How Come You Didn't Want To Be A Doctor?

This entry comes from what I'm seeing in my every day life. I was looking at all the people in my twitter timeline and noticed a lot of people are artists giving out their songs for those following them to listen to.

I'm ALL for self promotion, but I wonder if these same people realize that the music industry isn't the same anymore. You can't just be "nice on the mic" anymore. You have to have that buzz about you that can't be denied. Nowadays, A & R's are looking for the people that have the internet going crazy. Why? Because the internet has become the source of all media. Record companies aren't willing to take that chance on those that don't have that buzz going on already.

People aren't going out and buying albums as much as they used to in the earlier days. Why else would it be a big deal when Weezy sold 1 million albums in his first week? People were shocked because an artist hadn't done that in a long time. And to top it off, his album got leaked from here to Iraq, so doing those numbers was a great accomplishment.

Back in the 90's during the Bad Boy, Deathrow, Def Jam era, if an artist was signed, they were forced on us, making us go out and buy their albums. It was never a question who was going to go platinum and who wasn't because in those times, every artist did numbers.

Now-we're in the era of "make up a dance and tell people how to do it in the song" on a nice beat. Yes, I'm talking about the Souljaboy's, the GS Boyz, and the B Hamp's. A new, fun song is all fine and dandy, but when that's what your whole album is based on, I'm less likely to support your career. I appreciate artists that have the skill to put words together to make me think about the deep stuff. I appreciate the actual skill of it all.

The "Up and comers" are trying not to go that route, but without it, they are going to struggle with getting a deal. And there's the "Catch 22".

Not only that, but the overall appearance of these "up and comers" are not quite up to par. Diddy made Big Mike lose weight (he could stand to lose about 50 more pounds) back when he was still trying to make the band. A record company is not going to risk throwing their money into someone that isn't appealing to the public.

With all that said, I ask, "how come these guys never wanted to be a doctor or lawyer?"

Im sure I know the answer to this question. Its the same reason why I didn't want to be a doctor or lawyer: because studying Radio Broadcasting was cheaper. I do have a passion to do radio, but I have no plans on limiting myself (that's another blog post).

No, I'm not an A&R, but I definitely could be. I have a musical talent and I have the ear. And some people just need other hobbies.

I know these up and comers have the passion to do music, but I fear they don't understand its gonna take a lot more than being "nice on the mic". They have to do shows, youtube themselves, make their own little street teams and flood their neighboorhood with their music. Sending links to Diddy via Twitter (or any celebs on Twitter for that matter) is just not going to work.

And like my second father Ed Lover once said, "rapping aint for everybody".

But maybe I'm the only one who feels like this.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile