RAGTIME THE RECORDING ARTISTS GUILD MAGAZINE
BLOCKCHAIN & THE MUSIC BUSINESS PAGE 10
RAG TOP 10 ARTIST PAGE 24
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THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THE MAN THAT TOUCHED AN ENTIRE CULTURE
WAYS MUSIC MANAGERS MAKE IT TO THE TOP
LIL NAS X HOW THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED LEAD HIM TO SUCCESS
PAGE 26
RAG TIME Magazine “An Era Defined By Music” hCps://rag.org/
Issue No. 0120
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August 1ST 2019 VOLUME 10 NUMBER 8
RAGTIME
Indie is the new major Page 6 Le3er From The Editor Page 7 Music Makes Music Make A Difference Page 9 Music Business Tips Page 10 Blockchain And The Music Business page 15 Merch Bundle Wars Page 22 10 Ways Music Managers Thrive Page 24 RAG TOP 10 ArRsts of the Month page 26 Lil Naz X
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From The Founder
Byron Booker Recording ArJsts Guild Founder & Chairman
When I started the Guild over a decade ago I knew that it would be more than just another music associaJon adapJng to the ever changing landscape of the music business. RAG was meant to be an ever expanding naJon of creaJves who forge a new path where by we as a community design the industry as we see it. RAG TIME Magazine shines a spotlight on the game changers that are impacJng the industry.
Byron, founder of the Recoding ArJsts Guild Inc., has been Chairman of the Guild since its incepJon in 2009. Byron has been a music execuJve for the past 20 years having facilitated recording and publishing deals with Sony and Universal Music while producing record breaking live concerts / streaming events. The Recording ArJsts Guild is an associaJon of recording arJsts in the USA and Canada. RAG works to enhance and improve the careers of recording arJsts by providing business tools, legal assistance, important discounts, promoJng the fair wages for recording arJsts, legislaJve acJon for arJsts, educaJon to all recording arJsts about changes happening in the industry, health and welfare for recording arJsts and providing tools that can help increase earnings and further the careers of recording arJsts. Music & Tech Entrepreneur Byron Booker has taken his streaming media experience to the next level with the launching of a new streaming media plaYorm called Lookhu. Lookhu is an online video service that offers a selecJon of popular and exclusive movies, TV shows, games and more on a free, ad-‐supported or paid commercial free service basis. Instantly stream just about any kind of entertainment found anywhere . Enjoy the most exclusive behind the scene videos from some of your favorite musician, personaliJes and celebs . Explore a wide array of movies documentaries, music videos and more. 6
From The Editor He has a vision for RAGTIME, which is to highlight the stories, lessons and triumphs of the members of RAG. Our viewers of more than 10,000 will leave with a sense of empowerment knowing that they, too, can leave a legacy worth wriJng about. The RAGTIME magazine moCo is "A Time Defined By Music," and that Jme is alive and well today.
RAG TIME Magazine Editor & Chief
Paul Salfen is a Dallas-‐based editor and writer who currently holds the posiJon of Managing Editor for The Recording ArJsts Guild's magazine RAGTIME. He has previously held the posiJons of Editorial Director and Editor-‐In-‐Chief for ENVY PublicaJons (ENVY Magazine, Replay Sports Monthly), Managing Editor and Associate Publisher of 944 Magazine Texas Regional Editor for Where Magazine and Editor and Publisher of Dallas Music Guide. He has spent the past 12 years interviewing the biggest and brightest stars in film and music including the likes of Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie, Will Smith, Willie Nelson and Ozzy Osbourne, as well as a series of sports, travel and business arJcles. Salfen is a serial entrepreneur in the media industry, having started and/or built up several publicaJons both online and in print. He also serves as a consultant for a wide variety of companies, even those outside of media. In addiJon to freelancing for top newspapers, magazines and websites, including The Dallas Morning News, Quick, La Mode, SUCCESS and New York Resident, Salfen has been a weekly guest on local TV (ABC, Fox), radio (CNN Radio) and podcast shows and is currently working on a television show of his own.
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+ = Music Makes Music is a non-‐profit designed to mo4vate, inspire, and educate youth on the importance of staying drug and gang free knowing their self-‐worth and con4nuing their educa4on through a hands on interac4ve musical experience.
Music Makes Music (MMM) is the charitable arm of the Recording ArJsts Guild (RAG). MMM is dedicated to improving lives through the power of music. Through partnerships with arJsts and strong Jes in the music industry, MMM develops and funds music-‐related therapy and educaJon programs, and serves members of the community who face unexpected hardships through its Emergency Relief Fund. Generous donaJons and support of arJsts and fans enables MMM to fund everything from drug rehab treatments and helping communiJes in need, to music educaJon in schools and music camps for those with disabiliJes.
For more informaJon, please visit hCps://musicmakesmusic.org/
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Music
Hey guys, here at The Recording ArJsts Guild like to share insider info to help independent arJsts take advantage of an ever changing music business. Today we'll be talking about how you can break into the music business as a new musician. This is a topic we've touched on with a few of our Master Class videos but we thought it would be good to break it down here for you.
Here’s 6 keys on how to get How musicians can break into the music biz into the music business. This has worked for us many Jmes and it should work for you too! Remember, this is just one Jny aspect of working with todays music tools and resources to gain access. At RAG, we use all methods to get your music the exposure it deserves. We hope you uJlize these keys.
Master your craV: Whether singing, songwriJng, rapping, playing an instrument, or producing music, all musicians need to spend a considerable amount of Jme perfecJng their talent. Hire a talent coach, perform to build up experience with live shows, study those that came before you, experiment, get professional feedback and tons of pracJce. Decide your message: Having talent is great, but every musician needs to focus on their message and what they want to express to the world. Making music is not just about skill, but also about feeling and freedom of expression. In order to build a fanbase and a following, your songs should connect to a specific audience and give a voice to those who don’t perform. Talent will make you a good singer, but talent with a message will make you a great arJst. Record, record, record: As they’re perfecJng their crao and finding their message, all musicians need to record their music and begin creaJng full songs. Finding the best producers to help develop your sound and working with songwriters to create capJvaJng songs can make or break your career. Deliver ing your best material to fully represent your vision and talent. Mark et and promote yourself: Aoer making great songs, musicians must be involved with the markeJng and promoJon promoJon of their content. Technology has made it e easier to create and distribute music. However, this also also has created an oversaturaJon of music projects. To To combat that, it’s extremely important for you to be cre creaJve in how you promote yourself. You must be savvy savvy in building your social media presence, take amazing photos that highlight your brand, interact with your followers, and so on. Network to build a team: While creaJng and performing your music, you also need to aCend networking events, open mics, music conferences, and go anywhere else where you can make creaJve and business connecJons. Network with music producers, find fellow musicians to collaborate with, and connect with a business manager. Believe in yourself: Always remember why you want to be an arJst and stay moJvated. It can be a very rough business, but what’s worse is not pursuing your passion and giving up your dreams because of fear.
hCps://www.forbes.com/sites/meimeifox/2019/02/13/how-‐to-‐make-‐it-‐in-‐the-‐music-‐industry/#5d22e6871a65
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In the last few years, blockchain technology has wrapped its tentacles around almost every industry imaginable, offering itself as the bandage that can patch up almost any wound. One of those industries, known for its deep and someJmes controversial wounds, is the music industry. While technology has made it much easier for music listeners who get hold of music, the industry itself is sJll very behind the rest of the world. This lack of development in the music industry could possibly be linked to its decline over the last two decades. However, over the last three years, the industry has shown some growth. In 2015, live music Jcket sales made approximately $7.2 billion and are predicted to rise to $9.1 billion by 2021. Moreover, the industry aCained a huge 8.1% growth in revenue globally in 2017. With more money coming in, the music industry needs to adapt to new technology to secure itself and ensure that such a decline doesn’t repeat itself. On top of that, it is becoming more important to make sure the people involved in the industry are paid correctly. And blockchain technology is the best way to do this. Tackling Piracy Music piracy is considered one of the biggest factors in the downfall of the music industry over the past two decades. Piracy in the music business is esJmated to cost the U.S. economy: $12.5 billion in total output 71,060 jobs $2.7 billion in earnings (in the sound recording and retail industries) Indeed, it is incredibly easy to find pirated music free to download online. Ever since Napster started offering content for free in the 1990s, pirated music has become the normal way most people get hold of their tunes. Individuals don’t need to look much further than YouTube to find blatantly illegal music to listen to, and if they want, they can even convert the video into an MP3 file and download it. If the industry can take back control over pirated music, it will be a lot stronger economically and, in turn, the people who work for the industry will be paid more fairly for the work do. Blockchain technology can halt piracy in several ways. 10 hCps://www.singlegrain.com/blockchain/will-‐blockchain-‐technology-‐be-‐a-‐music-‐industry-‐savior/
Proper Rights
Blockchain technology can be used to establish who owns the intellectual property rights of creaJve items by using a distributed ledger. A distributed ledger is an open-‐source ledger that holds all records of all transacJons within a blockchain. However, not all blockchains allow all people to view this informaJon. In theory, blockchain technology can be used as clear evidence of ownership and used in court if necessary. This is parJcularly useful for the music industry to help prevent legal baCles between studios and arJsts, for example. The music industry is known for its complicated laws on ownership – from ownership of the audio itself to specific lyrics within a song, and that’s just the Jp of the iceberg.
www.singmehigh.com
It also can make the process easier if using blockchain technology becomes the standardized way to establish ownership because different companies and insJtuJons may state ownership in different ways, with different wording, requirements and even formavng, some of which may be manipulated as loopholes. Blockchain technology can also: smooth over any issues involved in purchasing the rights of music (if, for example, one music company wants to buy the music rights from another music company) help other companies such as film studios pay for rights to use music be used to trace the history of those rights, as users will have a transparent record of its history Smart contracts can be parJcularly useful in this area as well. Smart contracts are basically pieces of code that hold the complex agreements that are made on a blockchain and fulfilled when certain condiJons are met. It is incredibly hard to manipulate them, and they are growing in popularity. .
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It was reported by Medium in June 2018 that so far there are 1,712,287 smart contracts currently in operaJon on the Ethereum network. By uJlizing smart contracts, arJsts and studios can ensure that intellectual property agreements are met by other parJes. Perhaps the most complicated issue, though, is internaJonal rights. When music crosses the border from one country to another, things can get more complicated as more distribuJon companies are involved that follow different laws, regulaJons and business pracJces. Blockchain technology can overcome this barrier by acJng as supra-‐naJonal record keeper, ensuring that things go smoothly and that all funds are accounted for. It is worth noJng that for blockchain technology to be recognized as a form of intellectual property rights, governments need to recognize the technology as a legal way to show ownership. This may sJll complicate things between borders as not all countries involved in a legal dispute over ownership may accept a record within a blockchain as legal evidence. Paying ArJsts Fairly An arJst’s music is usually published and sold on numerous plaYorms and because of this, there is usually no complete consensus over how much money was made. This ooen leads to arJsts complaining that they have not been fairly paid for their work. However, it’s not just arJsts who are taking this stance anymore. Now some highly influenJal figures in the industry are also backing this argument, including SpoJfy's global head of creator services, Troy Carter. In August 2018 it was reported that musicians only received 12% of the revenue made in the music industry in 2017. Blockchain technology can overcome this by keeping a record of all sales across company plaYorms, which will give a complete picture of how much a song or an album made. By being visible on a blockchain, the informaJon will be public for all those involved, potenJally including the arJsts themselves, so they can be aware of how much money they are owed, as well as the percentage taken from them by third-‐parJes who distribute their music. Therefore, if there is a disparity, those affected have the evidence to back up their claim. 12
This is also important to others who work alongside the arJsts, such as songwriters, sound engineers, producers, and other collaborators. As menJoned above, specific parts of a song could be owned by other individuals aside from the arJst. The lyrics may belong to a writer or even to another arJst completely. Although the audio from the song might not used, the lyrics might be, and writers should be paid for this as well. Paying ArRsts in a Timely Manner ArJsts are not always paid in a reasonable Jme, someJmes even waiJng years to receive their earning for their work. If blockchain technology was uJlized by the music industry, smart contracts could be implemented that instantly pay arJsts once certain requirements are met. This could be very useful for musicians who are struggling to make it in the industry and prevent them from needing to find alternaJve means of making money or eventually dropping out of the industry. Paying ArRsts Fairly Will Reshape the Industry If arJsts were paid fairly for their work with a pay-‐per-‐listen structure, it may be possible to reverse the current system of touring that is now prevalent. Before the advent of the Internet, most arJsts made their money from selling albums or singles, but now there is almost no money to be made in this field. To make their money, arJsts are now almost c. onstantly touring and performing at fesJvals. Musician James Blake recently spoke out about his depression and suicidal thoughts which he believes he developed due to constant touring as “being on the road can exacerbate mental health struggles.” Ariana Grande just dropped her new single “Boyfriend” — not to be confused with her song “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” — as well as its music video. While the singer’s recent archery-‐themed teases had some fans hoping for a collaboraJon with Taylor Swio (who recently released “The Archer”), “Boyfriend” is not that — though it does find Grande working with the pop duo Social House once again. Grande has been releasing music like crazy lately. It’s been just six months since she dropped the album Thank U, Next and less than a year since Sweetener, even before 13 considering that Grande has been on her Sweetener world tour since mid-‐March.
Blockchain may see an end to non-‐stop touring. Though there are many music lovers who prefer live music to studio recordings, this is more convenient for the arJsts and means that they can focus more on making new music instead of repeatedly performing the same songs Cu[ng Out Third-‐ParRes: Distributors Blockchain technology could also weaken the hold that music companies have over distribuJng the music or even eliminate the need for distribuJon companies altogether. One of the primary selling points of blockchain technology is cuvng out third parJes. In regards to cryptocurrency, for instance, this has usually meant cuvng out bankers. In the music industry, blockchain technology can bring arJsts and fans closer together, allowing listeners to pay micropayments to arJsts for listening to their songs directly. This is something that has already been suggested for other types of media, such as content markeJng, where readers pay a micropayment to read the arJcle.
One Company that Already Use Blockchain
The Recording ArJsts Guild has recently launched its uJlity token called RoyaltyCoin which is reserved only for RAG members and supporters of the RoyaltyCOIN ICO. RoyaltyCOIN will be disbursed dollar for token for streaming royalJes for those who distribute on its plaYorm. RoyaltyCOINs can be used to access exclusive events, products, services and member dues. InformaJon for to the RAG token can be found at www.RoyaltyCOIN.com. . Many of the companies that are likely to move into this space in the next few years may create their own coin for transacJon purposes or launch an ICO (IniJal Coin Offerings). UnJl a company is established as the leader in this area, those that are interested in it can pracJce crypto leverage trading, profiJng from the price differences between them. The best way to stay on top of new music-‐related cryptocurrencies to trade is by signing up to trading plaYorms like BitMEX and take advantage of BitMEX signals which can inform you when to buy or sell a certain cryptocurrency.
Conclusion
Blockchain may not be able to solve all the music industry's ills, but it can bring the Jred-‐out industry into the 21st century for arJsts and those who make a living from it. TheoreJcally, by paying arJsts for their work fairly, they should be more moJvated to make more music. Musicians who are struggling to make it in the industry can make their music more profitable with blockchain soluJons. Blockchain implementaJon in the music industry will be useful as a tool for dismantling piracy. But keep in mind that unless it is globally recognized as a proof of ownership rights by world governments, it will not be effecJve. 14
We’re living through the merch bundle wars
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At the start of her Queen radio show on Thursday, Nicki Minaj introduced a new sales tacJc for her album, Queen. It’s called the Queen’s Priority Pass and for $10, the same price of a single album, it grants access to upcoming exclusive merch, priority entry into future concerts, and, most importantly, a digital download of Queen. The pass came as a bit of a concession for Minaj, who just this Sunday argued that Billboard should change its rules concerning counJng albums sold within merch and Jcket bundles. She made her case in a series of tweets, “Travis sold 200K in his first week of clothes alone,” she wrote, claiming that a vast majority of people only bought his album Astroworld because it was bundled with exclusive merch. And she was partly right — ScoC and his team came up with an ingenious plan. Every day for the nine days following Astroworld’s release, ScoC unveiled new pieces as part of a 28 item line. His website updated every 24 hours and once the new merch popped up, yesterday’s tees and ashtrays and slides disappeared. On the last day of the drops, August 10, the same day Nicki released Queen, ScoC unveiled a t-‐shirt designed in collaboraJon with Virgil Abloh. A day later that, too, disappeared and was replaced with a whole new line of merch, this Jme for his Cactus Jack label and Astroworld tour. Every purchase came with pre-‐sale access to concert Jckets and a redeemable download of Astroworld. The hypebeasts came hungry, and ScoC fed them, all on his way to a number one album.
In Astroworld’s debut week on the charts, it sold 537,000 equivalent album units, how Billboard refers to a mix of streaming counts and true album sales. The majority were tradiJonal album sales of which there were 270,000. There were also 261,000 streaming equivalent albums (SEA), and 6,000 track equivalent albums (TEA). In the second week, he followed it up with 78,000 tradiJonal albums sold, 125,000 SEA units and 2,000 TEA units. Given the fact that almost no stores sell physical copies anymore and very few people are on Amazon or Apple Music buying full albums instead of streaming them, it’s safe to assume that most of those tradiJonal album purchases came from redeeming merch and concert Jcket bundles. Minaj had also bundled her album with merch, even offering limited ediJon Don C designs, but at nowhere near ScoC’s scale. So in response, Minaj tweeted, “Travis sold over 50K of these” -‐-‐referring to concert presale access-‐-‐ “With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc.” And then, “Billboard says they’ll change the rules cuz of this, so it should be changed now!” n the past, Billboard has made it clear within chart announcements that an album offered as part of a bundle only counts towards a sale once the buyer opts-‐ in and redeems it. They’ll also note when a majority of an album’s sales came from a specific, atypical source, like earlier this year when Fall Out Boy’s Mania went number one in part thanks to above-‐average vinyl
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hCps://www.gq.com/story/travis-‐scoC-‐nicki-‐minaj-‐astroworld-‐merch
Minaj had also bundled her album with merch, even offering limited ediJon Don C designs, but at nowhere near ScoC’s scale. So in response, Minaj tweeted, “Travis sold over 50K of these” -‐-‐referring to concert presale access-‐-‐ “With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc.” And then, “Billboard says they’ll change the rules cuz of this, so it should be changed now!” n the past, Billboard has made it clear within chart announcements that an album offered as part of a bundle only counts towards a sale once the buyer opts-‐in and redeems it. They’ll also note when a majority of an album’s sales came from a specific, atypical source, like earlier this year when Fall Out Boy’s Mania went number one in part thanks to above-‐average vinyl sales. But neither of Billboard’s two arJcles about Astroworld’s chart posiJon menJoned either. Chances are that the rules haven’t changed with regards to redeeming albums, as Minaj suggests, but when we reached out to Billboard for comment, we received no response. SJll, Billboard has made changes to its rules before for similar reasons. Prince was actually the first arJst to bundle his album with a concert Jcket. In April of 2004, he released Musicology and from March to September of that year, he set out on tour. At every show following the release, he gave away the album, so a Jcket purchased also counted as an album sale. Billboard esJmated that those free albums accounted for about 25 percent of Musicology’s total sales and Prince remained on the chart for 28 weeks. But Billboard came to regret the decision. In the June 5 issue of the magazine, chart editor Geoff Mayfield wrote that concertgoers “must be given an opJon to either add the CD to the Jcket purchase or forgo the CD for a reduced Jcket-‐only price” and that CD price should be “comparable to reasonable and customary retail pricing." From then on, fans would have to opt-‐in and redeem their album before the sale could be counted towards the album’s chart posiJon. Prince wouldn’t get kicked off the charts this Jme, but no future arJsts could follow the same tacJc The method was parJcularly well suited for more established arJsts who had built-‐in fan bases ready to see them live, but less in a hurry to buy new music. In 2014, Tom PeCy and the Heartbreakers landed their first ever number one album by bundling it with concert Jckets. This March, an 18 month old Bon Jovi album beat out Black Panther: The Album for the number one spot aoer his concert Jckets went on sale. It was so strange and so delayed that even Billboard felt the need to clarify how weird it looked. Chart Beat reporter Keith Caulfield wrote, “The surge back to No. 1 is owed nearly enJrely to sales generated by a concert Jcket/album sale redempJon offer with Bon Jovi’s upcoming U.S. arena tour.” Having seen how well it works, labels and arJsts are stretching the rules deemed legal by Billboard to greater and greater extremes. Albums aren’t just bundled with tours, but also with coveted, resellable merch, like ScoC. And with Jckets to a Yeezy season fashion show, like The Life Of Pablo .Earlier this week, in a move that very likely inspired her labelmate's Queen’s Priority Pass, Ariana Grande started selling a piece of plasJc shaped like a cloud and hung around a necklace that’s actually just a tchotchke marketed as presale access to a tour she has yet to announce or release any informaJon about. That’s wild because preCy much everyone with a credit card or a bank account can somehow work their way into a presale. .
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Same as Minaj’s, the item is sold for $10, the same price as buying the actual album, and also comes with an album download, which is emailed immediately upon purchase. But the price of the necklace doesn’t change whether its buyer download the album or not, so depending on how you look at it fans are either paying $10 for presale access and gevng emailed a free album or paying for the album and gevng presale access included. In either case, it makes liCle sense to buy albums today outside of a bundle, where they’re essenJally being offered for free alongside something else of value — which is where Apple Music and Amazon might get leo behind. Music is simply not enough to sell albums anymore. Chart criJcs and insiders have grumbled about the pracJce in the past, but they’ve been mostly ignored unJl this week when Minaj brought up the very same quesJon: should these bundled albums get counted differently? It wasn’t her first Jme calling out a sales-‐ measuring service for their rules, either. Back in 2015 she took to TwiCer and Instagram to argue that RIAA, the company that cerJfies plaJnum albums, should also count streams towards album sales, a pracJce that Billboard had already adopted. Three months later, that February, RIAA adopted the change and started counJng streams towards album sales. Minaj might just spark an adjustment here too. We’ll have to wait and see what Billboard decides, but for now we’ll offer a possible soluJon, inspired by Chris Molanphy, a chart analyst who hosts Slate’s Hit Parade podcast. Back in 2011, in an aCempt to compete with the far more dominant iTunes, Amazon offered Lady Gaga’s Born This Way album for 99 cents. The album hit number one, selling about 1.1 million copies in its first week.
The reality is that if the album cost something extra, even just $4, it’s unlikely that most people would buy it, and that’s just another way streaming has upended the industry. The tradiRonal album sales as reported by Billboard would be far lower, sure, but the streaming numbers would instead reflect how we actually listen to and purchase music, not t-‐shirts and accessories and merch, today.
But industry insiders were upset. It came out that something like 440,000 of the sales were purchased through the 99 cent offer and criJcs thought that those shouldn’t be valued as regular purchases because they were basically given away for free, which hadn’t counted since Prince. Months passed and at the end of the chart year Billboard announced a change in the rules: from now on an album sale would not count if it cost less than $3.49 in its first four weeks. Bill Werde, then Billboard editor in chief, wrote, “free or almost-‐free albums don’t represent a marketplace.” According to that same logic, the albums that become redeemable because they’re aCached to other purchases might also not represent a true music marketplace. As of today a $65 Astroworld t-‐shirt costs $65 whether its buyer opts in to download the album or not. The same goes for concert Jcket prices and $10 priority passes. It would make the most sense, according to exisJng rules, if a bundled album sale only counted towards the charts if its buyer paid an addiJonal $3.50 to purchase it. Or, at the very least, if it came with a note on the receipt saying $3.50 of the purchase is going specifically towards the album.
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FOCUS ENERGY MOOD CLARITY
You’ve Got What It Takes .
naturally
hCps://www.herberall.com/
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TO BUILD YOUR EMPIRE
WITHOUT SELLING YOUR SOUL
Notes from the minds of the most successful music business execu4ves in the Industry.
#1. LET YOUR WORD BE EVERYTHING I come from a place where when you shake someone's hand, it is a deal. Troy Carter
#2. FOLLOWERS VS FANS Fioy-‐one million likes doesn't mean we're going to sell 51m albums or concert Jckets. Troy Carter
#3. DEAM BIG BUT NEVER GIVE UP I find nothing wrong with striving for the impossible. But I find alot wrong with giving up Scooter Brawn
#4. Dream beyond just you You should never do something kind in hopes of recogniJon. Do it because its right. Do it because it makes you feel good. Scooter Brawn
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#5. out work the competition I encourage the study of music. And the immersion. 'Cause my life has been so enriched by being involved in music as I have. Clive Davis
#6. Keep evolving I did not develop my ear. I discovered I had an ear, and it was an accident. Clive Davis
#7. market everywhere always It's really only all about music. It's not like a big rocket scienJst kind of philosophy or anything. Tommy MoCola
#8. deal with haters When I'm hiring someone I look for magic and a spark. LiCle things that intuiJvely give me a gut feeling that this person will go to the ends of the earth to accomplish the task at hand. Tommy MoCola
#9. believe in your genius “You get the best out of an arJsts if you treat them like a Partner, rather than Someone who is Subservient” Tina Davis
#10. be self reliant
Always be ahead of the game and conJnue to be the purveyor of taste . Tine Davis
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Larry g(EE) Artists Of The Month
Kitten TIM DELAGHETTO Sole’ Kelsey Lav 24
Bennie Dub Artists Of The Month
Trevin Hunte
The Suffers ARYIA The Ton Tons 25 Â
LIL NAS X
hCps://pitchfork.com/news/lil-‐nas-‐x-‐discusses-‐coming-‐out-‐as-‐gay-‐in-‐new-‐interview-‐watch/
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Lil Nas X Discusses Breaking In and Coming Out In The Music Industry At The Same Damn Time Aoer the country-‐trap arJst’s debut hit ‘Old Town Road’ became an online sensaJon for weeks, it unexpectedly reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart Monday night. Lil Nas X, the 20-‐year-‐old Atlanta naJve, is also known as Montero Lamar Hill. He released the single in Dec. 2018, and it took off in early 2019 following the viral “Yeehaw Challenge,” which took place on the video-‐sharing app, TikTok.The inspiraJon for the tune came aoer Hill felt like he was running out of Jme. While living with his sister, he knew she was becoming fed up with him not paying rent and he didn’t want to aCempt to move back into his parents home since he already disappointed them for dropping out of college. “It started off as like a runaway loner cowboy kind of story,” he told Genius when explaining what the song is about, “I wanted it to be more of a triumphant kind of story.” The hit ended up on the Hot 100, Hot R&B/Hip-‐Hop Songs and Hot Country Songs charts, but was short-‐ lived on the Hot Country Songs chart aoer being removed from its spot at No. 19. According to a statement Billboard sent to the Rolling Stone, the song “does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.” “The song is a country trap. It’s not one, it’s not the other. It’s both. It should be on both,” he told TIME. Famous country singer Billy Ray Cyrus made a tweet forming his opinion on the maCer, and made a remix of the hit single with Hill last Friday. Other stars shared their viewpoints as well such as JusJn Bieber, Tyga, and the Avengers cast. hCps://wpubeacon.com/7016/entertainment/Jktok-‐sensaJon-‐lil-‐nas-‐x-‐rises-‐to-‐fame/ 27
“Our iniJal decision to remove ‘Old Town Road’ from the Hot Country Songs chart could be revisited as these factors evolve,” said Billboard in a statement they released to Rolling Stone the same day. Becoming an internet personality on TwiCer in 2015 and dropping out of college eight months ago, he became a singer aoer achieving an encouraging fan base. Now, he’s signed to Columbia Records and is rising to stardom. Hill gives a lot of credit to TikTok because the song would have not goCen so popular without the app constantly adverJsing it, although it was really social media users who boosted its popularity. “I literally had my dad paying my phone bill,” said Hill, “so like I goCa make something shake because I’m not going back to work.” Although he’s not related to 45-‐year-‐old rapper Nas, he gets some inspiraJon from him considering one of his old TwiCer handles, “NasMaraj,” is named aoer him and other rapper Nicki Minaj. His viral tweets helped raise him to fame. OriginaJng back to 1998, country-‐trap has evolved tremendously. Some fellow arJsts are Fly Rich Double, Lil Tracy, IDEFK, and DaBaby. “There are so many arJsts coming up with so many resources, but that’s not phasing for what’s really gonna count,” said Hill. “Yeah you got this, but I got this right here.”
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In an interview addressing his sexuality, Lil Nas X has told BBC Breakfast he doesn’t have “anything to hide” from fans. “I kind of revealed [it],” he told the interviewers of his recent tweets. Asked what he had revealed, he responded, “That I am gay.” He went on, “It’s something I was considering never doing, ever. Taking to the grave. But I don’t wanna live my enJre life— especially how I got to where I’m at—not doing what I wanna do.” He went on to say homosexuality is “not really accepted in either the country [or] hip-‐hop communiJes,” but that he hoped he was “opening doors” for people. 29
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