Being around the wrong people

More and more im feeling like the people I roll with are having a negative effect on my production.

I am often around some lazy emcees that aint put out nothing, that don’t do shows but are always quick to assert how good they are and how crap everyone else is and how great everything will be once their album comes out.
To give credit to these dudes they can spit but they just aint realistic due to lack of knowledge on how the game is.

As for producers in my local area I don’t chill with any on the regular, but the peeps ive seen mostly talk about the game they neva actually speak about the music, that’s how I know that dude is purely into it for the money.
Then u got the other types of producers who say they make all kinds of music and they shit just sounds bland cos they don’t have the deep appreciation for the hip hop necessary to make it.

I thinking that I would improve faster and make more moves if Im around dudes that’s making moves, but I aint on some give up shit im limiting the time I spend with lazy folks that allows me to focus and work on getting my game up.

Anyone else paying dues on the solo tip?

i think most people are...anyone serous about this will soon dump the fakers....i should know as i used to jam with one...turns out he had no talent as he wasn't willing to learn just thought it would flow from him...i also heard him telling peeps that songs done by me were actually done by him so knew for sure that his heart wasn't in it...soon as a realised i moved everything outta his garage and never been back- dont even talk to the guy anymore and my game has stepped up considerably...

greg

jpeg wrote:More and more im feeling like the people I roll with are having a negative effect on my production.

I am often around some lazy emcees that aint put out nothing, that don’t do shows but are always quick to assert how good they are and how **** everyone else is and how great everything will be once their album comes out.
To give credit to these dudes they can spit but they just aint realistic due to lack of knowledge on how the game is.

As for producers in my local area I don’t chill with any on the regular, but the peeps ive seen mostly talk about the game they neva actually speak about the music, that’s how I know that dude is purely into it for the money.
Then u got the other types of producers who say they make all kinds of music and they **** just sounds bland cos they don’t have the deep appreciation for the hip hop necessary to make it.

I thinking that I would improve faster and make more moves if Im around dudes that’s making moves, but I aint on some give up **** im limiting the time I spend with lazy folks that allows me to focus and work on getting my game up.

Anyone else paying dues on the solo tip?

i understand dat perfectly man
alot of people like that around me, but i know my goals and what i wanna do so they dont really affect me.

like u say people r too busy focues on the game and not the music. people doin this and that just coz the next man does it. same goes for listeners, its like the dont have enuff brain power to understand new sounds. they only give credit if your shit sounds like sum1 elses. man dats the wrong way of productions. tru musicians try to sound as different as possibale.

Ultimately, this artist thang....it's a profession...a job.
When push comes to shove, you'll see who is ready to WORK.

You'll see....
Who comes on time.
Who wrote their stuff.
Who practiced it and who is ready to move ahead.

To be honest, if a person is...let's say 16 to 22 years old and have barely any work experience on any day job, it's really difficult to get them to make that transistion.

Years ago, I did an interview with KRS-One for a NPR radio show and he said one night while they were in the studio at like 4am, D-Nice complained about being tired. KRS said to him, "It's either this or flipping burgers."

That's the basic truth. Some folks can't make that transistion. They do it for fun and these days, folks do it for fun, but wanna get paid too. It's deep and it's a serious hunt to find a good partner who is as serious about it as you. Just gotta keep moving.

Hint:
Create some schedule or work hurdles for yourself and your collaborators.
Whoever falls is lunchmeat. Even check yourself.

Peace and good luck.

Word to Homershines . I know exactly how it feels to "try" to work w/ people who were really wasting my time . You're always gonna run into kids who'll tell you they're down to get projects done but you gotta look @ thier track record to really take 'em seriously . I've met fools who insist that they make the illest tracks but once I put 'em in the booth they can't even count bars . And I've also worked w/ people who were some of the best emcee's I've ever met but didn't want to "work" , telling me sh!t like a schedule restricts thier creativity . You just have to be mad selective to find artists who truely understand what it takes to go from concept to CD and are still commited enough to take the time to perfect thier craft . I was in the trenches dolo for at least the 1st 3 or 4 years I had my MPC but I'm grateful for it now because it gave me time to work on my formula and learn to be self-sufficient .

good im hearing some different views on this topic, im defo tryna focus on developing as a person and an artists, while trying to keep lazy peeps at arms length.

homershines wrote:Create some schedule or work hurdles for yourself and your collaborators.
Whoever falls is lunchmeat. Even check yourself.

best advice. learning to set targets and goals for myself werent easy but i dont think you ever really get anywhere if you dont.

Yea well heres the situation I'm dealin wit thats a b*tch... My brother writes some alright lyrics... Nothing great, but mediocre I would say... Anyways he could be good if he worked at it (basically the story of his life)... Hes intelligent as all hell so hes got the vocab, but he's soooo f*ckin lazy.... I'll get him to write maybe one verse of a song every few weeks (thats the going rate he's progressing at recently) which is ridiculous.... Now we got all these people that we know (either went to school wit or old friends) that are puttin out sh*t and not that it's all that, but they at least put a product out there (which is more than we can say)... You'd think this would motivate him, cause he's all like yo So and so put out a CD and they ain't even that good... But he never works on his skills.... His flow is still all over the place (he's got about ten different flows depending on the track he'll switch it up, except none of them are really tight) and his voice is not there yet... Even of he writes a verse or two he'll never record it...

And the other problem is his style just isn't fittin with mine... I know he's got it in him to do the style I'm goin for, but he just doesn't push himself... I'm into that Jedi Mind Tricks, Non Phixion or Necro style... Trying to do some classic Wu-Affiliate style sh*t cause thats what I love... But my brothers lyrics just don't match... He's too literal when he spits... I'm trying to get him to try and be more metaphorica with his verses and a little more poetic with it... Then he'll go "Oh alright I can do that", but what results is no closer to what I haveas a vision for the project...

The b*tch of it is that he's my older brother so it's kinda hard to tell him that I don't want to work with him anymore... This is why you shoudln't mix business with blood I guess...

I know I kinda rambled on peoples, but I just had to sound off on what has been frustrating me for a while...

Matt;
I know this kinda situation can be tough.
....but, if you wanna be a producer who can work in a very commericial field like Hiphop is right now, you should be able to work with anybody....whack or wow! And if you actually do get to work with folks, you'll really know who is whack, even if the album is decent, because you'll know just how much energy went into repairing the damage.

The key is to ask yourself how and where do you see yourself: Are you a free agent, who will work with anybody who can pay like Just Blaze or Buckwild or are you looking to create a longtime partnership with a single artist or a group or a camp, like Premo or Pete Rock?

Once you've decided, let the chips fall where ever.

Peace.

I've said in other threads that to get anywhere with music, sometimes you just have to bite your tongue & let someone else call the shots. If you are dealing with small independent labels on really tight budgets you have to get used to the fact that if they say they are going to release your single next month you might have to wait six months or longer. But what are your alternatives? Either you try & put something out yourself, which means you need to make the contacts & learn everything that those labels know already, or you wait patiently for some bigger label to notice you which is probably never going to happen if you don't already have a reputation from somewhere.

featherboy wrote:Either you try & put something out yourself, which means you need to make the contacts & learn everything that those labels know already, or you wait patiently for some bigger label to notice you which is probably never going to happen if you don't already have a reputation from somewhere.

if u kno what your locals like, then start out localy. produce your shit and stick it on cd with all the covers, inlays, etc.

if it duz well localy, it'll do well in the surroundin areas. coz word gets around.
the next step is to do shows at local clubs n shit, even in the city. just making noise, then u can step up to the labels. otherwise with no rep to your name and the people u working with theres no hope really.

word to daspoof, lol

u dont need to wait around/rely on lables if ur stuff is good then u can sell CD's locally.

No offense, but if you are a producer...you should just do that. If your bro doesn't match styles with you either produce a track that matches his or move on to another emcee. As an emcee/producer I hate when I record tracks and the producers want to say something about my lyrics. The only thing you should note is if the lyrics don't fit...timing/bar wise...like if you think it would sound better switched up somehow.

like Phife said..."don't ask me to collab, me and you don't mesh" haha, you know?

and I feel what you're saying, I have plenty of friends who are dope rhymers that I've given up on because they can't write songs or record etc. As soon as they hear some finished product from you they'll come around..not always, but maybe

a good producer is a coach and director. if a certain topic or rhymes aint workin with the beat then move on. U should comment if u aint happy with the project, then try to fix it. Some cats think its cool to let the emcees have full reign on the vocals. i disagree with that completly. If u are the prodcuer u are the one who is setting up the vision. the emcee is just another element in the mix, like bass or drums, so if it aint meshin then correct that shit.

binger0 wrote:a good producer is a coach and director. if a certain topic or rhymes aint workin with the beat then move on. U should comment if u aint happy with the project, then try to fix it. Some cats think its cool to let the emcees have full reign on the vocals. i disagree with that completly. If u are the prodcuer u are the one who is setting up the vision. the emcee is just another element in the mix, like bass or drums, so if it aint meshin then correct that ****.

Thats what I'm sayin...

Me and my bro have worked out some sh*t... One thing is that he seems to really wanna work on his flow now.... The other thing is that he just doesn't have the ability to match lyrics with the right beat... Like he can't hear a beat and go, "Oh sh*t I gotta tell an ill a$$ story over that"... He'll just write whatever and for my tastes that just doesn't work... So what Ive been doin recently is coming up with titles for my tracks before we even get together... He'll come in and I'll be like, "This ones called 'The Sands of Time II'"... Then he'll be able to get a better grasp of what I'm aiming for on the track... Not that he doesn't hve his input or put his spin on it, but it seems to work better this way cause so far we've been pleased with the finished product....


Oh and to respond to what you said Homershines.... I would like to be that Pete Rock, Premo, Stoupe type of producer... I mean I wanna do work for other people like all of these guys do, but my min focus is to move forward with one MC and drop that classic sh*t... To me a lot of the music today is all over the place because there is no ONE producer for the album... People get the top ten producers at the time to do their album... That's ten different visions aiming for ten different goals and the end product is an album that lacks vision or a focus... It's just a random collection of singles... Gangstarr dropped that classic sh*t... Jedi Mind Tricks drops that classic sh*t... Two guys comin together for one vision that gets seen thru to the end....

Just my tastes...