Friday, August 30, 2013

The fine line between business and friendship

Anyone in this business knows that we all take our steps into this business with friends usually.  We find our lifelong friends or people we grow to know as friends and make our way into music together.  Most of the time the line between friendship and business is hard to distinguish.  Most people are unable to separate the decisions made for the benefit of the group or business from personal feelings if things don't work out.  This is the case for Black Project and I today. 

I am not going to dive into great detail but will say that some business I had outside of the group has been rough.  I had trusted friends to let me vent when things were not going the best.  Due to this my friend felt the need to approach the other party in that other business.  I talked with that party last night and let them know I wasn't happy my friend took it upon himself to write and get into business that wasn't his own, even though I understood he was just trying to look out for me as a friend.  This whole series of events led to a huge disagreement between them.  I refused to take sides and in the end Black Project felt by me not taking sides I was not taking their side.  Then made the decision to not keep me as their manager.

While I did not want that to happen I cannot stop them from making that decision.  So I made a public announcement stating that they were released from Wicked Butterfly Entertainment due to professional disagreements, because to me that is what it is.  I have nothing but respect for Black Project and wish them the best in all they do in the future.  I have at every turn put my own money up to pay for studio time, demo pressing, and other expenses and allowed them to pay me back at their leisure.  I never pressed them to get me the money back immediately as I understood their circumstances.  I have taken a lot of my time, energy, and finances to help them be successful.  In return today one of them went on a twenty minute rant saying I did nothing for them, held them back, and hurt their career.  I am really sorry he feels this way as this is the first time I have heard they were not happy.  Our management contract was a six month contract the ended officially at the beginning of January and I have not pressed them to renew it, so I have been providing my services for nothing but our friendship.  I have put up my own funds in this time to mix and master tracks for them to have for shows they had coming up.

I cannot change how anyone feels but I can say that I have acted in a professional manner in the best interest of Black Project for over a year.  I have gained absolutely nothing for myself financially.  At this point I have lost money I have put into the group. 

I will not ever attack them personally as I have no issue with them on the personal side of things.  Business wise I am upset they feel like I screwed them over but once again I will not say anything negative about them.  Part of being in business is understanding that not every bad thing that happens is personal.  Sometimes people are mad because that line gets crossed.  Sometimes people involve themselves in dealing that they have no involvement in except to be a friend to one or more of the parties.

It is a hard lesson for people to learn or see happen and I wish nothing but the best for my homies in Black Project.  I am always here if they need advice or to vent as unlikely as that may be.

Keep business as business and friends as friends.  Make sure you don't blur the lines and think business decisions are anything but just that.

MMFWFL,

Juggalotus

Sunday, August 11, 2013

2013 Gathering of the Juggalos thoughts

So the Gathering of the Juggalos went back “Underground” this year.  The event has been going on since Wed Aug 7 as people started lining up to get into the grounds.  Well on Monday Aug 5 there were several people who overdosed and had to be taken to the hospital; mind you this was before anyone was allowed to be there except the crew setting everything up!  Having gone to the event last year I saw more drugs available than anywhere else I have ever been.  This should have been a sign of things to come.  The apparent drug causing the problems is a designer drug called 25I.  The street name for the drug is N-Bomb, Smiles, and 25I.  It is similar to LSD in its effect on people. 
News breaks Friday that someone was found dead in their tent of apparent overdose.  The cause was initially reported as 25I but has also been reported as a Heroin overdose.  No matter what the cause this is absolutely horrible news.  Why you ask?  Well it is simple, the public at large is finding any way possible to label us delinquents and shut the Gathering down.  Drugs have expanded way out of control and last year I saw people who were obviously “professional” dealers who were only there to make money off dumb ass Juggalos who did not even remember their experience at the Gathering because they were wasted the entire time.  Drugs are out of control at this event.  Why is this important to me?  I GIVE A CRAP that’s why!  People need to go out there and enjoy themselves but this is getting ridiculous.  We have now lost Family because of this problem.  I suggest we as Family get this under control.  This is our Mecca (as Violent J said today). 
Now the other huge news everyone was waiting for was promised by Violent J to be “The biggest news we have ever released in our career!” and we were promised this life changing news at the seminar today.  Let’s briefly go over what they released at the seminar:
·         Juggalos at the Gathering are the most elite Juggalos on the planet!
·         ICP considers the Gathering the mecca of Juggalo-ism
  • He gives us the epitome of news in the Juggalo world
  • Psychopathic is resuming the Mighty Death Pop tour right after J’s knee surgery
  • Tour will include Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Florida, Texas; Last show of the tour will be Hallowicked
  • November dates for the tour in Australia
  • ICP theater has 8 episodes (3 of which have aired so far).  If ratings are good, they will get 25 more episodes for season 2!
  • They are starting the 3rd Joker’s card of the new deck after Hallowicked!
  • Planning of the 3rd card will be more precise
  • It will be available on CD!  The rumor that it would only be on digital is “straight bullshit”
  • He said the difference between a physical copy of the album and a digital copy is like the difference between porn and a real neden!
  • They are bringing back Psychopathic Radio after the Gathering!
  • Shaggy is off probation (finally!) so they will be touring in Canada!
  • On Juggalo day, they will be performing the Great Milenko in its entirety! It will be available on iPPV, and may not be in Detroit!  More Joker’s cards shows are in the works!
  • Violent JJ made 3 beats (beatboxing) and they will release it on the Internet
  • 6th Joker’s card box set is ready to go!
  • Violent J confirmed that Blaze ya Dead Homie did officially leave
  • Psychopathic isn’t trying to replace anyone who left, just trying to leave a legacy of great artists!
  • They want to do more concept music like Wizard of the Hood or solo albums like Shaggy’s Fuck the Fuck Off
  • They said that Twiztid told Psychopathic they were leaving via text message
  • They then announced that Axe Murder Boyz and Boondox  are officially back on the label!
  • Everyone was handed a ticket before the seminar started, without knowing what it was about.  They then started talking about the  Chronicles of the Dark Carnival series that was filmed for SyFy years ago.
  • They said that the end product they got back had a “little twinge of suck”.  Jumpsteady said it was SO BAD that it came full circle and ended up being entertaining again!
  • They said it would ONLY be available for Juggalos who were in attendance at this year’s Gathering!
Now with that in mind what could possibly have been the huge earth shattering news? 
ICP is touring Australia? 
AMB and Boondox have resigned with Psychopathic?
Blaze leaving the label?
Are any of those the Biggest news ever?   NO.  So I take this list of news as just that, news.  ICP once again pulled the wool over Juggalos eyes to sell tickets and get people in the door.  As I have discussed before ICP is all about the bottom line.  They don’t care about the Family any more.  They knew the lineup this year, while great underground acts were on the set list, was not enough to sell enough tickets.  So J tells us all they are going to drop devastating, huge, Juggalo world changing news.  And we get nothing.  Then we are told there is a mystery seminar after ICP that I think everyone including me thought would be Twiztid.  Nope Twiztid and Blaze bounced and the seminar became AMB and Boondox.  Don’t get me wrong Boondox dropping some good news that I am pumped about but really why not give Twiztid a seminar? 
How many times are we going to see the fan base abused by this label and do nothing about it.  When Twiztid left I didn’t want to “take sides” and I still support the music Psychopathic, Twiztid and Blaze put out there.  I think J and Shaggy need to seriously look at what has happened.  Alex left and it has been a steady decline into money and ego. 
People will read this and some will agree while others disagree.  I will take heat for saying these things but I know people out there who view it the same way (testdummy22 and I see eye to eye on a lot) and that is ok.  I have opinions and so does everyone else.  The one thing about me that never changes (whether it is CD reviews, Event reviews, my blog and opinions, or anything else I do) is that I am honest and will say what I believe to be the truth. 
I still rep the hatchet and will always support the underground movement.  This years Gathering has shown me that the Mecca for the Family is on life support.  Attendance was down, we had a death, and we saw a glimmer of hope that things were ok with the ending of the Lotus set (which quickly went away when J told the family Twiztid left via text. That was a low blow if you ask me), and the police getting a “financial” advance from the “organizers” (Psychopathic) which let them buy new equipment for the force.
I love my Family and hate to feel like this whole movement has been shifted in the wrong direction.  I hope things will change and we will see Juggalos return and rebuild what has been lost.  I hate to say I feel that movement is now with Twiztid but that is how I see it. 
Let’s hear your opinions people, I welcome everyone’s thoughts!

MMFWFL,
Juggalotus

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Paying dues

The more I work with artists on all levels in the music business the more I am seeing the downfall of the industry.  Far too many rappers bring the street mentality to business.  By this I mean they handle their music career like they would handle a drug deal on the street.  Established artists continually fail to remember that they once were opening shows in their local areas and struggling to make ends meet.  They use their position in the business to abuse, intimidate, and use local acts to pad their bank accounts.  Popular performers in local cities are charging nationwide touring prices for a show in their home cities.  And up and coming artists are no longer willing to put in work to get known and advance their careers beyond the local level.
Each of these things is killing the business locally and nationally.  I am going to break each one down so I can expand on the problems I see and ways we can overcome these issues and once again make live music exciting, profitable, and most of all trustworthy.
First the big name acts.  These people have paid their dues.  They deserve to get paid above the cost of their tours to do a show.  They have earned the right to ask people to pay a reasonable ticket price to see their shows.  They have marketed themselves, have national exposure and following, and have earned their spot on the ladder.  The problem comes in when these acts use that position to not only exploit promoters and local acts but abuse their position and prevent others from making moves up the ladder after them, thus killing competition.  I have personally seen "street tactics" used to exploit promoters for money that they were not entitled because shows had been cancelled.  These shows usually do not have a non-refundable deposit (Which would protect that shows cost for the artist) and normally do not have a signed contract to back up their claims.  So the artists end up making verbal threats and resorting to these "street tactics" to exploit money they are not entitled.  The other way they kill up and coming artists is by charging thousands of dollars to do a verse for the newer artists.  Most of the time the big name artist does little to no actual thinking about the verse they record.  They give a canned verse to a beat or a verse they had recorded for something else.  There are some out there that do not do these things and those people have earned my respect.
Next we have the big local name act.  These guys may be known in the city, state, or region they are in and are entitled to get paid a small amount to do shows in these areas.  They have earned the right to charge a few hundred dollars and travel expenses to do shows but not more than that.  These guys usually are easier to deal with but some can still have the ego issues and have been known to back out of shows at the last minute and not give the booker/promoter anything back for the time, energy, and money invested in promoting these guys for those shows.  A lot of these guys promote their own shows and then fall into the habit of charging openers high amounts to fill slots on their shows knowing their notoriety locally will "encourage" the smaller local acts to pay just to have the right to say they were selected by the artist to open their shows.  Once again not all of the bigger local names are like this and you can find trustworthy people to work with.
Lastly is the local guys who have paid to open shows for these big local or national names and now feel entitled to be paid for their performance, not have to sell tickets, or be treated like a big fish when they are not.  These people usually resort to "street tactics" because that is all they know.  Some sell drugs, are in gangs, and are too young to have any business experience or knowledge.  Those reasons are why "beef" gets brought into shows causing violence and making venues not host any hip hop or rap shows.  Cities that have been huge support cities for major artists have been crippled by these things.  These artists have yet to earn their stripes.  They haven’t paid their dues.  They have no right to charge a promoter to open the show with no guaranteed ticket sales or assistance in promotion.  In my blog "what-exactly-is-pay-to-play" I outline how a show should be booked and promoted.  This format makes everyone some profit for every show.  This is the format these types of people should be following when they do local shows.
I have quite a few low and mid-level artists in the business that I speak with frequently and they agree that this format is the best one for everyone.  Many of the mid-level guys still only charge a small appearance fee and travel costs to go anywhere and do a show.  They do this not because they can’t get paid more money but they understand they haven’t earned that right yet.  They are still grinding and hustling to get known nationwide.  They know how to properly work up in this business.  These types of artists give me hope that live music isn't and will not be dead in the near future.
There was a time in this business it was like a family.  We all looked out for one another and supported each other because we had to in order to survive.  We all went to shows, stayed for everyone’s sets, bought merchandise from others, and stood by one another to make every show a kick ass time.  I truly believe this mentality isn’t dead.  I believe that honest hard working artists still exist and know that by grinding, paying their dues, and supporting others will pay off in the end.  Yes there will always be snakes who take advantage of this.  That is why we must stand up and stop these abuses from happening.  Stop paying high value for minimal effort.  Stop letting these abusers get away with it.  This is a BUSINESS and should be handled as such.  Live music should be an event.  It should make people not want to leave because for several hours they were able to leave their problems and worries at the door and cut loose.  In the end everyone should leave with something, whether that is money, memories, or new friends.

MMFWFL,

Juggalotus