Damn, I’ve been running this site for 4 years. 4 FUCKIN’ years!! Where did the time go? A lot has changed in 4 years. I mean, you can go through high school in 4 years. A drastic amount of micro evolution can take place in that time period. A lot has changed in the industry. A lot has changed for me personally. And those changes have had an effect on the content of this blog.

Other obligations have prevented me from updating as frequently as I would like to. That has also cut into the amount of time spent listening to the the many music submissions coming in. It’s getting harder to find good shit. Other blogs post all of the releases and let you sort it out and be the judge. That could never work here with new independent artists, so I select  the ones I like in a similar way a good DJ does. But this blog is primarily centered around music business information that is beneficial to independent hip hop artists. But that is going to change.

It’s like this, everything you want to know fundamentally about the business is here. Want to know about copyrighting, publishing, and the role of managers? That stuff is here in detail. What is not here is the blueprint for success. In the 4 years I’ve running been running this blog, I’ve seen artists take a number of different paths to achieve their goals. A few things remain constant. And those things are hustle, grind, and passion. Talent is so relative, it need not be included. While some talent is undeniable, it is measured in the mind of the individual listener.

Oh and by the way…my post on Trinidad James, BY FAR, attracted the largest number of visitors this blog has ever seen. I was truly shocked by the amount. Do you really expect the labels, bloggers, promoters, and advertisers to ignore that kind of attention? New people discovered this blog and subscribed as a result. THANKS, TRINIDAD!

And there lies the sweet and sour reality of this blog. While more artists are being drawn to this blog for the music business content, there needs to be more here to attract and hold the attention of your average hip hop fan. And without the fans, artists posts here lose the benefit. You just end up getting your music exposed to readers who are mostly artists themselves. I, like most others, would like to increase my footprint and be more effective with this blog.

On the flip side of that, I’m very aware that making a choice to spotlight independent and underground hip hop limits your reach. But I know that if more people were exposed to more than what they hear on the radio, they’d discover some great music. Be clear that if you don’t do music for the mainstream, it will be a challenge to convert them. Nothing brings light to that as clearly as the video below. It’s an interview of Brandford Marsalis. If you’ve never heard of him, he’s a jazz musician, and his family is the closest thing you can get to royalty in the genre. Branford experienced pop success and was the Tonight Show’s band leader when Jay Leno first took over. He left in 1995 and returned to his jazz roots. In this video, he discusses a conversation he had with his manager about artistic sacrifice and playing to his audience. It’s short, blunt, and powerful.

With that being said, I’m going to expand the content of this blog. It may be political, about personal development, or spotlighting entrepreneurs and filmmakers who are influenced by hip hop. Hip hop is much bigger than it’s music, and I want to reflect that. I’ll still share music business highlights that effect the culture as a whole, but most of the music biz info I discover will be shared on my Twitter feed. I’ll be sharing different content on my Facebook page.

After 4 years, this is still fun for me but it’s time to try new things. I’ve watched a lot of you grow throughout those years and it’s been great being a part of that. If you create music continue to send it, or anything else you think is newsworthy. I still listen. If I fux wit it, I’ll still post it. And holla me on the social networks.

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
― Winston S. Churchill

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