Enjoy Hip-Hop Responsibly

We got a really fresh press kit from Wally Boy Wonder and his record label Intolerance Records. Very well done with lots of information and some goodies. Good touch!

I shy away from anything with explicit lyrics on the site but wanted to share the Simple Life video here on the blog. Cool track and a decent video.

Colemine Records dropped a CD in my mailbox a few months ago from Tough Junkie. The first 60 seconds of vocals on the album remind me of a cross between Mos Def and Joey the Jerk. He has something of a lazy delivery. Don’t mistake that as a diss… he’s just mad laid back sounding on the mic.

“Grab What You Can” looks like what it sounds like. An earthy stripped down hip-hop album with of touch of old school jazz flavor. The beats are for the most part basic but are dope enough you can really get lost in a few of them. I’ll definitely be listening to this record again.

The honey bun dessert tip was pretty funny.

The record was a welcome departure from most of the absolute crap I get in the mail. 7.5/10

I figured I better get going on this again… Every day I get a small stack of CDs in the mail. About 98% of it is unsolicited, some good and some not so much. Some from secular and some from Christian artists. Either way it’s cool to see what’s going on out there.

In the “Stuff I Got In The Mail” category of the blog here I’ll be writing about those random projects I find in my mailbox. Don’t expect to see everything here that I get. I don’t have all day. Ha.

Sandbox Rebel sent me a CD called “Songs for Friends, Family & the Times”. It’s definitely on some indie rock tip with a bit more polish than normal. The vocals are alright. Nothing that says to me “Hey, I’m gonna listen to this a ton” or anything. One of the RIYL (recommend if you like) artists listed is Eminem. Not sure why that’s listed to be honest. Nothing on this album makes me think “rap”. 5/10

Hey you! Yeah… you. Come over here. I’ve got some air to sell you. Yeah, you can get it free on your own but you should buy mine. After all, it’s ministry.

Payola is an ugly part of the mainstream music scene particularly in radio. It has crept into media as well albeit to a lesser degree. If you place an advertisement we’ll guarantee an article or some sort of coverage. If you pay us for a “promotion” we’ll run your single 30-50 times a week even if music testing shows our listeners don’t like it.

Indies can’t compete with that most of the time. They can’t get enough face time to win over the gatekeepers in order to be in the prime spots.

All of this sucks, right? Greed takes the place of letting the best rise to the top. What people are left with is a bunch of over-compressed auto tune flavor of the moment crap.

The pay to play mentality has slowly crept into our scene. You don’t get supported unless you pay. It used to at least be about “we like and agree with your ministry style so we’ll support you but not them” in years past. Now it’s starting to become about money before service and support. Sure, we’ll support you but you gotta give us some money. Never mind how “good” your music is or the quality of what you’re doing. If you pay, you’re in. Unfortunately amongst Christians it’s easy to take advantage. People are naturally more trusting.

When did money become more important than building and supporting the scene? From my vantage point it’s been slowly creeping in for a few years. For the record, I have challenged a few people I’ve seen doing this. Yes, I do understand that “stuff” costs money. Fair enough but I think you have an idea of what I’m talking about.

This reminds me of why I got involved in our scene and it’s reinforced my passion for doing it the right way.

Sometimes the best things in life really are free.

Did you know that 8 out of 10 people who view an online ad will never click on it? Media Post just released some statistics on user behavior when it comes to online ads.

6% of all internet users are “heavy clickers” and they account for a whopping 50% of all ad clicks.

This got me thinking… are my ads conveying enough information to appeal to only the 6%? Am I completely missing on the rest? Do your ads all say “click now”?

It’s something of an epidemic in our scene.

In hurrying to get information out on what you’re doing as an artist… you’re forgetting the very people you ought to be serving info to first – media. Somehow (almost always without permission = bad form) I end up on “fan” email lists from artists. There are a few things wrong with this:

1. You should be getting your announcements and news sent to Media first. Why? They are your lifeline to millions and millions of people who aren’t likely to ever visit your web site/Myspace/Facebook etc. You’re foolish to not take advantage of such an opportunity. Sometimes it sours me on wanting to cover an artist. It’s now old information and for how much effort goes into supporting you already, the least you could do is get us info early.

2. Sloppy. I keep using the phrase “almost always” because it fits. Presentation is pretty important even when it comes to delivering your updates to fans much less media. Clean it up and for goodness sakes hit “spell check”. It’s not that hard.

3. Relationship. Artists/labels should know this one by now. We’ve all heard that “it’s about who you know”. I’ll let you in on a secret… those artists that take 2 minutes to check in with me and personally deliver information are far more likely to find support. Those that send impersonal communication, never respond to my questions/requests and aren’t very thoughtful of providing me with material… well, you can guess the result. In the mainstream scene this is hardly an issue at all. Unfortunately in the Christian scene it is the norm.

For those that wonder and cry about being slept on… maybe it’s your fault because you haven’t done any ground work to not be slept on. Be okay with that or do something to fix it.

4. Opt in. There is a spam problem in our scene. Adding people to your email list without their permission isn’t ok. It’s annoying and a quick way to turn more people off than win them over. Set up your email lists to make it easy for people to opt in. If they want to be removed, comply right away. I’ve been hassled so many times about wanting to be removed from some Christian artists email list that I never signed up to be on in the first place!

Hopefully a few light bulbs turn on after reading this.

We broke the 1,000 barrier about 2 weeks ago. Thanks for the support.

Help Sphere of Hip-Hop get to 1,500 fans on Facebook. If you’re on Facebook, all you need to do is visit the Sphere of Hip-Hop Facebook page and click “Become a Fan” at the top of the page.

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Interesting thing I’ve observed over the last few weeks…

Christian cats offering “respect” to fallen music artists publicly but not to their own living brethren. These same folks happen to also be the ones who trumpet the need for unity.

In case you’ve been snoozing… the newest feature at Sphere of Hip-Hop is a hot one. Almost every day of the week a new song is featured in the Daily Download. You can scope out the updates each day in the Sphere of Hip-Hop news section and also via subscription options such as iTunes or RSS.

It’s a great way to discover some new music and re-discover some old favorites. Check out a recent favorite of mine below. Let It Go! is my jam.

Upon release this was one of the most popular tracks on the album at radio. It quickly climbed to the #1 spot on over 50 stations across the USA and even more abroad. Real catchy track.

Artist: Cookbook and Uno Mas
Song: Let It Go!
Album: While They Slept
Label: ILLECT Recordings
Year: 2006

Purchase at: Sphere of Hip-Hop Store, iTunes, Amazon.com

Download: Cookbook and Uno Mas – Let It Go!
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