Kev Brown said," Eff this!"

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Low G

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Kev is dope. His post reflects what a lot of us are prolly feelin. I know it hit for me. The responses he got back were good tho, some good advice in there if you got the time to read through it.
 

skidflow

Boom Bap is precious art
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 220
Thats why you gotta do this strictly for the love nowadays man. We all know that we want to be compensated for our talents. That takes being in the right place at the right time and having the time to constantly promote yourself. Hell If I was in his position I would consider myself fortunate because that dude is known all up and down the East coast...when that Happens to me I will consider myself officially "part of the game". We need to be thankful for what we already have...until you do that its kinda hard to elevate. He might not have the money that he so desires but he definitely got my respect. And for the record Kev...I cop'd Kenn Starrs last album...very dope shit.
 

Font

Producer / Sound Designer
ill o.g.
This is what Nicolay said in a recent interview, about surviving the music industry.

Nicolay: "Well it really only works if you have a business mind in your hands. To tell you the truth, a lot of musicians don't. So you can only really take that on if you know what you're doing. The creative aspect for me wasn't always the biggest motivation I've had. Obviously it's always good to have creative control but for me I wanted to be in control of all the aspects in the business process. As I started releasing more records I started to see where some of the flaws are. Not typically with the label I was with but generally with the scene we are in and the industry. I saw a lot of things I thought could be different, better, less, more. So eventually I put my money where my mouth is."

Being a dope beat maker is not enough these days. Anyone wants to quit??? LOL
 

Ash Holmz

The Bed-Stuy Fly Guy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 207
i dunno ... i respect dudes music , but he seems like hes whining and complaining... that kindof stuff happens to every producer on every level.. even big artists. co-sign skidflow - kev brown is a well known name in the underground channels. Dude just needs to stay on his grind and im sure it will work out ... and also dude needs to get a new recorder lol..
 

Font

Producer / Sound Designer
ill o.g.
Hence why my 9 to 5 is Graphic Designing in an AD agency!!!
 

Guevara

BETTER THAN YESTERDAY
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 34
anyone who want to quit will come back eventually.

Spoken from experience...
...i think kev brown is dope but niggas gotta diversify themselves if u a one trick pony people aint gonna fuck wit u beyond what they need u for (in kevs case that "soul" which u can get from EVERYBODY) im not knockin kev though i be feelin the same fuckin way. niggas always tryin to cut corners sometimes the money woes are legitimate but some folks just dont care bout compensating producers.

by the same token we have to take these labels off ourselves, as a PRODUCER today u have to be able to do EVERYTHING. People will be lookin for specific sounds forever, when all that soul shit was the thing to do im sure many heads were checkin for Kev but now there is a different sound runnin music in general, u gotta be able to see the trends before they happen. you dont have to coform but be versatile. Open your mind, if u sayin off the back "i dont do susch and such type of music" u limitin yourself. We should all stop tryin to be so damn comfortable in this music shit wit one little genre and extend yourself. PRODUCE records...sad to say but its the business of music. once u get to the point where u have done enough to make an impact then u can start tryin to influence shit. Fuck conformity but dont be a fuckin self sabateur either because of pride and/or habit.Che
 

Krazyfingaz

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 2
when all else fails make ringtones and sell em, lol nah. I def respect his and the whold low buget fam's music but... like one cats said he has to diversify it's not all about the music anymore dude need to look at different aves instead of just "hip hop".
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
Producers have to get back to breaking artist...plain and simple. Find an artist or some dope artists, sign them and produce there whole shit. Get your money right and out source for promotion, move some units and hope the labels start calling.

This gives you more control business wise and possibly financially. This always gives u more than one way to get compensated. If they're feeling the artists instead of the tracks u get paid for off loading the artist. Get the check and find the next diamond in the rough. Build a track record of finding good artist and you'll probably get offered a A&R position. If they feel your music and not the artist you can get on the labels roster of producers, get a nice advance and work with several diff't artist on there roster. If they want the whole package (music and artist) then it's really on and popin'. May open the door for a label deal if you have enough artist ready and in the wings.

If you know you have good music and an ear for talent I just don't see why you would waste your time trying to place tracks as your main possible source of income in music. Try to break an artist so we don't have to keep hearing the same artist with the only difference in there sound being a possible new producer on the track. Same bullshit diff't day in my opinion.
 

Lazy Eyes

The Beat Konduktah
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 7
I see you LDB on breaking an artist.. But you need to do this multiple times like you said.. Plus you'll have to take the risk of getting backstabbed by the artist once it gets big.. He's gonna roll with other producers and you're left with nothing..

See the whole situation with DMX and that cat produced his first album.. Grease ( right? )....
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
I see you LDB on breaking an artist.. But you need to do this multiple times like you said.. Plus you'll have to take the risk of getting back stabbed by the artist once it gets big.. He's gonna roll with other producers and you're left with nothing..

See the whole situation with DMX and that cat produced his first album.. Grease ( right? )....

I take it you missed the words "sign the artist"! That white paper with the black ink on it is your "you can't back stab" me safety blanket. Those who have been screwed in the past dealing with artist did business on a hand shake, a blunt and a smile( in DMX case a line snort (lol).

It's '08, anybody being that naive deserves to be back stabbed , Vaselined up and screwed!
 

Lazy Eyes

The Beat Konduktah
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 7
I take it you missed the words "sign the artist"! That white paper with the black ink on it is your "you can't back stab" me safety blanket. Those who have been screwed in the past dealing with artist did business on a hand shake, a blunt and a smile( in DMX case a line snort (lol).

It's '08, anybody being that naive deserves to be back stabbed , Vaselined up and screwed!

Yeah i feel ya, but when an artist get's big.. they get company lawyers and there's always some way they can fool you out of it..

but, nonetheless that is the way to get big and make a name for yourself.. Just look at DJ Toomp & TI.
Wasn't trying to argue.. btw.
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
Yeah i feel ya, but when an artist get's big.. they get company lawyers and there's always some way they can fool you out of it..

but, nonetheless that is the way to get big and make a name for yourself.. Just look at DJ Toomp & TI.
Wasn't trying to argue.. btw.


Word. If you dot your i's and cross your t's ( meaning have legit contracts on these artists ) you want be screwed. The thing is some of these guys that signed these artist before they blow ask for "unGodly" amounts of money when the labels come calling. You can't sign someone for "life" and then try to use them for your life long meal ticket should a label come into play. Get a reasonable check and let the artist go. I personally wouldn't want to try to break the bank and hold on to an artist that didn't want to be in my camp. Most lawyers try to litigate a settlement before they just say "F" it we won't give you a dime.

P.s. if an artist starts to blow and you know you don't have the resources to take them to the next level you should be already be entertaining offers to move them. Like I said, some people are just too greedy. They'll try to get a Mill from the label when a couple hundred grand would be more in the ball park. Ya feel me?
 

Lazy Eyes

The Beat Konduktah
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 7
Word! And a big up to you man.. I'm learing something every day,.. ghehe. Btw. Are you working with artists yet? or making some moves on executive producing any albums..

I myself struggle to keep my production amount up.. as i don't make to many beats at the moment due to college and work. I'm a last year student, getting my Bachelor in Marketing.
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
Word! And a big up to you man.. I'm learing something every day,.. ghehe. Btw. Are you working with artists yet? or making some moves on executive producing any albums..

I myself struggle to keep my production amount up.. as i don't make to many beats at the moment due to college and work. I'm a last year student, getting my Bachelor in Marketing.

Just finishing my project with my group "URBAN LEGENDZ". I just took on a young r&b/hip hop group. We're just trying to figured out which direction to go with them. I'm also producing a few tracks from an Emcee out of San Diego California. Nothing on a major scale though.

Stay on those tracks man. Lately I've been averaging starting a new track every two days since the first of the year. Some I complete some I just beat out a rough draft of how I would like it to go and come back to it a few days and try to get it as complete as I can. If I take a week or so off from making music it's hard to get back in the groove. If I don't do nothing but bring up old tracks and try to polish them up, I'm doing something track related daily. IMO that's the only way to stay consistent quality wise.
 
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