On 01.30.10, In black famous people, Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
DJ Clue TV is doing a reality tv show to search for the hottest dj’s worldwide. Bring your heat.
On 01.30.10, In Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
Ciroc Stars Hangover 2 Video featuring Diddy, Chester French, and DJ Clinton Sparks.
On 01.28.10, In Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
I used to hate girls. I thought they were just good for stealing your man, and then laughing in your face. I know, I know…a bit dramatic but very true. Throughout my adolescence, I had my fair share of girl groups.
BET Producer Kristen V. Carter
Guest blog post by screen/script writer Kristen V. Carter CEO of Jazzi Entertainment and BET show producer.
I used to hate girls. I thought they were just good for stealing your man, and then laughing in your face. I know, I know…a bit dramatic but very true. Throughout my adolescence, I had my fair share of girl groups. All of the cliques started off like sisterhood societies – sleepovers, secret handshakes, loud negroidian chants, and complete with official names and symbols! But of course as kids change, arguments fly, and hormones rage, those relationships fizzled out faster than…yes, faster than that!
By the time I was 20, I decided “to hell with female friends.” There were a few cool people that I remained friends with through the years but for the most part, I was pretty ashamed of my gender’s catiness and disloyalty. I didn’t understand why most of my friend’s friendships ended because of dudes that are oh so fine in high school but will dry up by the time we graduate from college. Yes, this does happen alot! So I started collecting male friends. Typically, I like(d) being the only female in a group of dudes because they’re generally pretty simple and easy to get along with. I don’t mean simple like dunce simple. I just mean pretty basic in cutting to the chase in regards to feelings, situations, etc. (I’m not sure how basic they are now that I’m a few years wiser but I digress…)
I despised girl groups so much that I avoided them and made fun of them. (I know – real mature, Kris!) Even if the people were cool, I’d always sorta tilt my face to the side and say, “There’s at least one shady B-I in this group…now who is she?!?” But then a strange phenomenon started to occur – as my friend circle started to grow post-college, I not only gained more male friends but I just started meeting really cool people in general. Men and women just not about the okie-doke, just wanting to have fun and be folks. Now, as I think about it in retrospect, I became way more open to sharing who I am as opposed to being on guard that someone’s gonna hurt my feelings or as I said earlier, take my man and run…LOL
A few days ago I bumped into a family member of one of my former friends. For some reason, she still hasn’t gotten over the fact that her niece and I are not friends. But I guess I can understand…leaving a friend behind is like breaking up with the whole family. No, it is breaking up with the whole family so when anyone sees you, they just give you this kinda pouty look like, “Awww, why didn’t you make it work? I’m still mad you aren’t friends.” In previous years, I’d always respond, “Well, tough!” (lol) but there’s no need to be that way anymore. People truly come into your life for a reason, season, or a lifetime and if they are meant to stay or make their way back full circle, they will.
The closer I have become to my friends and cousins, the more I recognize just how important it is to have brotherly and sisterly bonds. Specifically, to be able to laugh at yourself, vent and have sisters give you insight on more mature and womanly situation. Ha. Seriously! So, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all the women who have allowed me to burn their ears recently. I believe you know who you are! Thank you for being sisters to me.
Guys, you know I got you on Men’s Day…I seem to have something long winded to say every time that holiday comes around. 
On 01.28.10, In Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
Actually if you know me well, you’d know my obsession isn’t all that random. I met 50 Cent eight years ago when I interned at BET. He was previewing the video for ‘In Da Club,’ his New Joint of the Day before 106 & Park.
BET Producer Kristen V. Carter
Guest Post by Kristen V. Carter of JazziDreamer Entertainment
Random KVC fact: I absolutely love 50 Cent.
There’s something endearing about him. Under all that aggression lies a warm, fuzzy bear. I’m convinced.
Actually if you know me well, you’d know my obsession isn’t all that random. I met 50 Cent eight years ago when I interned at BET. He was previewing the video for ‘In Da Club,’ his New Joint of the Day before 106 & Park. He hadn’t seen the video yet so naturally, he was excited. I was seated behind him, snickering at his giddiness until he turned around and smiled at me. He thought I was just as thrilled to see the video and suddenly, I was. The moment his eyes met mine, I stopped and celebrated with him. I caught myself saying, ‘Awww, congratulations.’ At the end of the day, his car passed me as I walked to the train station. He rolled down his window and waved at me. I was shocked he bothered to remember, let alone acknowledge me, and I waved goodnight. He gained a fan that day…accidentally on purpose.
Fast forward eight years later and I own all of 50 Cent’s albums, his photo book ’50 X 50′ and I’ve worked on a 50 Cent project. I’m fascinated by his mystique so I decided to also pick up his book ‘The 50th Law,’ which is co-written by Robert Greene, the author of ‘The 48 Laws of Power.’ The book is right up my alley – an examination of the way we process, analyze, and move through life.
The 50th Law is essentially ‘fear nothing.’ Greene breaks down 50′s experiences and how he was able to move past the negative emotion of fear. Although many of the principles resonate with me, I am shocked that 50 did not even attempt to tackle the #1 downfall of them all – heartbreak (& the aftermath of picking up the pieces without fearing another bout of abandonment). I yelled about that as I read through each section. ‘Uh huh, you’re not going there. I know you’re not touching love. Uh huh, next chapter.’ Yes, he discusses how to properly position yourself in leadership roles amongst groups of people but he doesn’t address one-on-one interaction directly at all…
50 has always presented himself as this unpenetrable monster, someone who shoots before you even get a chance to load your gun. He shields himself from all (love and) harm by isolating himself. Isolating himself and basking in the glory of money, power…and solitude. There is a difference between being along & lonely, but I doubt he really enjoys either one. Through the pain of losing his parents and false friends, he’s learned to accept isolation because it’s not beneficial to open your heart up, only for it to get stomped on. I feel you, 50. I do…but I can’t live like that. I wanna see you with a woman. I wanna see your soft strength. It’s only fair. 50, we all need love and cash can’t hug you back. But I know you know this, and acknowledge this in your journal if not your book.
He says, “Understand: the real secret, the real formula for power in this world, lies in accepting the ugly reality that learning requires a process, and this in turn demands patience and the ability to endure drudge work.” Since 50 refuses to touch on matters of the heart, I will. In my own life, I must accept that intimate relationships demand patience and the ability to endure the trials and tribulations that come with it. That means not giving up ‘the goal’ when you’ve ‘failed.’ That means taking experiences we’d label as good or bad, and make them neutral. They have shown up in our lives to catapult us to the next level, whether we realize it or not. Everyone has an agenda, and you must be clear about your own without losing yourself in trying to win or lose. What is winning or losing anyway? Sometimes things are removed so that you can make room for the real victory. In my life, I must remain in balance – understanding that at any moment, things could change for what appears to be the better or the worse. But in actuality, it’s all for the greatness so I vow to experience fully but not dependently. My joys, my growths, my triumphs are not dependent on someone else’s moves. However affected, I will never move fearfully.
I watch 50 Cent’s new video ‘Do You Think About Me’ at least once a day. Besides the fact that I love the song, there’s a level of unapologetic honesty (ahem, crazy) that’s going on in the clip. Vivica A. Fox is a hot mess; We’ve all seen her crying and talking about 50 in real life so to see her play the role of the crazy ex slashing tires is not beneath her reality. Because of this, I sometimes wish she’d shut up and go cry in bed. You’re the female representative, don’t let em see you sweat!!! I hate that she’s letting it known how hurt she was/is and I especially hate that she has no strategy. But then, I realize damn, she’s (wide) open to love…
Damn it, Vivica. Matters of the heart are never cut and dry. Watch the last :30 of the video…there’s something in the pain of her remembering the good times, the excitement of getting revenge on 50, the regret of acting radically, and finally the vulnerability of just wanting him…aaaah, emotions will get you every time…no wonder she’s a hot mess! Sheesh, maybe 50′s got a point. Why put your hand on the fire when you know it’s gonna burn?! Why go down a dead-end block? The real fight is not the love itself, but the fear of going down that road (alone)…No matter what happens, love is stronger than fear if you allow it to flow…take a chance…who’s gonna be the representative?
What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
On 01.28.10, In Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
Watching President Obama’s State of the Union Address made me think of one thing: survival of this recession. I know many, many people who are out of work and trying to survive. I’m interested to know what you did to survive while trying to find a job or on unemployment? I’m going to publish your story right here on my blog that is seen roughly 20,000 times per month right now and growing.
Watching President Obama’s State of the Union Address made me think of one thing: survival of this recession. I know many, many people who are out of work and trying to survive. I’m interested to know what you did to survive while trying to find a job or on unemployment? I’m going to publish your story right here on my blog that is seen roughly 20,000 times per month right now and growing.
Submit your story to me. I need roughly 3-5 paragraphs of your story. It can be anything. I just want to know how people learned to cope and survive this great depression. Click Here
On 01.28.10, In Current Events, Entrepreneur, by Gerard Spinks
You must have provable sales numbers that you can show to people when you go to a pitch meeting. Do NOT focus on a recording contract. Focus on marketing and selling your music.
Believe in Yourself
Music is a very crowded market as seen and evidenced by the proliferation of artists on Myspace. Myspace pretty much went to crap from all the artists on their promoting their music via comments and posting bulletins. The truth of the matter is that to really get a deal like Drake you must be able to show a record company that you have sales in some form or another. You either have sales from shows or you have sales from a reputable digital distributor such as The Orchard. You will get a recording contract if you walk into a label and show them the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet report showing that you have had 2,000 ringtone downloads from iTunes in the last 3 months, and 5,000 album sales from online retailers in the last 3 months. If you cannot prove this, you will NOT be entertaining a recording contract or top flight management from Chris Lighty and Violator Management.
You must have provable sales numbers that you can show to people when you go to a pitch meeting. Do NOT focus on a recording contract. Focus on marketing and selling your music. Focus on raising money to run your advertisements on these social networks such as Myspace, Facebook, and others. And again, you must REACH millions of people and get thousands of clicks on your website or song. This is the business side of music. Music is NOT about entertaining people because you have a passion for the craft. Music is about reaching the masses and proving to labels that you can reach this audience. You are forced to generate big numbers that start by reaching smaller numbers and building up a musical tsunami for yourself.
On 01.28.10, In Current Events, Entrepreneur, by Gerard Spinks
What do you do then if that seemed like the sure fire way to get noticed and the cheap way and every one tells you to utilize social media and facebook to promote yourself?
Believe in Yourself
Compile your best songs and attempt to put together your own album. Try to be different and make unique music. Once this is done, it is critical to move on to the next phase of the DIY Music Guide and that is to build an audience and build a fan base. This is NOT done the way artists thought it to be done on Myspace. Do NOT go putting your music on other people’s myspace as a comment. Do NOT go sending your music to DJ’s on Twitter via zshare links. Do NOT get an email of all the DJ’s that your boy has and send them emails promoting you as the next Drake and new coming of Hip Hop. This does NOT work and only makes everyone pissed off.
What do you do then if that seemed like the sure fire way to get noticed and the cheap way and every one tells you to utilize social media and facebook to promote yourself? You must find someone around you that has some money or work yourself to do this next part. You must find a sponsor who will help you pay for advertisements on Facebook and Myspace. If you’re utilizing Facebook primarily, you can create a Fan Page on there and upload your tracks to Facebook. You can also easily put your music up on iTunes via a digital distributor such as The Orchard.
The Orchard will create an account for you and allow you to upload your tracks. As a distributor, they will then get your tracks on all major online music retailers including iTunes, Walmart, Napster, etc. Your tracks will be in the online retailers. But being in the retailers and being found in iTunes is still like being on an island. No one knows you’re actually stranded on the island. You must promote yourself. Experiencing sell through of your music is the toughest part of the music industry. Having people buy your music is NOT easy even if you’re music is great. In order to get 1,000 people to click on your music you must have at least 1,000,000 people see your advertisement. This is NOT a joke and no exaggeration. The only way to truly move any type of record and get people’s interest is to literally pay in advertising or pay the DJ to spin your record.
On 01.28.10, In Current Events, Entrepreneur, by Gerard Spinks
At one point, artists really needed to rely on getting a recording contract or having a top management firm such as Violator Management to work their contacts and make a deal happen for the artist.
Believe in Yourself
At one point, artists really needed to rely on getting a recording contract or having a top management firm such as Violator Management to work their contacts and make a deal happen for the artist. This is a first hand account of how to build your own career in order to get a deal offered to you similar to Drake’s $2.5 Million deal from Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Records.
If you do NOT have a home studio to produce and at least reference tracks, I would start by doing this first. This will stop you from being at the mercy of any producers when you want to jump in a studio because you are creative. Creativity can hit at any moment to an artist. To be dependent upon a producer to get into their studio will hinder you and stop the creativity because you can’t just jump in and create music at will.
I recommend working and saving every dime of your money and buying an iMac computer that I am on right now first and foremost. The iMac comes with a software package called Garageband that will allow you to create music at least on your own. You MUST learn the software and the software instruments in order to become proficient with your tools. Making music is really about being technically proficient. It is a requirement to know how to use the computer, how to use the iMac, and how to really use Garageband effectively to create your own sounds.
Knowing how to use Garageband will allow you to reference your own tracks and not have to wait until you get enough money to pay the producer for studio time. The other alternative is to have great relationships with studio bosses and producers and sound engineers who can get you into the studio for free and reference tracks. Once you’re able to do this and create songs, start creating and getting your best tracks and songs together. Do NOT shop them to a record label! You will become very disgruntled and very discouraged and will go on a 10 year trek to find a recording company to get signed. This will NEVER happen in your lifetime.
