Archives mensuelles : janvier 2017

514SMOKE, Editorial

No « I » in team: how to win as a group

(sidenote: we are using the male pronoun for the article but everything can be applied to women too)

Let me break it down like this: there is no way you can win on your own. You need associates, comrads, connects… TEAMMATES.
When you look at an artist, you often see his « day ones » as they say nowadays. But are the friends coming together beneficial to the artist?
This article is to guide you folks out there on how to be more organised and move as a team.  Here are the different aspects of a click that came to win.

Lil Wayne is by far one of the most charismatic artist out there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE ARTIST: he is the one with the talent, the one all eyes will be on. The main event.  A successful artist can write hits and perform them to entertain an audience. He has a charisma that attracts people to listen to his every word and impatient to see him. He can nail any style and would sell anything he presents to you.

 

Johnny J (RIP) is responsible for a lot of 2Pac’s hit records.

 

 

 

 
THE PRODUCER: also known as the beatmaker.  He is the hitmaker. He knows music because that’s his life. He creates instrumentals every day to perfect his craft and knows exactly what the artist’s voice would sound nice on.  He can produce any style and deliver in a short matter of time.

Young Guru is known for making those Rocafella hits sounding crisp.

 

 

 

 

 
THE ENGINEER: he makes everything sounds perfect. My advice: get one that learned music engineering because if he fails at making you sound clean you are doomed as an artist.

When it comes down to negociating deals, Wack100 makes it happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
THE MANAGER: the negociator of the crew. the manager is the middleman between the artist and anybody that wants to collaborate with him.  He gets the music to the different outlets (DJs, media, radio, etc…) and places (clubs, shows, on cars, etc…). He handles the contracts, find sponsors and make sure the image of the artist is spread properly.

DJ Blaster is one of the most successful DJ in Montreal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
THE DJ: most of the responsibility of a hit record is made by the DJ. Because if the DJ cannot spin your record anywhere and get a good response from the crowd, you will have to go back to the studio and rec another track.  A good DJ has a large fanbase that follows his craft and respect his judgement of a banger.

Someone should always be there to capture moments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
THE CAMERAMAN: that is the one who captures the priceless moments and put them out immediately.  He knows how to edit videos and at least produce small videoclips (for studio sessions, freestyles and hood clips). They say a picture is worth a thousand words and the cameraman/photographer is there to broadcast the stardom of the artist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***BONUS*** THE VIXEN: look at any commercial that really caught your eyes. What did you see?  A beautiful woman. Everybody is attracted to a nice face and a nice body (thick girls included). They will take notice at any eye candy and memorize what she has to offer.

 

Once you get a little bit of fame a couple of things will need to be added up in order to be top notch in the industry. Let me tell you what they are.
THE BARBER
THE STYLIST
THE LAWYER
THE ACCOUNTANT
THE COOK

Last but not least, there is a couple rules to go by as a team. Let me share with you the main ones.
1- Everybody knows his/her role and never tries to stumble on another one’s job.
2- A good associate is available 24/7.
3- If there something to get done he knows in advance and gets it done.
4- Everybody moves in an orderly fashion (nobody wants to follows bums)
5- EVERY TEAM GOTTA HAVE A NAME TO BUILD A BRAND

Hope this article was helpful for any small crew that wants to enter the scene.  Start slow and good luck.

TEAMWORK makes the DREAM WORK.

514SMOKE, Entrevues

SHOOTING THE 5 with: COREY WRITES

 

When it comes to Canadian HipHop, usually Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal come to mind as the main markets. But there is more than those areas and Corey Writes is here to prove just that.
Coming from Halifax, Corey Writes been creeping is way up the industry to make a solid name for himself and his homebase. And now, after going through a tough period, a 9-year prison bid, he is ready to reintroduce his brand, lyrics and more.

1- Can you officially introduce Corey Writes to the people?
I’m Corey Writes (formerly known as Vinny Deniroz) an independent Artist/Songwriter and I’m Scotian to the bone. From Halifax, Uniacke Square but ain’t nothin’ square about it. I changed my industry name in prison, I just felt like it was time for a new beginning. I wasn’t proud of everything that I was representing at the time. So, new start and new name. Also, it’s my real name (No gimmick).


2- People been sleeping on the Halifax scene. Can you explain the vibe that makes it different from any other place?
The vibe that make it different than other places is that, not all of us ride the same wave. There is so much talent and many waves in Scotia (must be a coast thing). And once everybody wakes up, Scotia will be a force to be reckoned with in the music scene. I ain’t saying we are the best and all that. I’m just saying we have our own sound and it’s very rare that someone listens to us and don’t like us.

3- You have survived a very tough experience. What can you say to those that think that jail is cool?
Ain’t nothin sweet about it. You’re away from your loved ones, someone telling you when you can eat, sleep and take a piss. It’s being degraded on the ultimate level. Your opinion, your health and your name means nothing. You are just a number. It’s a very lonely place. And if you are fortunate to get visits and outside mail (as I was) then you also gotta carry the pain that your loved ones feel when they seeing you locked up or read it in a letter.


4- What can we expect from your latest projects?
Well, I think “Appreciate The Wait” is one my pride and joys. Because, it’s the first mixtape I dropped when I came home.  And, I felt as if it had to be a statement to the world saying “I’m Back”.  Since I been home I released 3 mixtapes: 1.“Appreciate the Wait” 2.“The Lost Files” and 3.“CW” in that order. And, yet “Appreciate The Wait” is a classic to some, I’ve been told.


5- If anybody wants to holler on some business/collaboration tip, how can they reach you?
I just dropped a new single on iTunes, GooglePlay, Tidal and all other music platforms called “Picture Me Rollin’ ft. (Juno award winner) JRDN. And, I have over 22,000 streams on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/2fHj2rAufNcDWDj6eZIbMa
Follow me on Instagram www.instagram.com/whozcoreywrites the link to the new single is in my bio. My Twitter (www.twitter.com/coreywrites) isn’t used that much but when I do i post my thoughts time don’t post on other sites. My Facebook page (www.facebook.com/coreywrites1) is where I do a “Question of the Day” everyday.

We want to thank Corey Writes for this interview.  Like he said, he has a new single, « Picture Me Rollin » featuring JRDN.   Make sure you check him out on his Instagram (@whozcoreywrites) and on his Facebook page (www.facebook.com/coreywrites1). Catch up on his music via his Soundcloud too: https://soundcloud.com/coreywrites

 

514SMOKE, Entrevues

SHOOTING THE 5 WITH: PRICE DA BOSS

STRAIGHT outta Toronto, Price Da Boss is the latest to make noise courtesy of his latest project, « Cameras ».  To make sure we don’t miss the wave -word to Max B.- we made sure we connected with the artist behind the fire bars to get more familiar with him.
1-Can you introduce yourself to the people?  (explain your alias at the same time)
 For those who dont know, I go by Priceless aka PriceDaBoss.  I also go by the name P.O.L.O which is an acranomn for « Pricey Only Lives Once » which was inspired by drakes Y.O.L.O slogan.  I am CEO of my own Record Label called « First Class Empire », and founder of a clothing called « Everythings Merch ».
2-With so many artists from the 416, how will you set a different tone from the pack?
One thing that puts me in a unique group of artist out of Toronto is my ability to cross the US border. I feel that if you are taking your craft seriously that is one of the things you want to protect with your life which is that ability to cross the border. I havent taken advantage of that fact as yet but I feel 2017 is that year to do so . Also im a fan first of Canadian Hip Hop, i know the industry in which I want to take over, its very important to know about the fans in Canada, your qoute unqoute competition, as well as media outlets like your self, shout out to @514Smoke for this opportunity.
 
3-What is the concept behind your project, « Cameras »?
Cameras are used to capture Priceless moments, and I feel that this is a moment for me, Priceless, so fuck it lets call the album Cameras.

4-What does the next 5 months look like to PRICE DA BOSS?
Definently plan on coming out to Montreal and linking up with your team most definently, I also want to just put out the best quality music I can, and take it from there. Dont worry im holding back a lil bit with this question just know that #514Smoke will get that exclusive word when the time comes.

5-Last but not least, if anyody wants to holla for business, how can they reach you?
They can reach me directly at @PriceDaBoss on Instagram/Twitter, or check me out at www.PriceDaBoss.com for updates , new music and videos.

Thank you PRICE for the quick quiz.  Make sure you check out his visuals and his project as well as his presence on social media:
INSTAGRAM: @pricedaboss