can be manipulated in your favor.
TIP – Anything that gets people talking about your music should be considered a good avenue when determining ways to generate buzz.
Studio is very important. As a rapper your music is the most important asset to your career. Take away the jewelry the cars and all the beautiful models and it still comes down to one thing and that is the music. That being said, having a place for you to make your music is just as important. Your music is the life and the studio is the blood that runs through your veins. A rapper is nothing with out having a place to record. I know at least five studios I can call right now if I needed studio time. You should have at
least 2-3 spots on hand that you can get in within a 24 hour notice.
TIP – Invest in your own home studio. It will cut down costs extremely..
Having a Great Engineer is another must have for a indie rapper. If you just so happen to be recording in a low quality studio, a good Engineer will do wonders with your vocals. Of course with stuff like clipping that damages the
vocal completely, even having the best engineer in the world couldn’t help the vocal at that point. But having a good engineer can put your sounds above the competition. I have both a mixing engineer and a mastering engineer but its not uncommon for artist to use one for both mixing and mastering.
TIP – Choose your engineer wisely fore he is who brings your creative idea to reality.
A good Producer or producers are always a plus for any artist serious about their career. The good thing is that it’s a boat load of quality producers to fit any and every budget. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to get quality beats. Having good producers on hand is always a big plus for any rapper. I have 3-5 producers on call that I can hit up at any given second for hot new tracks. Having a good producer can put you a step above the competition so pick your producer wisely. The Official Do
It Yourself Kit also has a few spots you can check out for good beats for a cheap price.
TIP – Set up an email address for producers to submit beats to you on a regular basis. This works best with Gmail because you can play or download directly from your account and a plus side is if you have gmail on your phone you can listen to the tracks right there giving you the opportunity to preview tracks on the go. (This Feature helps me a lot) I tell producers they can submit beats directly to jmiliscr@gmail.com and if we are feeling anything someone will get back to them.
Fans are absolutely necessary if your going to succeed as a rapper. A fan is different than any other individual you are going to come across in your career. These are the ones who will be supporting your music. Not like your best friend or a family member a fan is the one you have yet to meet or most likely don’t even know. But they absolutely love your music. These are the people that will help you get that grammy. They love you so much they will spend their last dollar just to see you perform or to purchase your
record. I feel honored and extremely appreciative when I’m out at a show and someone asks for a autograph. So treat your fans like family every chance you get because without them you are nothing.
TIP – get your fans email addresses every chance you get. This way every time you have new music or a show you can let them know about it.
Shows are very important to the success of your career. In “The Industry”, touring and shows are how you make your money as a artist. A big portion of record sales is recouped back to the label when your signed to a major. Your shows will help keep the word out about you and your music. This is what gets people talking. They come to see you perform and if you do well they tell their friends and from there hopefully they will remember you. You want your performance to be up to par. I’ve learned the more you do
the better you will become so get some gigs under your belt and ROCK THE MIC.
TIP – You can judge yourself by how the crowd responds to your music. We always get a lot of love after every performance. Its usually a good indicator that your music Is perceived well. Also have something to give out for the people to look for you after they seed you, like a website or a email address.
Promoters have a bad rep and between us I believe for a good reason. I’ve had my fare share of bad promoters. But I’ve also learned you have to be careful any and every time you are dealing with money. Not all promoters are bad. You do have honest promoters out there who do good business. Having one or two good ones can be a big asset to your career. I’m not talking about just any promoter, Im’ speaking of club promoters. Similar to a booking agent, club promoters promote shows and their
job is to bring people to the club. Having a good one can get you in front of the right crowd to promote yourself by way of performances and or appearances. A good club promoter knows where the hot spots are for you to get the best reception for your music.
TIP – You can use a party flyer to contact club promoters about getting shows. Just let them know you’re a artist in the area and your looking for gigs and to please keep you in mind.
Airplay is probably the quickest way to get people talking about your music. Its also the hardest and most expensive avenue to take. With that in mind Top 40 airplay is a great achievement for any artist indie or major. Getting commercial airplay has the potential to get you show money, appearance money let alone album sales as well as many more opportunities. Commercial radio is good but Internet and Satelite radio are avenues that can be much easier to break into. Stations like XM, Live 365 and
Jango are great ways for artist to get the word out about their music as well as reaching new fans.
TIP – If commercial radio seems to big of a stretch for you check out college radio. They don’t have to many borders and if your song fits their format they’ll play it.
Dj’s are always a must. They move your record and if it’s a hit they will be one of the first to know it. A Dj with a big following can do wonders for your career. For your mixtape hosting you want one with a name so people will check for it. A good Dj can break your record and have it spread like wild fire.
TIP – Set up a list of djs and get their email addresses so you can send them new material whenever you drop new music.
Marketing & Promotion are a must for any artists career. Being a indie you can’t have a huge budget like that of a major artist so you have to make your marketing and promotion dollars work for you the best way you can.
Social networking, eblasts, advertising are all ways you can use to market and promote yourself or if your budget permits paying for someone to do it for you, just make sure you get the best bang for your buck.
TIP – Target your campaigns with the biggest audiences as possible. Being able to reach a massive audience at one time or in bunches can do wonders.
Management is not a necessity as a indie at least not until your bringing in income from your music. But its always good to have some one in your corner. A manager handles all your day to day business operations. You can
have a business manger as well as a personal manager so keep that in mine when your on the search for a good manager. You want a manager who will be the best choice in improving your career. Not your cousin or best friend, that is unless your best friend happens to be Russell Simmons or P Diddy.
TIP – Do your research when taking applications for mangers. Be clear about your goals and let them know where you want your career to go, this way you and them will have an idea if both parties can benefit working with each other.
Business Tools are also a must if your going to take your career to the next level. By business tools I mean tools like a Phone which you will need to keep in touch with your djs and promoters and your industry circle. A Computer will come in handy and may be the most important of all your business tools. Keep track of contracts or all your music with the help of a pc or laptop. Make your computer work for you. Email is a great way to keep in touch with the people you come across through
your travels. Now days its free to set up a email account with companies like AOL, or Gmail. GPS will really come in handy when your doing shows out of town or places where you never been. I have a app for my phone that uses google maps and navigates you to your destination. If you can get one on your phone already to save yourself a couple dollars that would be money well spent. I use one on my G1 that helps me get to my shows. I don’t know how I did it without it.
TIP – You want to run your career just like a major would just on a much smaller budget, so pick your moves wisely.
Well I hope this list helps you on the road to your success. Check back to this list from time to time to keep yourself focused and on track. As always we wish you the best.
Good Luck
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Author details: Jamaal West is the author of The Official How To Rap Manual. He has over 15 years experience helping others improve rap skill and rhyming ability. Inventor of the How2rap Point-System & The Understanding Bars Tutorial his techniques on teaching others to rap have been regarded as one of the best of its kind since the year 2000.
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