home town haters

[gullyjewelz]

Just wanted to see if any one cares to speak on their personal stories dealing with haters in ya area - either in general or in specific . . ..

Yall find it that most folk in ya area are "open" to supportin you or would rather diss you - not talkin about other artists - thats competition type stuff - but like - just the general "music fan" audience . . .

Do you find that folk are more or less receptive to you, for instance, if you are just walkin round the malls, etc. trying to pass out or sell cds?

Like I said, just want to see what you guys think . . . of . . . the "underground" scene in your area . . .

[Fyre]

From what I seen its hard for real artist to get love where im from.. especially if u mean like going out to malls and shit like that tryin to sell ur CD.... given um out of course thats way easy cause I live in a city thats probly like 85% black and u kno black folk dont turn down shit but our collar..... but as far as like sell joints out the trunk unless u got some soulja boy shit goin on it aint happenin where im from..... right now im workin on findin my own lil nitch to figure out where i can really get it poppin then maybe get some radio play and get people to actually hear me and listen that way ......

[rnb259]

there isn't any type of support monetary wise because people have this perception if your not big right now then your nothing at all. I know people in my area only really keep my name in there mouth becaus of my studio and selling these beats out here. Ive sold mayb a few hundred copies of my cd but its really not even close to what i could really sell if i live back in NY again. And yeah your right as real artist who believe in making good/great music its sad becaus people don't believe in you until u make a hit or something when we all kno that radio is a bitch

[gullyjewelz]

aww man; can we get some more opinions n poll responses?

[Fyre]

I couldnt tell u.... believe it or not I haven't made a CD yet be it album or mixtape

[xtxetherxtx]

Im fromnew orleans and its like 100% black andnot to many people buy shit out stores but if u got a streetteam out in the streets selling your cd people will buy but they will mostlikely ask for a sample...

[Atillah]

Virginia is for haters!!!!

The opposite of the state's slogan. There are so many people here from other places, due to colleges and military, that the "natives" imitate their hatred of Va.

A bunch of clowns really!

[gullyjewelz]

atillah - my man!! my maaphuckin man!! y i outta give u soem rep power for that observation!!!!
waht part of VA are u in>?

[Atillah]

Currently reside in Norfolk

Have lived in : Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth

Have been through : Newport News, Hampton, Richmond, Franklin, Suffolk, Williamsburg

[bknot1]

damn..i hit the wrong poll reply..I said you can sell cd in stores with little advertisment.. if people know who you are... but anyway

I don't think it a lot of hate..if you arent out performing its hard to have that fan base to sell cds to..if you at evey show that you physically can be at then you should have a problem gettin the support and having a good fan base to support your work..

I know when my sister-in-law dropped her album in '03 http://www.walkntall.com/treniti/treniti_main.html i think it was here in the DC/MD metro area.. they got about 1,000 units pressed up originally and made their investment back for running the label and puttin her project out.. and I know they had a few co-signment in a few stores in DC..and she was always promoting the album..by doin shows and or putting on free concrets (block parties) jumping out of a promotion van..do a few song then bounce...

so let the haters..stop you all short from reaching your goal...just keep postive and continue to make good music..

[gullyjewelz]

i feel u on that for sure - im takin the poll to try and see what people's everyday expectations are and if real life meets those expectations . . .

also - if the poll shows that more people have a positive response, but only to liver performances . . . then my follow up questions are:
1) who attends the live performance events that you do?
2a) are these events "scheduled" by you (n your label/associates) or
2b) are they scheduled by others i.e. "open mics" and "talent shows", etc. taht you attend or get featured at . . .

[Fieva]

I agree with the street team comment.

However, I know that I've pulled sales in MANY different ways.

1.) I pull whatever resources I can get. I'm kind of a jack of trades type cat so I'm likely to give someone a hook-up if they bring me new ears who genuinely like my music. My friends are my best street team because they're ridin' with me and blaring shit out of their systems and tellin' all types of people about it...sometimes I think it's only because they want to know somebody if it becomes something

2.) When I do music (I been on hiatus for a while now LOL) I try to collab with as many folks as I can...usually folks who aren't local. Those are the dudes that usually will support you and show love if love is shown back. Local cats are cool too, but you have to be more careful because you're both competing for the same prize and things can get ugly.

3.) You have to know your audience. Hate to say it but that means that if the people you try to sell with locally are on that souljah boy shit, you have to "stoop down" to that level on some songs just to get people to listen. First they have to listen to you, then they have to really HEAR you, then they may FEEL you.

4.) Get "your" image out there. People can more easily identify with what they see better than what they can hear. If they like what they see in your print ads, they might be interested in hearing what you gotta say. That means that you shouldn't have your shit looking like dollar store quality.

[BALKI]

Man I'm over here in the D.F.W. & and i put out a mix tape a couple of years ago and went out to this local flea market that's real big in my area I mean it's the spot to catch fans and promote you're shit. I went there and nobody was really feeling my shit man. It's ten times harder for me to get any kind of recognition because of the style of rap i do compared to alot of other rappers down herei n Dallas. It's mostly club southern crunk rap down here and i have a smooth type flow without a southern accent like most so when they hear a cat like me they think it's whack. Alot of pple down here don't know alot about real hip hop it's sad. It really is. To where if i went to the east or some parts of the west i bet i'd be better off trying to do any kind of public marketing. I learned my lesson ever trying that again. If you don't have a fast twista like sounding flow like Mr. Pookie or a Loud mouth belligerent typw scream like that dsr group they don't want nothing of you down here. Not only that but i'm Hispanic so that doesn't really help to much either. They see a dude like me out there and they expect some wack dude that's gonna sound like spm or bring some wack club shit to the table. I tell these lame fucks never judge a book by. it's cover. Just listen to my lyrics and i'll have em all shutting the fuck up when the night is over. I stick to the internet for marketing till i change the place i reside in. Just my tow cents from the part where i stay and the style of rap i do is mostly spoken word. Sad thing is i know all the big spots down here to market.

[gullyjewelz]

balki - let me hear some of ya steez - i been lookin to colabo wit hispanic em ceez - but in my area - the two races dont mix like talkin bout it- esp. if dont personally know someone from some other "walk of life" - like i used to kick it big time wit some hispanic cats when i was in hi skool - cuz we were in the same classes . . that "common ground" just naturally spread outside of the school - but nowadays - i can hardly get a hispanic dude (or chick) to holla - unless they know my man from somewhere or some shit like that . .. but hell - its not just a culture thing - i git that shit wit a lot dudes regardless . . . it is what it is .. .

[BALKI]

Man go out to L.a. & that's all you'll see is black and Hispanic dudes collaborating. Even out here in Texas it's like that. It's just the style of music out here that throws me off out of the bunch. I'm not really sweating it because i don't do alot of public marketing. The internet is really all you need nowadays if you know how to use it right. About them Hispanic dudes and chicks ignoring you when it comes to music. I think it's like that everywhere you go outside in public when you try to form two races into some street rap shit. To be honest i don't fuck around to much in public trying to get know pple. Just isn't my way of doing things. I stick to this internet type shit whenever i wanna collab or drop something with somebody. If maybe lets say i gotta producer who wants to work with me like telling me to fly down there to really get up in the studio then it's alot different. Right now i'm working on this album i'll be sure to lay down the zip file whenever i'm done. It'll be my first real album type shit i ever did. Man if you gotta topic to write too lemme know and i can get back at you with a verse or two and see about a beat to match the lyrics. By. the way good luck on that public marketing i think that has fallen big time everywhere you go nowadays. It's sad to say but the internet is where it's at for sales.

[liv_rong]

I dont know how it is for different areas, but here in Chicago it seems pretty hard to get a good fan base going. You go to these shows with pretty big names, at least in underground realm, and there will be like 4 or more opening acts. a lot of people do show up, but tons of heads show up for the main act only. plus, take a look around at shows and do some people watching, no body is really caring about the openers, and a good number of the people who do are just there trying to be part of the scene not really knowing what is good and what isnt. it just seems hard to find your audience and its a shame really. a lot of talented people are getting over looked. i dont think its so much people hating on your music, i think its more that there is so many artists out there trying to get their name out, those are the people who are hating because its a competition to be the best and be heard. and the fans , in most cases, at these shows have already made theire decision. underground hip hop is a trend that is on par with the emo kids, just on a smaller level. but, whether it be the emo kids or the hip hop kids, they are new to music and to the culture and really have no clue what is going on artistically or musically. they make their decisions based on what is heard on popular radio and on tv, and as we all know, this hails in comparison to what the music and the culture is all about or what it is capabable of. it takes many years to find your taste in music and to understand what music is in general in any form. the kidies have no clue what is going on, and they are the ones who are going to buy your shit.

[The REAL Jigsaw]

I voted on number 2.

Here in the T-Dot the hip hop scene is pretty dry (listener-wise). Nothing like the streets of NY where cats are on the street corners hustlin' mixtapes, talkin' about upcoming events. Not that much talent to collab with also, so it's either you have to work extra hard to get where you wanna go, or just forget about the idea of going anywhere musically altogether.

In my case, I choose to stand alone and show the people that it's still possible in this day and age. Pretty much it's up to the artist's themself to get the news out. If the listeners don't see a confident person on the pedestal and someone that's not a leader, then believe me, they will critize you to hell and back. Cuz that's all they can do and they think it's givng them a higher status by saying stuff about you. But in reality, they couldn't even hold a crowd for 15 seconds on the mic.

So my advice is, take all the hatership and channel it into energy, then show the people who you are. You'll be surprised how many true fans this method will attract, regardless of where you're from.

[bknot1]

This is turning to a good topic..

[gullyjewelz]

gimme me some rep pointw!!!!!!
lol

[bknot1]

They Said I have to spread some points around before I can give you more rep points

[gullyjewelz]

lol! now thats quite a worthy smiley face :->

[BALKI]

Man wish i could re-vote i hit number 2 by. accident i meant to press #3 oh well. I do believe it's alot different in different states that is. Over here where I'm at you rarely see cats inside local bars or jazz clubs setting up a gig. They mainly do shit by. renting local recs and hitting up flea markets and what not. Sometimes lil lame 13-17 year old teenage clubs gets you alot of fan base. That's the shit 36-mafia does around different cities. Over here there's a lil spot called deep ellum that has open warehouses for the weekend but you mainly see rock & metal bands filling em up on regular bases. Maybe that should change with the right pple who would be open to start up a gig or two on the weekends. If anybody is down or passing by. the dfw hit me up and maybe we can see what we can do on opening up one of those spots and doing an all night hip hop extravaganza.

[gullyjewelz]

yea that sounds good - i wanna do somethin like that . . . just so hard to get stuff up n runnin wit just me and my road dog tryin to git shit done . . . im workin on buildin a better network though

[BALKI]

Originally Posted by The REAL Jigsaw

I voted on number 2.

Here in the T-Dot the hip hop scene is pretty dry (listener-wise). Nothing like the streets of NY where cats are on the street corners hustlin' mixtapes, talkin' about upcoming events. Not that much talent to collab with also, so it's either you have to work extra hard to get where you wanna go, or just forget about the idea of going anywhere musically altogether.

In my case, I choose to stand alone and show the people that it's still possible in this day and age. Pretty much it's up to the artist's themself to get the news out. If the listeners don't see a confident person on the pedestal and someone that's not a leader, then believe me, they will critize you to hell and back. Cuz that's all they can do and they think it's givng them a higher status by saying stuff about you. But in reality, they couldn't even hold a crowd for 15 seconds on the mic.

So my advice is, take all the hatership and channel it into energy, then show the people who you are. You'll be surprised how many true fans this method will attract, regardless of where you're from.

Man thanks for the good advice i'll def. take this into consideration next time i have to step out in the public and sell stuff. One thing i wanna work on is my communication skills i believe this is a big plus along with business management. I gotta be honest promoting isn't really my thing i'd rather pay somebody to do all that for me, but like pple say you gotta have the money and that's something i don't have right now so i guess i'm stuck doing it on my own, but heck who isn't.

[gullyjewelz]

yea im uppin it!! lol - there's got to be more pplz on here with some advice/opinion on this issue . . . there's just gotta