Eljay Williams is a screenwriter, director, and most importantly, a big supporter of independent hip hop artists. He’s the creator of a documentary that profiles independent emcees, producers, b-boys and graffiti artists. These documentaries are called The Stand On Demand, and they have been on Comcast, in the Atlanta, for the last 3 years. I caught up with Eljay to find out more about his passion for hip hop and to ask him about what he has in store for the future. This is that interview.
Montauk Project Films ( Los Angeles, California), just announced the soundtrack lineup for it’s debut feature length film, “LITTLE BLUE PILL“. It’s a comedy about an unlucky hipster who accidentally takes two Erecta (Erectile Dysfunction Drug) instead of Aleve and goes on a day of misadventures. Sounds like some funny shit.
What’s really dope about this is the fact that, writer/director, Aaron Godfred discovered two of the artists for the film’s soundtrack on this blog. The artists are, Anonymous Twist and Afterschool Special. Rather than go the traditional route of licensing established popular music, the film’s producers opted to search the Internet for fresh, new musical artists to lend tunes to the movie. By doing so the filmmakers were able to have greater creative freedom in shaping the film with the music selection. “We couldn’t have put together the musical selection that we did by using conventional means,” says producer Dave Szamet.
Director Aaron Godfred adds, “We are really excited to showcase our rocking soundtrack of up and coming artists. Some of these bands are going to make it big and we think its great when filmmakers and musicians can collaborate to bring their work and passions to life. It’s a win, win for everyone.”
It makes me proud to know that this blog is becoming a conduit of greater opportunities for artists and other professional people profiled here. So I encourage you all to continue to network, collab and expand this independent hip hop community.
If there is no way, we’ll make one!
You can find out more about “Little Blue Pill” on their Facebook Page.
Kill The Record Labels is a film released earlier this month about the alleged assault on hip hop by the record labels. The buzz about this movie has been around for a while, but I didn’t want to do a post about it without seeing it first.
What do I think about it? I think it’s worth the money I spent on it. With this film, you get straight-forward information about what’s happening today with the mixtape game, record labels, and independent artists. Read the rest of this entry »
There are many video hosting sites other than YouTube and they get tons of traffic. If your videos aren’t on them, then you’re potentially missing out on thousands, maybe millions of views. Being an artist, you can’t afford to miss out on any opportunity to gain a new fan. Here is a site that will distribute your videos to all of the other sites with one upload!
TubeMogul makes it easy for you to upload your videoa to about twenty video networks in one process. You must set up an account with TubeMogul and the other networks, but once that’s done, you’ll be able to send your videos to all of them at once. TubeMogul also makes it easy to track the stats of your views and divides them in detailed categories like age group and gender, so you’ll know who’s viewing you and where.
This trailer has been on Youtube for a good while now, but it looks like it has the potential to be a very informative piece of work for independent hip hop aritsts. From what I can tell, it hasn’t been released yet, but I’m hot on the trail to get some additional information about it. Stay tuned! I’ll keep ya’ll posted on my
progress.
There are a lot of independent hip hop artists on Twitter that are wasting their time by using it ineffectively to promote and market themselves. Twitter is a great tool if used correctly, but it can be totally useless if not. Here are 5 Twitter marketing habits you should avoid.
1. Sending me an @ reply with only a link to your music. If I don't know you and you didn't take the time to introduce yourself, I'm not going to waste my time clicking on your link. It's spam and it's annoying.
2. Letting 3rd party sites use your account so ...
5 Ways To Get Through Writer’s Block
We've all experienced it right? Those annoying moments when it seems like your brain is on deep freeze. Can't find a concept...can't start a beat..can't find that next hot line. Sometime ago I decided that I'd find a some ways to work though the drought. Here are five.
1. Write hooks and come back to them later. Don't try to complete an entire song. Sometimes the hooks are the only thing you can get off at the moment. Why stay stuck on one tune when you can shoot of a dozen hot choruses that you can fill in later?
2. Listen to ...
7 Ways to Fuck Up Your Start-Up Hip Hop Label
Running a successful independent record label takes lots of hard work. A good business plan, good talent and proper management are essential to making this possible. Here are 7 things to you should avoid when running your independent hip hop label.
1. Choosing a name for your record label before you check to see if it's already been trademarked: Can't tell you how many times I've seen this happen. Someone chooses a label name, puts out CDs under it, and then carpets the office with the logo and name dead in the center, only to find out that someone else ...
Why You Should Trademark Your Name
Ever wonder why Common is no longer Common Sense? Or why Soulja Boy is now Soulja Boy Tell 'Em? Well, the answer to both of those questions is, the failure to acquire a trademark.
Common Sense, after building a sizable fanbase and an impressive body of work, soon learned that a reggae band owned the name before he did. Soulja Boy was sued by a hip hop artist who also owned the name first and had to either change his name or modify it in a way that was legally acceptable.
Related posts:4 Laws of Choosing the Right Artist Name Choosing ...
How to Properly Send Your Music Over the Internet
I felt the need to write this post because so many artists fail to send me music correctly. This can be an annoyance to DJ's, bloggers, podcasters, or anyone else on the receiving end of your delivery. You need to make the process of downloading and listening to your music require the least amount of effort. If this becomes difficult for the receiver, you may very well miss an opportunity to have it heard. Here a are a few dos and don'ts to take note of when sending your music out.
Related posts:Cool Tool: Twitter Music Marketing The concept for ...
The Hip Hop Artist’s Survival Kit
Don't miss another opportunity to share your music or network with a good contact because you didn't have your music or info on you. Way too often, I've checked my wallet to exchange info with a contact only to say, "Sorry, I don't have any more business cards." You can avoid mishaps like these by always having a few things with you. Here is a short list of them.
1. Business Cards: In this day of great technological advancements, this old school way of passing along your info is still the quickest and most effective. It's a pain in the ass ...
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