eLOVe aka El DeBarge Jr., namesake of the famous Motown singer El DeBarge, has released his first solo EP album on Industry Family Entertainment. The EP record is titled “The Lion's Den” and is a collection of original R&B and modern-soul tracks both written and performed by El DeBarge, Jr. “The Lion's Den” is an expertly executed, tastefully composed record that is sure to solidify young DeBarge as one of the year's most important up-and-coming R&B artists.
The main feature of the extended-play album is El DeBarge, Jr., himself. He is best classified as a singer, rather than merely a vocalist, a distinction that will set him apart from many modern performers of the R&B genre today. His voice and style are crisp, clean, and natural like his father's, though much more sonorous and soulful. His lyrical content tends mainly toward the romantic, though he has penned lines on several other topics in the past. His music has deep, snappy groove and tasteful melody lines. His rhythms take their cue from the best Motown artists of the late seventies and early eighties. While DeBarge Jr. definitely fits in with contemporary R&B singers such as Babyface or Chris Brown, he exudes a level of class and finesse more akin to Marvin Gaye, or even Al Green.
The “Lion's Den” EP is not his only recent activity, however, as he has also released a new video for his single, “Shawty R U OK.” The video, like the track itself, as well as the entirety of DeBarge's material, showcases DeBarge's professional-yet-unpretentious demeanor. The music video, which is expertly directed by Will J. Smith, shows that El is obviously ready for the global arena of sound and stage performance. R&B fans, El DeBarge Jr. fans, and new listeners alike are encouraged to see the complete music video here (and on a myriad other music of websites worldwide):
I am in the studio now creating what I beleive to be my best work to date. Lovalution. I s sure to be a banger out the gate. So snap in your seat belts we about to go on a ride.
The Cannabis Common Sense Tour is a non-profit tour first established in 2014, with the mission to spread the simple message of cannabis common sense, educate people on the benefits of cannabis and to bring an end to prohibition.
25% of the money we raise goes to the commissary books for non-violent cannabis offenders. The goal is to let them know they are not forgotten and our job is not done, even in legal states.
For more info go to: www.cannabiscommonsensetour.com
Doors open 8pm. 21+. Tix $10.
Performing acts:
Carlton Pride
Justin James Bridges
Tim-Me
Manch Malevolent
The Forgotten 45's
Speakers:
Grandma Cat
More info TBA.
Great Radio Show tune in to hear all your favorate artist and yours truly
Pandora is free personalized internet radio. Simply enter a favorite artist, track, comedian or genre, and Pandora will create a personalized station that plays their music and more like it. Rate songs by giving thumbs-up and thumbs-down feedback and add variety to further refine your stations, discover new music and help Pandora play only music you love.
Pandora is powered by the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken, the Music Genome Project: a project started over ten years ago to capture the complex musical DNA of songs using a large team of highly-trained musicians.
Pandora is always free, with the option to pay for additional features
https://www.pandora.com/station/play/3332245253518999972
Internet radio play for indie artistsLet’s be honest; as a DIY musician you’re probably not going to get sudden and sustained airplay on the giant terrestrial radio stations. You simply don’t have the budget for the kind of radio campaign where every DJ in the country starts spinning your single in a short period of time.
So put aside your dreams of breaking into the top of the charts overnight and get used to the idea of building your career at a more measured pace! How?
Running your own radio promotion campaign
Non-traditional forms of radio (satellite, internet, and podcasts) are huge these days. Many of the popular music streaming sites like Pandora have even made the jump from the internet into people’s mobile devices and cars.
The good news is that getting significant play on these new types of radio formats is a far easier task than the commercial campaigns of yesteryear. The obvious trade-off is that you have to do a little more research, as each individual station/program/podcast will have their own submission guidelines.
But the best part is, they actually want artists to submit their music, so you have a real opportunity to form close and lasting relationships with DJs and program directors. Sounds like the beginnings of a sustainable music career to me!
How do I find internet radio stations that will play my music?
It’s important to point out that almost EVERY radio station is an internet radio station nowadays. Even terrestrial stations that broadcast via the old fashioned airwaves are streaming online. But what you want to find are the smaller, niche stations (either exclusively online or indie-focused/community terrestrial stations) that play YOUR kind of music.
Here’s a few places to start:
* Submit your music to Pandora.
* Listen to Live365 or SiriusXM show ( Sirius does both satellite and internet radio).
* Check out this Wikipedia list of popular internet radio stations worldwide.
* Browse through the hundreds of stations (categorized by genre) in your iTunes player’s radio section and make note of the ones that’d fit your music.
* Look through the music podcasts in the podcast section of the iTunes Store. (Podcasts aren’t technically the same thing as internet radio, but hey — we’re not splitting hairs here, are we?)
[Just so there is no confusion, iTunes does not produce the podcasts or internet radio stations that show up in their directory, but merely provide the directory to bring many stations and podcasts together in one place. Locate the shows that are right for your music and then hunt down their submission guidelines individually online.]
Now for the hard part: the personal touch
Here’s the part of the job that’s a little bit of work — but ultimately rewarding: you’re going to have to check out the submission guidelines for each of these stations/radio shows individually; do your research; Google!; follow the blogs and Twitter feeds of your favorite DJs; introduce yourself (but in a non-annoying and non-demanding way); then send them your music, of course.
Yes, it’s more work than blanketing hundreds of stations at once with a generic press package. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it’d be easier to just pay a professional radio promoter tens of thousands of dollars to do the work for you. But c’mon — do you have tens of thousands of dollars? If you approach 200 DJs and 20 of them end up playing your music on their shows, you may’ve won 20 new supporters not just for one song, or one album, but for life!
What have you done to get your music played on internet radio? Let us know in the comments section below.
Distributioninternet radioradio promotion
Chris Robley... is the Editor of CD Baby's DIY Musician Blog. I write Beatlesque indie-pop songs that've been praised by No Depression, KCRW, The LA Times, & others. My poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, & more. I live in Maine and like peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, a little too much.
Just an article I came across and thought I would share it.
Yours truly: eLOVe
How Young Thug Got Trapped By A $15,000 Advance From A Major LabelRapper Young Thug could be hip-hop’s next big star, but his career has hit frustrating music-industry roadblocks along the way. How did that happen — and what can labels do for rappers now, anyway?
posted on Mar. 27, 2014, at 3:37 p.m.Naomi ZeichnerBuzzFeed Staff
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On a cold evening in February, right after Drake performed for a room of celebrities and TV executives at a private Super Bowl party in New York’s Meatpacking District, his DJ played one song to close out the night: “Danny Glover,” by the 22-year-old Atlanta rapper Young Thug. Seated in the VIP section, Paul McCartney and Kim Kardashian’s little sister Kendall Jenner listened as Thug’s voice shifted shapes, darting between quick yelps and warbled singing over drums seemingly set to the time of someone skipping. Earlier in the night, the crowd had sung along as local radio jock Funkmaster Flex spun wedding classics like “I Love Rock and Roll,” but now the room felt momentarily off-balance and charged with attention. “Danny Glover” was a challenging proposition, but not unwelcome. A handful of guys dressed like bankers howled along: “Money stand like 8 feet just like twoooo midgets.”
“Danny Glover” is a strange song that sounds immediately familiar, its melody and Thug’s elastic delivery carrying more meaning than its lyrics. The instinctive response to hearing it is to loosen your limbs and throw them at the air — or at least that’s what Drake and Kanye West did with admiration at different clubs as DJs spread the song in January. Later that month, Nicki Minaj mimicked Thug on her own version of “Danny Glover.” “It was one signature stylist welcoming another to the club,” the New York Times wrote.
By February, Kanye had reportedly summoned Young Thug to California from his home in Atlanta to record. “Danny Glover” could be heard on radio stations nationwide, along with his song “Stoner,” a singsong anthem that also became the unofficial soundtrack of a Vine dance craze.
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The people who made videos of themselves dancing to “Stoner” proved what people in Atlanta had known since Thug, who was born Jeffrey Williams, emerged there in 2011 — Thug’s songs were as catchy as they were weird-sounding, and his dare-to-be-different approach made him a lovable people’s champ. But while the grassroots fans Thug had worked to win over — and who thought of Thug as an eccentric, unsigned underdog — had the power to create a conversation around him, they didn’t have the power to get “Stoner” onto radio in New York. Still, someone had added the song to Power 105.1’s regular playlist in mid-January, and Hot 97’s playlist in early February, and it was an industry guessing game to figure out who.
It turned out the answer was a record label whose contract with Thug was a secret. (The secret was not an exceptionally well-kept one — rumors of the deal surfaced online after another rapper from the label’s roster was tacked on to a “Stoner” remix.) But why would a label keep their relationship with a budding star under wraps? And why had no one put an official version of that track up for sale — especially since rap’s power players were clamoring to tie themselves to the buzz of “Danny Glover”?
Because although Young Thug wanted nothing to do with the label, he’d signed a contract with them that he couldn’t get out of. According to multiple sources, he felt ripped off and went rogue, seeking out new advisers, while those at the label that now owned a percentage of his income scratched their heads and waited. In the meantime, the career of one of hip-hop’s most promising rising stars hung in the balance.
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Long before Drake was a fan, Gucci Mane, the Atlanta rap icon whose erratic behavior has threatened to overshadow his prolific talent, recognized Young Thug as a peer and potential successor. “I chased the boy down and told him like, you’re one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with,” Gucci said last year, after recruiting Thug to come work at his private studio, the Brick Factory, an “open environment” where a team of producers and rappers worked around the clock. In the summer of 2012, they were two mad geniuses egging each other along. The results of their shared burst of creative productivity can be heard across two early 2013 releases: Gucci Mane’s Trap House III and 1017 Thug, the mixtape that cemented Thug’s reputation in Atlanta and appeared on lots of nationwide best of 2013 lists.
1017 Thug’s title pledged allegiance to Gucci Mane’s label, 1017 Brick Squad, and Thug has remained fiercely loyal to Gucci since that tape’s release. After Gucci Mane underwent a public meltdown last fall, insulting former allies on Twitter and ultimately being sent to jail for violating the terms of his parole, Thug defended him. “If Gucci Mane said fuck you,” he told one reporter, “you need to please know that Young Thug says fuck you too.”
Thug’s allegiance wasn’t in name only — he’d also signed a binding production deal with Gucci Mane and 1017 Brick Squad. This happened around March 2013, said an Atlanta music publicist who has worked with Thug. The exact terms of that contract are unknown, but a current industry-standard contract for a different rap production deal obtained by BuzzFeed outlines an agreement where, for an agreed-upon period, a production company owns the exclusive rights to an artist’s recording masters, videos, artwork, and name. The deal stipulates that the production company will release and promote the artist’s videos, mixtapes, or albums in order to develop their career and eventually a secure a deal with a major record company. Then, the production company would furnish the artists’ exclusive recording services to the major label, for a price, to be negotiated by the company that signed the production deal.
So when Young Thug signed another deal with Atlantic Records imprint Artist Partners Group just weeks after Gucci Mane returned to jail last September, it’s not clear if he knew that by doing so, he was creating an arranged marriage of sorts between them and Gucci Mane. “Gucci was in jail,” the Atlanta publicist said. “I think at that point, [Thug and his team] felt like the Gucci contract was void. Thug is a real street kid — paperwork and legal shit, it don’t register to him like that.”
Emails obtained by BuzzFeed confirm that APG signed Young Thug in the fall of 2013, and worked to promote him. When the deal was made, APG did not know that Thug had signed a deal with Gucci Mane, according to Jordan*, a source who worked with APG on the Young Thug project and was privy to Thug’s contract negotiations and promotional budget. “If APG knew about his deal with Gucci at that point, they might have not even signed him,” Jordan said.
APG has two divisions: Artist Partners Group for recording artists and Artist Publishing Group for producers. Its mission statement is “to further the careers of the next generation of superstar songwriters, producers and musicians.”
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“They’re good at getting people early,” one artist manager whose client has a publishing deal with APG told BuzzFeed. “When APG look at someone, they think about breaking somebody into popular culture, not something that’s gonna be the hottest thing on the urban market. That’s the reason APG exists: They’re gonna go find those talents that [parent company] Atlantic Records probably wouldn’t put any money into, cause they’re a higher risk.”
According to Jordan, APG thought of Young Thug as a risky artist, with a vague name that might be hard to sell. But when APG A&R Jeff Vaughn traveled to Atlanta and witnessed how Thug was admired there, Jordan said, he sold Mike Caren — APG’s CEO and the president of Atlantic parent company Warner Music Group’s A&R department — on the idea. “Mike was like, ‘Fuck it, if you can sign him cheap, go for it,’” said Jordan. Multiple sources confirm that Thug signed a “full-blown 360 deal” with APG, meaning that the label negotiated rights not only to income from Thug’s recorded music, but also things like his live performances and merchandise. “Mike Caren is the most honest person I ever met in this industry. But that’s the business model at Atlantic, 360 deals,” said the artist manager with an APG-signed client. This claim isn’t new — back in 2010, Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco criticized Atlantic for pressuring him to revise his existing contract and sign a 360 deal.
Still, even though APG stood to make money from Thug’s music as well as his other ventures, their up-front investment in him was small. Jordan claimed Thug’s entire contract was worth just $30,000, and that he got a $15,000 advance at signing. (Another source confirms the $15,000 advance, and added “I’d be surprised if it was more than $50,000 total.”) Compared to the million-dollar deals buzzing rappers have reportedly signed after recent bidding wars, these numbers are strikingly slight.
Deals like Thug’s — where a label acts like a friend (or in startup terminology, an angel investor), throwing a little money behind videos or online advertising for an artist who’s made some songs on their own, hoping to help them get noticed and make some money back with revenue from tours and merch — are a relatively new phenomenon. Until the early ’00s, labels focused less on promoting existing songs than creating new ones, and tailoring them to mainstream tastes. “You used to get a guy with a decent amount of raw talent, and put him in the studio with as many people as you can until something workable came out that was glossier or more broadly appealing than whatever they started out doing,” New York Times pop critic Jon Caramanica said.
But since 2000 or so, major-label rap sales have tanked, and rappers became able to instantly distribute their own music through networks like Myspace and DatPiff. This is the decade where mixtapes — an album-length compilation of new or hit songs, usually hosted by a DJ, and sometimes featuring rappers freestyling over beats taken from songs released by major labels, sometimes sold but often available for free — seriously threatened the popularity of major-label rap releases. By 2007, major labels started cracking down on mixtapes where rappers “borrowed” industry beats without paying for them. Prominent mixtape host DJ Drama was arrested, and artists were pushed to record more original songs for their tapes. As a result, many of the decade’s most memorable releases were artist-driven mixtapes, with no label push behind them — Gucci Mane put out no less than six in 2009. “If major labels were smart or crafty enough to dictate where hip-hop went — especially grassroots, street-oriented hip-hop — it would’ve went somewhere very different. We would not have wound up with Gucci Mane,” New Yorker staff writer Kelefa Sanneh said in 2011.
In post-Gucci Mane 2014, artists compete to be seen as street favorites, making hits on their own terms that spread organically among fans, with the help of tastemaking blogs and sites like Livemixtapes.com. “In the current hip-hop business climate, in order to become an artist that people care about, it’s basically irrelevant if you’re signed to a major label,” Caramanica said. Marcos Rippy, who worked as Young Thug’s manager in 2013, said that for new artists, affiliation with a major label can be regarded as a kind of handicap: “It’s better when things come from an underground point, especially in rap music. It’s better when it comes from the fans than when it comes from the executive level,” he said.
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These days, rappers prove their viability by breaking into public consciousness independently. And Thug did self-start his career — “Stoner” was first released on a free compilation mixtape last September, before APG signed Thug. “An A&R guy is at this point is just checking the internet and being like, ‘Who’s bubbling? How can I get that guy to make money for me?’” Caramanica said. After catching wind of what’s trending online, labels step in to offer the promise of scale. With video budgets and touring support, or by getting acts on Fallon and Letterman, they aspire to turn micro nationwide phenomena into macro ones.
In emails obtained by BuzzFeed that were sent in October and November 2013, Atlantic staffers discussed plans for a January 2014 Young Thug album, to be called #HiTunes. They talked about creating “Grateful Dead-inspired” cover art for “Danny Glover” and “Stoner,” and shooting a video for Thug’s song “2 Cups Stuffed.” According to Jordan, if all had gone according to plan, Thug could have put out up to six releases with APG and Atlantic’s support: two EPs released for sale on iTunes (but marketed, for the sake of approachability and authenticity, as “mixtapes”), followed by four full-length albums.
Based on the success of Thug’s single “Stoner” — as of late March, it had been streamed 11 million times on YouTube and another million times on Spotify, and was in its third week on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts — Jordan said Thug may have been able to renegotiate the terms of his contract, leveraging for more money. (Jordan claimed that another APG rapper, Kevin Gates, did this. Reps for Kevin Gates declined to speak with BuzzFeed for this story, but after a couple of successful iTunes releases, Kevin Gates is now publicly listed on both APG’s and Atlantic’s rosters.)
But #HiTunes was never released. By the end of January, Jordan said, APG had stopped spending money on Young Thug altogether. Rapper Danny Brown asked Thug to open up for him on the U.S. leg of his spring tour, but Jordan says Thug turned down the offer when APG refused to pay for Thug’s tour expenses, because he hadn’t been cooperating with them. Today, while Atlantic continues to promote Young Thug’s single “Stoner” to radio, Thug has ceased all communication with APG. He and the label are “in a stalemate,” Jordan said. Several other sources — the Atlanta publicist, an A&R working for another label, and an Atlantic staffer — corroborated Jordan’s version of events. Thug and the label are now estranged, or in “limbo.”
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The easy scapegoat here is APG — the industry guys signing the local scene king for whatever he’d take. But in fact, it seems there’s no one party totally responsible for what’s become of Thug’s deal. “There are things that Young Thug could have done that he didn’t do,” Jordan said. “He wouldn’t take the time to go meet with a lawyer.” (Young Thug did not respond to multiple inquiries, through reps, to comment for this story.)
This type of situation — an artist signing a production deal, then joining up with a major label — is not uncommon, and usually wouldn’t be an issue, if the original deal-holder was able to negotiate the terms of the new deal. But by implying he was a free agent when he signed with APG, Young Thug essentially forced an unintended partnership between APG and Gucci Mane, without either party’s consent. “Gucci Mane was supposed to negotiate what label Thug would have ended up on, but that didn’t happen,” Jordan said.
It didn’t help that Gucci Mane and Atlantic already had a particularly sticky relationship. Gucci Mane was once signed to Atlantic as a solo act, and his boutique imprint 1017 Brick Squad was distributed by Atlantic. But after his September 2013 breakdown, during which he insulted Atlantic on Twitter, Gucci reportedly was dropped from Atlantic. (The relationship of Gucci Mane’s 1017 label to Atlantic is now unclear — one label rep told Billboard that 1017 Brick Squad is still an Atlantic imprint; another reached by BuzzFeed said “1017 is not a part of Atlantic.” It’s possible that 1017 Brick Squad is operated independently but somehow backed by Atlantic’s parent company, Warner Music Group — perhaps via the Warner-owned distribution arm Alternative Distribution Alliance.)
According to Jordan, APG realized that Thug had a pre-existing deal with Gucci Mane around Thanksgiving 2013. “They thought Gucci was crazy and that he didn’t actually have paperwork signed with Thug,” Jordan said. “Then Gucci produced the paperwork.” That’s when Jeff Vaughn, the A&R who brought Thug into APG, called Thug a liar, according to Jordan. (Vaughn declined to speak with BuzzFeed for this story.)
After that incident, APG’s working relationship with Thug unraveled quickly, and Thug’s star rose rapidly. In January, while Kanye was dancing to Thug at clubs, Thug fired his manager, Marcos Rippy, who had brokered the deal with APG. “Other people started getting into Thug’s ear saying they could get him out of the deal,” Jordan said.
In late January, Thug tried to shop for new contracts with a new manager, Akon’s brother Abou “Bu” Thiam, and the senior VP of A&R at Columbia Records, Shawn “Tubby” Holiday — who helped create the summer smash “Blurred Lines” as Robin Thicke’s manager — spent time with Young Thug in the studio. “We were interested,” Holiday said. “I think [Thug is] a good artist for a major label; he knows how to make good melodies and he’s got a song that can work not only in the club but also on radio. But he was already signed.”
For Thug to get out of the APG deal, according to Jordan, APG would have to willingly terminate the contract, or Thug would have to fulfill the obligations of the contract — to record and release music. Even so, Thug continued to speak as if he was clear to get out of the APG deal and move elsewhere. During a radio interview with Atlanta’s DJ Drama in January, Thug said he had signed with rapper Future’s Freebandz label, an imprint of the major label Epic, which is owned by Sony.
After just a couple of weeks, Young Thug and Bu parted ways. According to multiple sources, Birdman — the Cash Money Records mogul best known for guiding the careers of Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and Drake — came on as Young Thug’s manager in February.
Birdman’s crew YMCMB is “the best imaginable fit for [Thug],” former manager Rippy told BuzzFeed. “He’s been dreaming of working with those guys his whole life.” When asked about his label allegiances these days, Thug trumpets this new affiliation. “Rich Gang to the death,” he said in a March interview with The Fader, referring to the name of Birdman’s management company. (A rep for Birdman said he was unavailable to comment for this story.)
It’s uncertain what Thug, with the backing of his idols, will do now. Thug’s friends have been releasing new Thug songs online, apparently against the will of APG. “They want him to stop putting out music, because they want the focus of Young Thug to be on ‘Stoner,’” Jordan said. “But Young Thug’s gonna do what Young Thug’s gonna do.”
All of this uncertainty has become a part of Thug’s appeal. “Isn’t his charm, at least for now, his being fundamentally unwrangleable?” critic Caramanica asked. “You don’t wanna create some romantic idea of a guy who’s an outlaw from the system, but I like the fact that he seems to be operating a bit in the void right now.”
Jordan hypothesized that Atlantic, perhaps now feeling that Thug is a smaller “risk” than it once thought, may try to shift Thug from APG to 300, the new label from veteran executives Lyor Cohen, Todd Moscowitz, and Kevin Liles, which will be distributed by Atlantic. Backed with funding from Google and working with data from Twitter to sniff out trends early, 300 aims to help self-sufficient artists reach new heights, while working with fewer people and less bureaucracy than a traditional record company.
According to Jordan, it may be possible for 300 to sign Young Thug because 300 is in the Atlantic system, and has more sway over Atlantic chairs Craig Kallman and Julie Greenwald than APG CEO Mike Caren. “[Lyor] could go in there and be like, ‘I’ll do the deal with 300, I’ll keep Mike involved and I’ll give Thug and additional advance to keep him happy,’” Jordan said. If Thug does sign a deal with 300, it seems that Gucci Mane will remain involved in some capacity too. “He’ll continue to get money from it and he’ll earn some money up front,” Jordan said. (Through a PR rep, 300 declined to speak with BuzzFeed.)
In the meantime, a Gucci Mane and Young Thug joint album will be released on April 1. (The songs on it were recorded in the summer 2013, before Gucci Mane went to jail, according to the Atlanta publicist.) Another producer, Metro Boomin, will independently release an album of songs he recorded with Thug, under the moniker Metro Thuggin, this spring. Young Thug and Atlanta rapper Rich Homie Quan — who also has a complicated label situation — have plans to release a joint project too, tentatively titled Rich Homie Thug, though they appear uncertain about when they’ll be able to put it out, or whether or not they’ll be able to charge for it: “Coming out, a Rich tape, ain’t gonna tell y’all when. It might be an EP; might not even give y’all no more free music,” Quan said in a March video interview. Standing at his side, Thug looked off in the distance and tossed his head to the side, thinking. “Fans first,” he added wistfully.
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The biggest takeaway from the Thug mess is that the music industry is hungry for capital-A artists, who’ve independently proven themselves to be creative, polarizing, or generally attention-grabbing enough to cut through the clutter around them and engage their niche of the market. “You want somebody who has potential, the talent, and is a star. There are just certain things you can’t teach,” said Columbia executive Holiday. “What you’re finding now is that not everyone has the man power to do artist development. So some labels look for stuff that already has a buzz or already has a following.” And now, social media data has made it easier than ever for labels to identify artists like Thug, whose influence can be measured in his ability to inspire listeners to make Vine videos, or win Instagram likes for how well he wears a dress.
But for his fans, Young Thug is now a star in waiting, a corkscrewing voice with a deep inner well of resonant ideas. Fans know how he sounds, but they’re waiting to see how his brand might look on a large scale. For now, though, the dream of his emergence from label limbo, his sonic promise matched to a big-budget live show with outrageous costuming, feels distant, and hard to touch.
Swerrrdmedia LLC. Presents Roc Tha Mic Volume One Featuring: Mike Baggz, Gucci Man, OG Maco, El Debarge Jr. ,Prodigy, & More
So thank you in advance for taking the time out of your busy day to push play and write down your thoughts.
Project: Roc Tha Mic Volume One
Hosted By: Desert Storm & The 40/40 Nightclub
Featuring: Mike Baggz, Gucci Man, OG Maco, El Debarge Jr. ,Prodigy,
Free Download : https://thatmixtape.com/tm/S/Swerrrdmedia-LLC/Roc-Tha-Mic-Vol-1
Make sure you listen & download this new projects which features some great independent releases. Please tweet & post this project up, it will be greatly appreciated by us and the artist.
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"One Love" Elove aka Eldebarge Jr
Uhh,
I'm off the plane to a new show
And all the showdee are waitin' on me, yeah.
Touge pack ?? on their pistols
But ain't nobody aimin' on me, no
Got a pocket full of fresh dope, baby
So you know you gotta beg it on me
And I think though
Give it all you want, it's on me
New song's on the radio
DJ got show some love
Ain't no sign to a late bow
But this ?? still blowing up
AND EVERYTIME I HIT THE CITY
A bunch of bad nitch on me, wanna be me, heyy?!
And I'm break bone 'cause
Everywhere I Go,
E-e-everywhere I go, hey
Everywhere they show me love
Everywhere I Go,
E-e-everywhere I go, hey
Everywhere they show me love
Everywhere I Go,
E-e-everywhere I go, hey
Everywhere they show me love
I'm at the club, in the VI(P)
Put them bottles in the couple motto
Then you turn them like T.I.
Wherever you like.
Girl, you know
Saw my song on TV,
Now even I believe me
And I'm thankful just to be me
Poppin' up at the mall shows
Airplane international,
Yeah, young boy backto blow
But I'ma give it all to God
I was born a Celeste so
I'm celebrating now
And I'm grateful 'cause
El DeBarge, Jr. is now making his official first steps into making music he calls R&B/soul as well, of course with the input of his father,
Rhythm and blues
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Rhythm and blues (disambiguation).
"R&B" redirects here. For the modern style of music also called "R&B", see Contemporary R&B.
Rhythm and blues
Stylistic origins Negro Spiritualsbluesgospelboogie-woogiejazz
Cultural origins 1940s–1950s, United States
Typical instruments Drum kitbass guitarsaxophonehornspianoorganelectric guitarvocalsbackground vocals
Derivative forms Funkskadoo-wopsoulrock and rollreggaediscobeat musicpsychedelic rockgarage rockPub rock (United Kingdom)mod revivalhip hop
Subgenres
Contemporary R&BSmooth jazzNeo soul
Fusion genres
RockRockabilly
Local scenes
New Orleans R&B – British R&B
Other topics
List of R&B musiciansElectric bluesBritish InvasionMod
2016 in rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s.[1] The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular.[2] In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, saxophone, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy.[3] Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, and sex.
The term rhythm and blues has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s it was frequently applied to blues records.[4]Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. In the 1960s, several British rock bands such as the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Animals were referred to and promoted as being RnB bands; posters for The Who's residency at theMarquee Club in 1964 contained the slogan.[5] This tangent of RnB is now known as "British rhythm and blues". By the 1970s, the term rhythm and blues changed again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a newer style of R&B developed, becoming known as "Contemporary R&B". It combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance. Popular R&B vocalists at the end of the 20th century included Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder,[6] Whitney Houston,[6][7][8] and Mariah Carey.[7][9][10]
Contents
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1Etymology, definitions and description2History2.1Precursors2.2Late 1940s2.3Afro-Cuban rhythmic influence2.4Early to mid-1950s2.5Late 1950s2.61960s - 1970s2.71980s to present
3British rhythm and blues4See also5References6Further reading and listening
A long time ago, there were three kinds of human beings: male, descended from the sun; female, descended from the earth; and androgynous, with both male and female elements, descended from the moon. Each human being was completely round, with four arms and fours legs, two identical faces on opposite sides of a head with four ears, and all else to match. They walked both forwards and backwards and ran by turning cartwheels on their eight limbs, moving in circles like their parents the planets.
As they were powerful and unruly and threatening to scale the heavens, Zeus (the king of the gods) devised to cut them into two ‘like a sorb-apple which is halved for pickling,’ and even threatened to cut them into two again, so that they might hop on one leg. Apollo (the god of light) then turned their heads to make them face towards their wound, pulled their skin around to cover up the wound, and tied it together at the navel like a purse. He made sure to leave a few wrinkles on what became known as the abdomen so that they might be reminded of their punishment.
After that, human beings longed for their other half so much that they searched for it all over and, when they found it, wrapped themselves around it very tightly and did not let go. As a result, they started dying from hunger and self-neglect, and Zeus took pity on them, and moved their genitals to the front so that those who were previously androgynous could procreate, and those who were previously male could obtain satisfaction and move on.
This is the origin of our desire for other human beings; those of us who desire members of the opposite sex were previously androgynous, whereas men who desire men and women who desire women were previously male or female. When we find our other half, we are ‘lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy’ that cannot be accounted for by a simple desire for sex, but rather by a desire to be whole again and restored to our original nature. Our greatest wish, if we could have it, would then be for Hephaestus (the god of fire) to melt us into one another so that our souls could be at one, and share in a common fate.
Plato, Symposium, The Myth of Aristophanes (c. 400 BC)
There was a time when record labels committed themselves more seriously to developing the careers of their recording artists. Today, it is much harder to find a record label committed to this goal. When a major label signs a new artist or band, they presume the act has sufficient musical, songwriting, and performance talent, and are ready for the big time.
Up until the late 1980s most, record labels had a department within the company called Artist Development, and the job of that department was to support their acts' creative side, while steadily developing a following for them. When sales of records increased with each release, the label stood by their acts, believing that the more the public heard their music, the bigger their popularity might grow, and the greater their popularity, the more records they would sell. Most of the '70s Rock bands that dominate today's Classic Rock radio format are examples of the old school version of Artist Development.
By the early '90s most labels had changed the name of their Artist Development departments to Product Development. In other words, the emphasis changed from nurturing the growth of an artist and their music, to high-pressure sales development tactics and strategies. Product Development today, for most major labels, means putting the label's energy into creating sales for a new release, and doing so quickly.
If you had three strikes in the past, you have one strike now, and if you don't get a solid hit, you'll probably be forgotten in favor of some other act waiting for their one at-bat.
You can still see cases of a major label committed to Artist Development when you look at the careers of bands like Radiohead, The Barenaked Ladies, Smashmouth, or the Dave Matthews band. Artist Development is also behind the success of today's teen acts that dominate the pop music charts. If a thirteen or sixteen year old boy or girl has the looks, personality, and musical talent at such a young age, and the labels can sign long term contracts with them, it leaves many years for their investment to pay off. The labels may collect revenues from dozens of new releases over the (potentially) long careers of these kids as some of them make the transition into adult superstars.
For the most part, in today's competitive music business, the responsibility for Artist and Product Development has changed hands. Independent labels and entrepreneurial artists have inherited the responsibility of nurturing new talent by fine-tuning their artistic and business development, and slowly growing their careers over several album releases. Developing a music career for the long haul is all about controlling one's own destiny.
Artist and Product Development go hand-in-hand. They should work in combination and coordination with each other. When a balanced approach to developing your music and your business affairs are respected equally, you create a more realistic opportunity for achieving some success with your music.
Art is no less important than commerce for today's developing musician.
Artist Development: Preparing Your Career
In the music business, everything starts with a song. Without great songs, there is no music business. Songwriting is not just an artistic expression; it is the axis upon which the music business rotates.
So, the first order of business in Artist Development is the music itself. Good songs are not good enough when you are preparing to market your music. People only respond to what they feel are great songs Your songs must have some commercial appeal, if only to a certain music niche. (Folk, Hip Hop, Alternative Rock, New Age, Jazz, Blues, etc.) Finding that niche, and learning how to manage its growth is essential to becoming a successful act. So, your songs must be of a very high caliber.
Artist Development is also about protecting the great songs by registering them with the copyright office. Songwriters and music publishing companies need to affiliate with the Performance Rights Associations (ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC) as well, so that if and when those songs are played by the broadcasting industry, or in certain public places, they will receive proper payment for the uses of those songs.
Many songwriters have to decide if and when to look for a publishing deal or start their own publishing company. In my opinion until there is a demand for your songs, (meaning that there are a lot of people who want to hear your songs, or buy them), don't worry too much about getting a publishing deal. Don't get me wrong, the pot of gold at the end of the music rainbow is the income received from the use of songs. The business of music publishing, which is really the business of finding uses for songs, is very important topic to explore, but only when the time is right.
Choosing a name for your act, and filing for a trademark to prevent others from using your chosen name are also part of the business organization of developing an artist's career properly. It is strongly advised that you invest in registering your band name or stage name by trademarking it.
Artist Development should also include writing up a band agreement that defines the issues related to running your career as a business and how you will work with the people in your band.
In the beginning, managing your own career will be your responsibility; with a goal of creating such a buzz about your music that you attract professional management. Many developing acts encounter some resistance to the lyrics or cover art they have created. Be prepared to deal with the fallout from any controversies surrounding your music from critics, special interest groups, or even the record labels you may be dealing with. There could also be some situations you get into that may lead to potential, ethical and moral decisions that you must make.
Starting your own business (sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation) will also be a necessity if you want to have control over career. There are many questions to be answered about operating your own business, financially and professionally. You will also have to update any changes in your business operations as they may occur, because the different city, state, and federal laws affecting any business are constantly changing and evolving.
As your career develops, you may wish to improve on some of your creative talents by taking voice lessons, or master classes from more experienced musicians. Investing in the best equipment and musical instruments is another necessity if you are going to be a professional, working musician. No artists can perform their best work using mediocre equipment.
One of the most delicate issues involved with Artist Development is the matter of creating and consistently maintaining a clear and honest image. What people hear in your music must be seen in how your dress on-stage, and can help or hurt you when you create promotional materials, and artwork for your CDs etc. So, weave a thread of consistency with your chosen image throughout the Four Fronts of music marketing.
As you become more successful in your career you will need the services of an entertainment law attorney. Use lawyers who have had experience within the music industry. You will need them to look over any band agreements, record label contracts, publishing deals, or any other number of legal matters.
Artist Development as you can see, is a combination of creative and business issues that must be dealt with to make your music, and the business surrounding you music, run smoothly.
Product Development: Making and Selling Your Music
Product Development is about preparing your music product for the marketplace, and finding ways to sell it. Product Development issues become much easier to deal with when all the details addressed in Artist Development have been taken care of. Not all musicians take the time to deal with these responsibilities. They prefer to rush the songwriting process and move right into the recording studio, in their eagerness to get their music out. That is a big mistake.
The first thing a professional label does after signing an act is to start thinking about the marketing or sales plan for the act. That's right, a good record label executive, perhaps the A&R rep that signed you, can already envision how your music will be promoted and sold by the time you enter the recording studio.
Researching the right recording studio, right producer, and engineer become key issues in Product Development. Where will your record be recorded? Who will record it? Both of these questions must be considered quite seriously before you make a final decision.
The choices of what studio to record in and what producer or engineer will be hired to make the record are uppermost in the mind of a label person. Record labels are aware that if a certain sound, for a certain music genre isn't recorded properly, the chances of radio airplay could be hampered. If so, there may be no significant sales of the record. So, production choices are part of the Product Development equation when deciding how to market a new artist or band.
Never cut corners when recording your music. Once the recording is finished, you will have to live with it forever. You never want to say, " Gee, I should have done such and such." Find the best studios and recording team you can afford. Music production sounds are changing constantly and it is your responsibility to make sure your records sounds as contemporary as possible.
Up next is mastering. Mastering is not something to be passed over lightly. The mastering engineer can enhance or hurt the recording you made. Choose a mastering engineer who understands your genre of music. This is a must.
Who will manufacture your record? Who will design the artwork for your release? These are two more essential questions. Your finances will most likely determine this, as they probably determined production decisions. Take the time to make a record that sounds and looks like something you would want to buy yourself. Album cover artwork, packaging material design, and printing issues are important because you are creating a product that will be competing for the attention of music fans who have an abundance of music releases to choose from. Is there something about your album cover that will attract a customer to your record?
Once a record has been manufactured and is ready to be sold to the public, Product Development turns its attention to Distribution and Sales Arrangements. Many developing acts forget this in their rush to record their music. But, if you're going to spend thousands of dollars recording your music, don't you think it would be a good idea to find a way to sell it? Well, that is exactly how professional record labels think. They make sure a system is in place to distribute and sell their records to their fans. Many musicians make the mistake of trying to get some radio airplay, or other media attention, before they've found a way for the public to buy it. Make no such mistake.
Product Development, after a record has been recorded, focuses on all the business arrangements involved with selling CDs, tapes, and vinyl recordings.You will soon learn that the business of distribution, like the business of music retail, is a complex and challenging undertaking. Welcome to the world of major label distribution companies, independent distributors, rackjobbers, mass marketing retailers, mom-and- pop independent record stores, and the evolving world of Internet music sales.
So, my explanation of what Artist and Product Development are about has had one main purpose; to tell you that what you have or have not done in these two development areas will make or break your chances of making some money with your music, as you go on to promote, publicize, and perform it.
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Christopher Knab is an independent music business consultant based in Seattle, Washington. He is available for private consultations on promoting and marketing independent music, and can be reached by email at: chris@chrisknab.net
Visit the FourFront Media and Music website for more information on the business of music from Christopher Knab.
Marsha: Would you introduce El DeBarge Jr to our readers? El: El DeBarge Jr, first word I would have to say to you is definely a force to be reckoned with. You've actually caught me at a really really great time right now. I'm at a typical point. I'm about to turn 25 this Sunday. Just I'm at a coming of a man. My crew is solid. My production crew is in LA just keeping it cranking. I got my record label Industry Family Entertainment short for Infam Records. Excuse me, Infam Records is short for that. And on the more personal side just very driven, very humble, very passionate about music. I can go on forever. I don't wanna keep going. You gotta stop me at some point. Marsha: You are doing just fine.
El: Alright.
Marsha: Would you Tell me about your music beginnings.
El: I was born into a family of musicians. I believe I was born a levite, just appointed to do music. My family has been doing music since the seventies, since earlier than that, Mama Debarge, we were raised in the church. And just from the womb I came out singing. As I got older I got around to junior high level, that's when I really started noticing I had something with this and I had that buzz that itch. I just had to scratch I had to do this music it was beyond anything that I ever felt. As I got to high school I really started learning, cause then I was into writing a lot more and I remember one summer I even sat and wrote everyday. I come from this one spot. I would go to the mall and spend a half hour to an hour writing there and that's when I really started feeling my music coming together. It's also when I found hip hop, when I was in high school. My mother raised me basically just very sheltered at certain times, but I was this great independent kid, I would break out the shell a lot. My point in saying that is I couldn't even watch the box channel which is a music channel out in Los Angeles where they would play what would be average videos right now, but what my mom thought was too much. I saw the hip hop I couldn't even watch that. Long story short, once I got to high school I finally found I could be a part of hip hop and it is my own life. I started that as well probably around seventeen.
All White Party with swing out dance contest 500 cash prize 1 Place. 100 cruise credit second place. 20.00 registration fee per couple. the contest judged by Artist.
Meet and Greet coctail Party with Photo opportunity with the Artist. DRESS TO IMPRESS
Depost Due by Sept 15,2016 email michelle@paknplay.com
The Cannabis Common Sense Tour is a non-profit tour first established in 2014, with the mission to spread the simple message of cannabis common sense, educate people on the benefits of cannabis and to bring an end to prohibition.
25% of the money we raise goes to the commissary books for non-violent cannabis offenders. The goal is to let them know they are not forgotten and our job is not done, even in legal states.
For more info go to: www.cannabiscommonsensetour.com
Doors open 8pm. 21+. Tix $10.
Performing acts:
Carlton Pride
Justin James Bridges
Tim-Me
Manch Malevolent
The Forgotten 45's
Speakers:
Grandma Cat
More info TBA.