Over my years as an indie artist i have encountered a lot of personalities. I have observed and interacted with professional artist and non-artist from hiphop, jazz, and on an academic level throughout my education and work history. I have achieved by anyones measure a "fair" amount of success for the amount of effort i have put into it. The thing that frustrates me the most is how as indie artist we are our own best resource as far as marketing and support of projects, shows, hell even buyin...
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One certainly doesn't have to listen to much hiphop music to hear that violence and the threat of violence are often central themes in the music. I myself sometimes use dark themes and profanity when trying to paint my soundscapes. It was a long thought out decision whether or not to do this and my desire as a writer to represent things "as they are" prevailed over my desire to be seen as acceptable in the eyes of polite society (which i found out at an early age was a waste of time anyway). ...
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Here is a hypothetical question. What if all the people who created and performed hiphop and rap music were musicians first and everything else was about musicianship foremost. I realize hiphop and rap music came from a subculture where musical training wasn't available and records were more accessible. As i am writing this im listening to a podcast from some Bay area artist discussing the state of hiphop at this point in time. Nothing in the discussion had to do with music. I would love to s...
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I have wanted to write a blog on this subject for some time now and there's no better time than 1:23 am as i sit here 45 minutes from the canadian border, sleep deprived and contemplative. I enjoyed the recent release of "Black Radio" by Mr. Robert Glasper and his experiment brothers and thought that he contributed something worthy to both genres that can serve as inspiration and a blue print of one type for the future. Both art forms require dedication and technical skill. I think the allure...
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