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The Vape Company that has revolutionized the industry with its brand of highly diverse flavors. Mr. Good Vape has proven to live up to their signature as the God Father of the vaping industry. With their wide variety of flavors, it has entered a newly untapped market by creating organic supplements with in its premium product line. Mr. Good Vape has now created a brand that has flourished into the homes of thousands converting them to a healthier more pleasurable lifestyle opposed to many of the risks you find in traditional nicotine smoking.
The Vape Company that has revolutionized the industry with its brand of highly diverse flavors. Mr. Good Vape has proven to be the God Father of the vaping industry. With its wide variety of flavors, it has entered a newly untapped market by creating organic supplements with in its product line. Mr. Good Vape has now created a brand that has flourished into the homes of thousands converting them to a healthier more pleasurable lifestyle opposed to many of the risks in traditional nicotine. This company has been known for the time and effort t that is put into each flavor with thoroughly written description on each of their juices. The vaping community has fallen in love with Mr. Good Vape and its powerful flavors, if you consider yourself an amateur or veteran vape user, Mr. Good Vape is the number one brand recommended throughout the vaping community. To get your bottle go to their website and order from their vaping catalog today.
Mr. Good Vape is known for the time and effort that is put into each flavor. All the juices are labeled with thoroughly written descriptions that explain further detail of product ingredients and flavor. The vaping community has fallen in love with Mr. Good Vape and its powerful flavors, if you consider yourself an amateur or veteran vape user, Mr. Good Vape is the number one brand recommended throughout the vaping community. To get your bottle go to their website and order from their vaping catalog today.
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Mr.GoodVape Mr. GoodVape is one of the number one juicing companies in the vaping industry. Checkout Mr. GoodVape their product line and all they have to offer.
Publisher Notes Get a better understanding on the background of Cory Austin and the reasons he put together IHE Magazine.
07 Digital Music Age 17 Legendary Dj Ron G
A broader understanding of exactly how digital music has been able to change the way we do business. In 2014 see what you could be doing.
10 Double A Interview Lil Kims front runner for the IRS South division of her self made record label. How he did it.
Legendary DJ Ron G has worked with many of the greats, get his insight on the game.
20 DBlock
Super Producer Don Mega
13 Tone Trump
The Super Producer for Jadakiss and Styles P, sSee how Don mEga got started and tips for upcoming producers
The West Philly Artists with a grind for the music, hear his story and learn how to get your own drive.
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CONTENTS 23 After School
STAAR Program The unique program that takes street smarts and brings it to the youth.
29 The Real Law
Psychological Slavery and being owned on paper, how real is this to us and how does it effect our lives.
26 Benefits Music 32 Unemployment Licensing
The Statistics of Unemployment what the real numbers are how does it effect us and what they are not telling you.
How is your music protected? Are you getting paid for your efforts? Find out how this is benefitial to you.
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Editorial
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hen I first started the journey of creating a publication I had been unaware of the degree of challenge that would be involved. When it came down to lessons that would be learned and patience being tested I found this was all to determine the discipline that it would take to accomplish this. We have experimented and tried many different arenas from digital to print, subscription and hard copies in stores. This was my choice and my path that I wanted to bring to life. There is no easy road in the journey to success that I have found. As we have grown, my readers have grown with me, learned and improved on different aspects of their lifestyle. What I bring to the table is rich powerful content that I hope to empower others that can use the information. The same information I would share with my own blood is the information that I share with my readers. The research invested in the articles is something unique that brings awareness to what one may have not been aware of. So when we create what we create
there is a sense of wanting to contribute to all and offer something with substance that can be remembered. IHE Magazine holds interviews with musicians that can help those coming into the game independently, we also have information that can help propel one’s lifestyle and how they choose to live. We pride ourselves on advice and guidance handing out what we learn along the way and we hope to learn from our audience as well. This coming 2014 we look forward to working with many new up and coming artists and bringing some dynamic interviews to the table. We are blessed as a team and a company to be able to still have a independent magazine with this many issues after so many years and show we are still standing. I don’t believe in failure everything that I do is a learning experience if I don’t garner the immediate results I expect, then I learn the lesson that was being taught. I am glad that we have come this far, yet this is not the finish line this is the mind state that anyone needs to have in order to make it.
IHE Magazine Team EDITORIAL Publisher: Imperial Hustle Entertainment Cheif Editor: Cory Austin defiance@imperialhustle.com Transcription: April Austin info@imperialhustle.com Editorial Assistance: Shannan Loewy info@imperialhustle.com Photography: Cory Austin defiance@imperialhustle.com Contributing Writer: Terel Banks terellbanks885@msn.com
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SALES Publisher U.S. / Canada Cory Austin defiance@imperialhustle.com P: 7619-866-4792 Business Development Manager International
Team Creative Director: Cory Austin Assistant Editor: April Austin Research and Development: Terel Banks Content Contribution: Terel Banks
Cory Austin Chief Editor
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES www.imperialhustle.com P: (619) 866-4792 info@imperialhustle.com Available in Stores Across Southern California Online, offline, the store concepts of business for the entrepreneur mind
The Rule of The Digital Music Age While the traditional CD business is clearly struggling and is on the verge of collapse in the digital age, the music industry itself is prospering as niche music markets continue to sprout, and unique genres appeal to growing, new audiences. The advent of digital music has not only changed the face of the music industry worldwide but has also altered our lives, our thinking and approach towards music. The first decade of the 21st century witnessed the rise of computers. In the evolution of digital music, computers became the primary means to record, distribute, store, and play music causing sweeping changes in the music industry’s economics. It infused new dynamics in the relationships between artists, record companies, promoters, retail music stores, the technology industry, and consumers. The digital revolution led to modification in users’ choice, increasing their appetite for digital music while the sale of traditional cassettes and CDs slumped to all
time low.
consumers to transfer their physical recorded media (such as CDs) onto computer hard drives. •
Let us examine the factors that led to the downfall of the traditional CD-enterprise while leading to the mercurial rise of digital music distribution. They will also serve as benchmarks to compare the two epochs. They are as follows:•
•
The initial stage (from approximately 1998 to 2001) of the revolution was a testimony to the emergence of peer-topeer (P2P) networks that allowed the free exchange of music files. By 2001, the cost of hard drive space had depreciated quickly presenting an emergence of the iPod and iTunes system for music storage. These new developments prompted many
Digital music distribution was aided by the dramatic spread of broadband in the middle of the decade. The iTunes Music Store offered legal downloads beginning in 2003, and competitors soon followed, offering a variety of online music services.
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In this digital age, recording costs have decreased significantly as artists are able to record and mix music from inhome studios and no longer rely on major label funding to pay for professional recording studios, engineers, and producers.
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The capital required to make, print and ship CDs (which labels bore in the traditional CD-based industry model) has been largely obliterated due to the growth of its digital competition.
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Today, artists can disseminate their work through the Internet ,on popular websites like Youtube, Vevo, Vimeo, uStream and other social mediums like Facebook (gaining fame and building a large fan base), largely for free, and do not have to buckle under big label volume pressures (a big headache previously) .
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Internet has provided opportunities and opened new avenues which were missing before.
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Further, artists have traditionally earned higher royalty percentages through live performances, rather than album sales. With lower distribution and publicity costs nowadays, artists can spend their resources on touring and increase their revenues through live performance, despite a decline in hard-copy sales.
Though one can easily find data (in abundance) portraying the rise of the digital music distribution over the internet, we would like to highlight some of the points which will give you a glimpse of how the music industry has undergone tremendous change in a very short period. •
The market share of full-length cassettes, CDs and DVDs have plummeted by 1.4%, 7.7% and 0.5% respectively (for the year 2003-2007).
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The market share of digital download (digital music distribution) has increased by a whopping 10.3% in the same time period.
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The chief economic impact of these changes was a dramatic decline in revenues from recorded music.
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In the 21st century, consumers spent far less money on recorded music than they had in 1990s, in all formats. For example, total revenues for CDs, vinyl, cassettes and digital downloads in the U.S. dropped from a high of $14.6 billion in 1999 to $9 billion in 2008.
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In 2008, physical album sales fell 20 percent to 362.6 million from 450.5 million, while digital album sales rose 32 percent to a record 65.8 million units.
Please note that the above data has been published by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Mind you, these figures represent data collected only from RIAA member labels, which constitutes only a portion of total online music exchanged globally. 8
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Post 2007, market for traditional CDs has undergone free fall while that of digital music distribution has grown exponentially. Furthermore, with internet reaching almost every nook and corner of the world and launch of hundreds and thousands of website like Youtube that offer free music download to the users, while adding a revenue sharing opportunity, the future of traditional CD business is precarious and bleak. While the traditional CD business is clearly struggling and is on the verge of collapse in the digital age, the music industry itself is prospering as niche music markets continue to sprout, and unique genres appeal to growing, new audiences. Many of the inner city inhabitants still generate great use from hard copy CD’s. This is where you will find that many tangible goods remain the most relevant and prosperous. It would be a folly to envisage that the CD business might regain its lost ground completely in the near future, however, there may be a niche market available for distributing Hard Copy (CD’s) along with digital downloads. To maintain even a feeble presence in the market, the whole business model requires restructuring, reforming the way it has been working over years. A couple of measures can be implemented to revive the dying CDindustry which are as follows:•
Artists giving live performances (for both small and large concerts) can give free autographed CDs to their audience. The ticket for the show should be priced as such that it not only covers the CD’s cost but also ensure a marginal profit for the artist.
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Through massive advertisement, artists can generate a hype and create a new trend of ‘owning an autographed CD’ which should be available at an affordable price. Small complementary gifts can be given to those who purchase CDs in bulk.
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Create and be a part of consortium of small and large brands (from food to clothing and many more). There should be a legal agreement whereby artists sell their CDs to the brands while the (brands) can use artist’s name and fame to sell their own products. The customer should receive a free CD on purchase of any product of the brands. It will be a win-win situation as both can make profit with a little assistance from the other party.
Presently, it seems a losing battle for the traditional CD-industry. However, the damages can be mitigated using innovative and effective business strategies, and, maybe it can get a new lease on life.
FOKU$ THA CHAMP
FOKUS THA CHAMP RELEASING NEW ALBUM IN SPRING 2014 San Diego, California – Imperial Hustle Entertainment is the #1 resource guide for urban entertainment in music, modeling, and creative arts in the San Diego County. CEO and Creative Director of Imperial Hustle Entertainment, Defiance strives to bring the latest artists to the forefront in each issue of the Imperial Hustle Entertainment Magazine as well as promote their work with various outreach projects in the urban community. Imperial Hustle Entertainment welcomes new artist - Fokus Tha Champ. Fokus Tha Champ is a independently skilled artist having his influence from Compton to North
County San Diego. Welcoming his talents as a young age, honing his craft since he was 14, Fokus Tha Champ first appeared in the group known as Sublogic in 2003, where the group had released their LP “Doin It”. Flash forward to 2010, Fokus Tha Champ re-emerged in the music scene performing alongside west coast artists such as San Quinn, Y.G., Miguel, Tash of The Alkoholiks and Nipsey Hussle while drawing off his experiences with in the San Diego and Los Angeles area. Fokus Tha Champ attributes his recent music achievements to overcoming the loss of his mother and surviving a near fatal stab wound to the chest, these hardships forced him to refocus his passion for success. His much anticipated album, ‘Late Night$, Early Day$’, is set to be released this summer. In addition to his new album, Fokus Tha Champ works on his foundation Grind 4 Mine$ which participates in community give backs like the San Diego Charger Event and Give a way
for the homeless. This will take place on February 14th in San Diego. Grind 4 Mine$ Ent., (Grind being: Getting Respect In New Degreez) is a brand and music label, Promoting Pimpin, Hustlin and Grindin in a positive and motivational way. You can find Fokus Tha Champ on Twitter and Instagram @FokusThaChamp as well as find him on Facebook. Be sure to check out his music on YouTube. com as well as SoundCloud.com. Continuing to be the #1 source for urban culture, Imperial Hustle Entertainment strives to bring valued source of entertainment that include featured artists and quality information on potential career options for aspiring artists, models and social media networks. Yet IHE also broadens its discussions to include global information and discussions that reach beyond the music community. You can get your copy of the newest issue of Imperial Hustle Entertainment at http://www.imperialhustle.com Contact Information: Foku$ Tha Champ, CEO Grind 4 Mine Ent. Contact Info: facebook.com/fokusthachamp, twitter.com/fokusdachamp instagram.com/fokusthachamp reverbnation.com/foku$thachamp soundcloud.com/fokusthachamp youtube.com/FokusThaChamp Written By Shannan Lowey
STAAR
Acdemic, Athletic and Street Smart Education
D
uring a time when independent skillsets are nullified and self-expression is influenced from so many external media outlets, the core grounding of our youth becomes more critical than ever. It has been my pleasure to actually speak on a program that is making sure core values take place. I have had the honor of being able to see what Mark Henry’s STAAR program has been able to do. - Mark Henry has become a pillar of the community, an Oceanside High alumni and a state recognized high school wrestling and football varsity champ. Mark has taken an education program with the youth to a new level. Mark has coined his program as being able to take “Old concepts and use them in new ways”.
The STAAR program has focused in areas where many schools have cut budget, this goes into the fine arts, with dance, music, sound engineering and production, photography, crafting and culinary arts. STAAR involves a visual and physical display to enable kids to take part in critical thinking. While allowing the ability of solving intelligent problems creatively and energetically. The class is sta-
tioned to support strong social engagement which allows kids to apply problem solving skills that mirror what is seen in real life. Mark’s team works hard around the clock developing unique individual relationships with each student, they become role models while supporting academic enrichment within the students. The staff is young and relatable the ideas and concepts reach the students in ways they understand and it makes sense to them. STAAR works hard to keep physical activates and sports as a high focus among the kids if they choose. Kids are not forced to participate in any activity, instead kids have the ability to choose from many creative programs. Students are also encouraged to give feedback and participate in different ways that can expand and add to the STAAR program. Where STAAR has been unique is the education program and the effect it has had on the FEBRUARY 2014 |IHEmagz
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Mark Henry’s STAAR Program Continued By: Cory Austin
through giving their time and sharing their life experiences with students and parents. kids. STAAR has brought in many mentors to speak to the kids directly. With Mark’s emphasis on real world teaching and enlightening his students, the students get a balanced education of street smarts from various west coast hip hop music art24
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ists that have a background of hard knock stories and lessons for success. STAAR makes it a priority to use this mentorship to touch base on important subjects such as teen suicide, bullying, drugs and gang violence. Many of the artists have agreed to help
STAAR makes sure to have the students practice through a zero waste recycling program, teaching kids a concern for a clean community. STAAR also enforces nutritional value and education among its students, where the athleticism and healthy eating take place hand in hand.
STAAR has seen the rise in the academic portion of the program due to the support of all the other creative interests that are supported for the students.
L
ife Skills that are being taught has far exceeded many of the traditional teaching methods and it has shown a unique way of bringing teachers, parents and students closer in understanding
one another. STAAR works closely with the school district and meets every criteria that needs to be held in the direction of academic requirements. Any artists, managers, producers and music execs interested in booking a speaking seminar for the youth contact Mark Henry for all engagements. What Mark understands is that these youth are our future
and this opportunity to work directly with the future is an opportunity, that you don’t want to miss.
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A.J.
Suede IHE Magazine: Where are you originally from?
ready comfortable working with the same people so I rarely branch out.
Aj: East Harlem, NY but nowadays we run East Stroudsburg, PA
IHE Magazine: How did you get started into hip hop?
IHE Magazine: What is the music scene like out there? Aj: Theres a dope music scene going on, a lot of creativity is formed from the boredom that comes with living out here. A lot of us have a decent amount of time on our hands so we channel it into our music. The slower pace of the city seems to make its way into the music as well. A lot of us are transplants from either NYC, Jersey or Philly so that east coast flavor is there too. I’ve been making music with the same people for about 4-5 years now, people are introducing me to the younger generation but I’m al-
greater assett to go major or remain independent? Aj: At first I thought it was necessary to be a major artist, but that was back when BET, MTV and music choice determined how music reached the public. Nowadays the independent labels are getting the the props they deserve. Some of my main influences came up independently and remain indie. Dudes like Cannibal Ox, El-P, the whole DEF JUX records, Rhymesayers Records, Stones Throw and Hieroglyphics. Thats the just the hip hop side of things. The indie and punk rock labels really inspire the kind of DIY grind that have. There aren’t any serious financial sponsors at our disposal so I’ve learned to use the internet and word of mouth to help reach goals. I also feel more comfortable working independently with a team I trust, while still maintaining 110% of the creative control. Major artists don’t often get that oppurtunity. Eventually the majors might have to back us, but on my own terms. I not willing to negotiate. IHE Magazine: What artist inspired you as you were coming up? Aj: I was raised on alot of East Coast hip hop, some west coast shit too. The only southern hip hop I really liked as a child was outkast, those dudes were fearless in the way they approached music. The only artists that really inspired me are the ones who were the “firsts” of their style or sound. I didn’t really care for artists that aren’t innovative and do what everybody else was doing. In the 2000’s when auto tune, a bay bay, snap music and all that crunk shit hit, I switched over to listening to mostly rock, alternative and indie. That’s what inspires the production and musical aspect of it all. Experimenting with different sounds and drum patterns to make genreless music is one of my main goals. But I look to producers like the RZA when it comes to forging a sound that can’t be replicated. IHE Magazine: Who are some of the artists you would like to collab with in the future?
Aj: I was born into the culture of it. Both of my parents seen the genres start from jams in the park to where it is now. I’m a scholar of this shit. I know hip hop is more than emceeing, I represent every element, from the chair freeze to the spray cans. IHE Magazine: How long have you been doing it now? Aj: I’ve seen home videos of me rapping with a toy mic at 3 years old. So I cant really put an age on it. But I decided that I wanted to put the music before everything once I graduated high school and got my first taste of the real world. IHE Magazine: Do you beleive its a
Aj: I only wish to collaborate with artists that push the boundaries of music to the next level, people who arent afraid to take musical risks. For years I wanted to collab with Serj Tankian, Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor and a good drummer like travis barker or Joey Jordison when its time to make the really really scary shit. When its time to make the really hippy shit I’m really feeling that girl from hiatus kaiyote, tame impala, atlas sound, flying lotus and the cocteau twins. The only hip hop artists I have in mind are Jay Electronica and Andre 3000. Eventually I’d be able to get some of these talented people in a room to decide the future of music. Theres a lot of underground artists I’d love to work with as well, but that’ll work itself out sooner than you think.
Aside from “Untitled 1.5”, any other project is pre high school graduation and I no longer claim it.
IHE Magazine: Independent artists trying to get to where you are at, what is the number one thing you would tell them to take the next step in their career?
How can people contact you for booking purposes?
Aj: I always tell the people coming up over me to just do their own thing and stay true to yourself, some people just have the kind of personality that the worlds been waiting for. It would suck to lose opportunities because you’re trying to sound like whatever artist is popular at the moment. Just do you, fuck the competition and fuck the people that say otherwise, nobody is as powerful as yourself.
IHE Magazine: What projects do you have coming up that people can look forward to? Aj: Gold and Fire is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Gold and Water. Produced by myself from start to finish, and it will arrive within the next two months hopefully. IHE Magazine: Where can people go to get your music? Aj: All of the important shit is at http://freemindscollective.com
it me on twitter @ajSUEDE anything else you would like to add? Shoutouts to Imperial Hustle for interviewing the god.
IHE Magazine: What projects do you currently have available for the public? Aj: Download “Gold and Water” a truly revolutionary genre bending album. The sequel is on its way. “The Holy Pope” was a project I made when I was first learning how to use protools, there’s great music on there but it kind of sounds like an unfinished demo. FEBRUARY 2014 |IHEmagz
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