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I wanna become a successful independent artist and take my family and friends out the hood.
I love all type of music from Hip Hop to R&B Soul and Drill to Trap.
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angie azur
Writer | Artist | Death Doula | Yoga | Meditation | Psychology | Philosophy
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angie’s Answer
I wanna become a successful independent artist and take my family and friends out the hood.
I love all type of music from Hip Hop to R&B Soul and Drill to Trap.
____________
Hello, Israel!
So....you want to become a successful independent artist....Okay.
Some steps to that are....becoming a part of a group. Now, that sounds counter to what you say you want, but being part of an artistic group, a music group, or any other art group will help you hone your skills. We cannot become independent until we understand the rules of the game we want to play big in. The rules are there so, how can you create within the business world of music, with all those other voices, and yet be unique. First, you have to learn the rules and the business world. To be independent, you must know all the ins and outs of the business you want to be great at - like, how young artists get noticed, what lyrics are okay for which audience, what other jobs are there where you could start out as a nobody, and learn from the somebody's in that industry, how do they promote, how do they record, how do they schedule concerts....if you want independence you must learn all about this business. Look into books on the business of music and the specific genre you are interested in creating.
Being unique is finding your voice, not being a copy of another's. How do you find your unique voice? Go inward. Meditation and/or prayer will help. Breathe into the middle of your body and ask yourself questions like:
1. Who am I?
2. What makes me happy?
3. What makes me angry?
4. What makes me me?
5. What did I love to do when I was 5?
6. What do others say I'm good at?
7. What could I do all day and never get bored?
You'll start to get to know yourself and hear your own unique voice. Once you have your voice, it's time to start being creative....writing songs, creating dance moves, and art for your album. This will be difficult at times and so fun and rewarding at other times. Be patient with yourself as you are just learning who you are from the inside out instead of who you are from the outside in. It's a different perspective and I learned it from being in a Ph.D. program, studying ancient wisdom.
Now, about getting out of the hood. My family was poor and lived on government cheese when I was growing up. I wanted out, too! I got myself into college. How? I studied and paid attention to every teacher, in every class, and I did not follow others. I asked people who knew things to help me get there, to help me get loans and work so I could do it. Many of my cousins are still alcoholics and live very sadly and unhappily....but I got out! I surrounded myself with people I wanted to be like. How did I do that? I got a job at the YMCA and asked questions of the managers. How did they get there? I paid attention to how they talked and acted and dressed. My speech back then was very country, with a lot of words that are not considered great English. So, I studied accents, language, and how to speak for success. That sounds funny, I know, but it helped me get rid of words that outed my upbringing, which helped me get better jobs while in college. I really wanted to change my future. I didn't want to end up like most of my family, poor, drinking a lot, and angry.
You can do anything and change your life however you want....really! People are around who will help you....just ask! Be brave. And good luck on your journey. I believe in you!
I love all type of music from Hip Hop to R&B Soul and Drill to Trap.
____________
Hello, Israel!
So....you want to become a successful independent artist....Okay.
Some steps to that are....becoming a part of a group. Now, that sounds counter to what you say you want, but being part of an artistic group, a music group, or any other art group will help you hone your skills. We cannot become independent until we understand the rules of the game we want to play big in. The rules are there so, how can you create within the business world of music, with all those other voices, and yet be unique. First, you have to learn the rules and the business world. To be independent, you must know all the ins and outs of the business you want to be great at - like, how young artists get noticed, what lyrics are okay for which audience, what other jobs are there where you could start out as a nobody, and learn from the somebody's in that industry, how do they promote, how do they record, how do they schedule concerts....if you want independence you must learn all about this business. Look into books on the business of music and the specific genre you are interested in creating.
Being unique is finding your voice, not being a copy of another's. How do you find your unique voice? Go inward. Meditation and/or prayer will help. Breathe into the middle of your body and ask yourself questions like:
1. Who am I?
2. What makes me happy?
3. What makes me angry?
4. What makes me me?
5. What did I love to do when I was 5?
6. What do others say I'm good at?
7. What could I do all day and never get bored?
You'll start to get to know yourself and hear your own unique voice. Once you have your voice, it's time to start being creative....writing songs, creating dance moves, and art for your album. This will be difficult at times and so fun and rewarding at other times. Be patient with yourself as you are just learning who you are from the inside out instead of who you are from the outside in. It's a different perspective and I learned it from being in a Ph.D. program, studying ancient wisdom.
Now, about getting out of the hood. My family was poor and lived on government cheese when I was growing up. I wanted out, too! I got myself into college. How? I studied and paid attention to every teacher, in every class, and I did not follow others. I asked people who knew things to help me get there, to help me get loans and work so I could do it. Many of my cousins are still alcoholics and live very sadly and unhappily....but I got out! I surrounded myself with people I wanted to be like. How did I do that? I got a job at the YMCA and asked questions of the managers. How did they get there? I paid attention to how they talked and acted and dressed. My speech back then was very country, with a lot of words that are not considered great English. So, I studied accents, language, and how to speak for success. That sounds funny, I know, but it helped me get rid of words that outed my upbringing, which helped me get better jobs while in college. I really wanted to change my future. I didn't want to end up like most of my family, poor, drinking a lot, and angry.
You can do anything and change your life however you want....really! People are around who will help you....just ask! Be brave. And good luck on your journey. I believe in you!
Updated
Joshua’s Answer
The first thing to do is focus on YOU. You can’t think about helping everyone else out if you haven't helped yourself first, or it will take you a lifetime to accomplish what you're trying to do.
I call this the airplane safety method. They always tell you to put on your mask before you try helping anyone else and you can only help as for as your oxygen line will allow.
When it comes to the music part, you need to learn some basics of business but it won’t stop you from getting started. Don’t worry about who’s on the radio getting shows. All that stuff will come.
The basics of monetizing your music is what a lot of people fail to do and it’s why they fail to become independent. You don’t have to be the best artist to make money. You need to create a BMI account and a Sound Exchange account and choose a distributor, I use CD Baby.
Upload your music to CD baby it’ll distribute it to all your major platforms and connect to your BMI account then you need to go into your sound exchange and claim your songs (this is how you get paid).
The more music you upload the more exposure you’ll get this the more money you generate. This doesn’t happen instantly so you may be waiting a while to see you first check (3months to a year).
Now of can get popular from your music and get more people to stream it. You see that check a lot quicker, but even if you got no traction locally the money will eventually come.
Far as helping other you’re looking at some year and a lot of music before your can even consider it. Consistency is key and continue to try and elevate
Hope this helps
-CG
I call this the airplane safety method. They always tell you to put on your mask before you try helping anyone else and you can only help as for as your oxygen line will allow.
When it comes to the music part, you need to learn some basics of business but it won’t stop you from getting started. Don’t worry about who’s on the radio getting shows. All that stuff will come.
The basics of monetizing your music is what a lot of people fail to do and it’s why they fail to become independent. You don’t have to be the best artist to make money. You need to create a BMI account and a Sound Exchange account and choose a distributor, I use CD Baby.
Upload your music to CD baby it’ll distribute it to all your major platforms and connect to your BMI account then you need to go into your sound exchange and claim your songs (this is how you get paid).
The more music you upload the more exposure you’ll get this the more money you generate. This doesn’t happen instantly so you may be waiting a while to see you first check (3months to a year).
Now of can get popular from your music and get more people to stream it. You see that check a lot quicker, but even if you got no traction locally the money will eventually come.
Far as helping other you’re looking at some year and a lot of music before your can even consider it. Consistency is key and continue to try and elevate
Hope this helps
-CG
Updated
Ashley’s Answer
Personally I don’t have much experience in music besides listening to it, but as someone who also lives in the hood and has a similar idea I can tell you this. It’s gonna take a lot of work and it’s not going to happen overnight, but sit back and think of how passionate you are about music and let that drive you. You are going to fail multiple times before succeeding, but what really matters is having that support system. That means your family, friends, neighbor, etc. If I read correctly you’re also from New York which gives you an advantage. Besides having social media now helping you bring more exposure towards your music you’re literally from a city that holds many talent. One thing about NYC we gonna rep our people especially if the song fire. Being from the hood makes it better in a sense as well because literally music moves hood to hood. You could be from Brooklyn and if your music is fire it could make it all the way to the Bronx and from then on you start taking off slowly. But on thing to remember is be here for the journey not the reward cause if you here for the reward ain’t nothing is gonna be learned and even worse there may not be no reward because you’ll be so focused on that reward that you may give up because you’re not patient enough to wait.
Thanks, can't wait to put this advice into action!
Israel