Before you judge me and assume I'm blatantly saying "I refuse to work with independent rappers!", continue on, and you will see exactly where I'm coming from...
The first beat I ever sold was back around 2001/2002. I think I got paid $50 for it. At the time, it was such a proud moment in my career. Just starting out, I was just getting my feet wet. Making tons of beats. Learning. Seeking artists to work with (or sell *ehm* beats to) and sort of make my rounds to see if this is really something that could potentially become lucrative one day.
Of course along the way, I've managed to build and maintain relationships. Everything functioned on a case-by-case basis. There were artists that I wasn't really inspired by, whom were willing to pay $ for beats. There were others that I genuinely liked, whom were NOT willing to pay any $ for beats. And of course there was sort of a mixture of both.
As my career slowly started to build, I was catching the attention of more and more rappers. Rappers of all kinds. It felt good to receive that validation. It felt good to know that there are rappers out there, willing to shell out some $ to buy my beats (even though it really wasn't THAT much, in the grand scheme of things).
For about 5 years, I was on a roll. I was selling beats every week. I was on my hustle. A couple hundred here, a couple hundred there. Every so often, they'd buy my beats in bulk for a few thousand. It was working. I was actually making money. Real money to get me by. There were a small handful of these rappers whom I genuinely was a fan of. I liked their music. I was excited to sell beats to them. But unfortunately, most of the rappers who purchased beats from me were merely treated as a business transaction. I wasn't inspired by these people. They were obviously inspired by MY music, but I couldn't say the same about theirs. Either way, something didn't feel right. Something was missing. A sort of emptiness inside. The true satisfaction of creating music was lacking.
Eventually, I realized that what I was doing was the equivalent of being a beat-whore (let me LOL that to lighten the tone a little bit). Any taker willing to shell out $ was good in my eyes. They could have been terrible, but I didn't care. I was selling beats, and it felt great!
And then...
I stopped.
Cold turkey.
Why?
Because I've gotten to the point in my career where I didn't have to do it anymore. More importantly, I realized what I was doing. I realized that it wasn't helping me grow. It wasn't challenging enough. It felt too easy. It felt too comfortable.
That day changed my life.
Prior to that, I was producing the same "type" of music. Whatever you want to call it. Boombap. Big drums. Headknod. (and please, don't get me wrong, I hold that dear to my heart and still shines in my music).
I started experimenting and challenging myself. I started listening. Ultimately, I stepped up and challenged myself, musically. I did things that were uncomfortable. I stepped out of the box.
In stepping out of the box, my taste level for music evolved. The way I created music evolved. The type of artists I was attracted to evolved. The music I was making was exciting as hell. It was liberating.
So today I ask myself this question.
"Would you ever sell a beat to an independent rapper/artist that doesn't inspire you?"
The answer is no. (And THIS doesn't count. It's a fun competition where I get to dig deep and find out who's hungry + talented enough to potentially become inspiring. In fact, It's making my job easier.)
I'm at the point (thankfully and humbly) where I get to choose who I want to work with. Years and years and endless beats later, I've paid my dues to this point. I'm still growing, still learning, still wanting to achieve more greatness. But one thing holds true: no amount of money will coerce me into working with you. All you have to do is be incredible enough to inspire me to want to grow with you, as an independent artist or established.
Be inspiring, and you will inspire.
This is why I stopped selling beats to independent rappers.
- !llmind
249 comments
I can totally relate to not being inspired by some individuals and actually impressed by others, but my reservations came about by TRUSTING a few petty ones and not possessing the experience or knowing how to break into the industry on my own. What would suggest for a producer who has created and copyrighted hundreds beats, looking to carefully break into the industry?
Word I hear you! Question — could you have grown into the producer you are now without having sold so many beats early on in your career? Could you become a prod of your prestige without HAVING sold beats to whoever had $?
I respect what you did and it is honest. I started producing back in 2002 and begin selling beats as well. The market was much smaller back then and I found out quick that a lot of unsigned Rappers and Singer’s needed beats. Most actually needed a Music Producer to show them song structure regarding their lyrics and what not. Even though most were willing to pay back then amd I achieved success with one of the Rapper’s I produced for getting his song on the radio I felt that something was missing. Possibly that they weren’t the most talented Rappers and I was caught in a similar type of frozen time space. I started screening more with the types of Artist’s I produce for but this also changed the money factors when seeking talent. Less business was Coming my way because there was minimal talented artists as a whole. Now in 2016, there is 1000 times most less talented lyrical Rappers and Most of the so called R&B Singer’s I’ve meet online haven’t the skills that many mainstream Singers once had over a decade ago. The entire Music Industry has become over saturated with wannabes oppose those who respect and study the craft of music. It seems to be dwindling on funes on its last leg and even in mainstream music this is noticeable also.
send those bums over here lol
www.myflashstore.net/magicgodson
much reSpect for this article. Only working with those youre passionate about is something most of us aspire to do