Start at the Beginning
I love what I do. Do you?
The hardest thing for me to find in the music industry today is people who like doin' what they do. Where are the window cleaners? Where are the kids who deliver the mail or hand out promotion fliers and are just happy to be there? Where are the young Russell Simmons? Where's the person that comes into the game doing something other than rappin' or singing, and leaves the game doing that same thing? Where are the new Berry Gordys?
In the rap world we have a new epidemic of beat makers who call themselves producers. What is it that other producers are showing these kids that's creating this wave? That's just one piece, but let me draw the bigger picture about what I'm talking about here:
Look the word opportunity up in the dictionary and it says: "A chance for progress or advancement." But I hear this word the most in situations like when I'm in the middle of a dinner and somebody brings me a CD. They'll say, I know this probably ain't the best time to do this, but I couldn't miss this opportunity..." Wait a minute. If you already have it in your brain that it might not be the right time, what progress and advancement do you expect to get out of it?
It's crazy to me some of the stuff that people pull to try and short cut their way to success. I can't even tell you how many times my cars have come back with CDs in the stereo when they've been serviced. A long time ago one guy even crashed into me at a stop sign so he could hand me his demo. It was lucky for him it was a rental!
Last year a stewardess on a flight coming back from Anguilla was being extra nice to me, constantly bringing me drinks and popping in movies for me. She was telling me about all the people that she's flown with, etc. Then right when I got good and comfy she knelt down by me and said, "I know I might lose my job for this, but..." Then she handed me a CD and said, "I couldn't pass up this opportunity..." Wait a minute. The demo wasn't even hers! It was her homegirl's!
My question again is: if you think in your mind that what you're about to do could get you fired, why wouldn't you want to go through the proper channels? What is it about giving me that CD at that moment that is worth risking your job for? There is no chance of progress or advancement by doing that. I would say the ratio of people who've gotten a record deal like that is slim to none.
The other thing I don't understand is, when did the custom of setting up an actual meeting with a record company come to an end? Yes, I've heard people say they call and they get the run around. I was one of those people. I made plenty of calls when I was coming up, and it was never easy getting past someone's assistant. But it didn't discourage me. I didn't expect to get in off the top. And there's more than one record company out there. You gotta try them all!
I find that this new generation of go getters doesn't really wanna start at the bottom. They wanna start in the middle, at the very least. But the last time I checked, the definition of "start" was to have a beginning. That's the time in your life when you'll do ANYthing to make it in the business, from driving all night to get to a music convention, to answering phones at a studio and picking up take-out for the engineers.
Since when did it become wack to have a beginning? When did it become wack to sneak into the hot party uninvited? Since when did it become wack to grow old and have some shit to talk about or stories to tell?
The other day I had a conversation with a girl I was trying to get to work for my club in Atlanta, Studio 72. I asked her what was it that she really wanted to do in life. She said she wanted to be a model. I asked her: "So why are you still in the ATL if this is what you REALLY wanna do?"
"Cause if I move to New York or Los Angeles, I would have to get a job until things started clicking," she said.
I said: "Whoa! Since when did chasing your dreams and getting a job to stay afloat stop become wack?"
All of this was new to me. If there was something else I wanted to do besides produce and write I would've chased that to the best of my ability. I would've moved to wherever was closer to where I needed to be for whatever I was trying to do. I would've interned and got myself a job if I had to. This girl is 22-years old. For the next three years, in my mind, she has time to chase her dreams. She doesn't have kids and she's single. That's the best position to be in when you're on that chase!
So finally I asked her, "What's in Atlanta that's keepin' you here?" She couldn't tell me.
I don't knock anybody for trying to do something. But at some point in your life you gotta show that something some serious commitment. You gotta be willing to make sacrifices and push past your comfort zone. If you are gonna be a flight attendant, be the best flight attendant you can be. If you're gonna be a DJ, be the best DJ you can be and don't suddenly decide you're gonna be Prince. If you are going to be anything, give it your all and don't switch it up in the middle without even thinking about it. Play your position, and play it to win.
That's why I try to encourage kids to start their chase now. The older you get, the less time you have.
Jermaine Dupri, who was named the most successful R&B producer of all time by the Guinness World Records 2007, is a Grammy-award winning music producer, president of Island Urban Records and author of Young, Rich and Dangerous: The Making of a Music Mogul (Atria, October 2007). For more information about this blogger, click here.
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"There is no chance of progress or advancement by doing that." You're referring to faith. If you can't trust that little voice inside you that says 'go this path' or 'have patience', then you are ruling with your ego and not the Spirit above. Cynicism, experience, business sense may be what tells you to say "no" on the spot, to such impositions. So maybe if not faith, but the laws of common courtesy, pecking order, what?
"It's crazy to me some of the stuff that people pull to try and short cut their way to success. I can't even tell you how many times my cars have come back with CDs in the stereo when they've been serviced."
I don't see it as "short-cutting" their way to success, I see as them chasing their dreams and doing what it takes to achieve it.
Anyone who's learned and disciplined knows the first 10 years are spent learning to manipulate the instrument of choice. Sure you can go out and play in that time, but the learning curve of performance, playing well, and eventually mastering your "voice" is the bulk of time in the initial uphill battle...
OK, I'm joking. Dumb luck and timing are just about everything. Not to mention height/weight ratio, whether or not a marketable percentage of the opposite sex (in your market demographic) would kill to fuck you, you've a family member already in the business, etc. These things have always played an infinately more important role in a young hopefuls success than any amount of skill or hutzpah.
Why did Kris Kross work? The same reason why Americans tuned in week after week to see Arnold Drummond say "whachu talkin' about Willis"... again. They were cute. Period. Why do most the pop star "diva's" out there work? Because they're smoking hot. Period. Some have skills even, but you'd never hear of them in the first place if they didn't look that way. As with all rules, there are exceptions, but it's still a rule.
By the way Jermaine... When did Kris Kross "start at the bottom"? When they where still an embryo?
Where's the next quincy jones? Where's the next barry gordy? I think it is a more important question for our society to say, Where's the next Karlheinz Stockhausen?
Isn't the best way to get discovered in the hip hop world, to just throw something out there like handing your CD to a big producer? When what you want to do for a living requires very little talent, isn't the best idea to just take as many shots in the dark as you can?
From what I have observed in the real world, starting at the bottom is a great way to stay at the bottom. Practically nobody who starts at the bottom goes anywhere in spite of all the Cinderella stories you might have heard. Anybody who fails to take any chance to jump start themselves in a crowded 'glamour' field like the entertainment industry is fool, considering all you have against you. Hollywood is filled with talented people who are stuck at the bottom because they didn't get that one lucky break. Or do you believe Paris Hilton started at the bottom?
Hooray Jermaine!! Thanks for voicing what I've been thinking for so long. I started in the business in 1997 after moving to NY from Ohio. I spent years trying to get where I am. Now I'm mixing for Blaze, Jay and lots of others. Lots of ppl now ask me how I "got in" and if I can help them. Sad to say, most think it's as simple as my recommendation that'll get them on the map. Thanks for speaking out in a very well thought out and positive way on this important issue. The next generation needs to know that success isn't served on a silver platter, and that even in this troubled America, the dream is still alive...if you're willing to work hard.
Happy Holidays J.
I truely agree.
With that being said, everybody wants to run before they walk. No one wants to sacrafice and start from the bottom anymore, everybody wants someone to open that magical door to success for them. However, it does seem a little harder now days to get your foot in the door, population has increased and there is more competition for that one position at the bottom.
Mr. Dupri,
I agree and disagree with your frustration with artists wanting 'shortcuts to success'. As long as there are stories like Mariah Carey's - where someone gave her demo tape to Tommy Motola at a party - people will hold on to the hope that 'hey, if it can happen to Mariah, why can't it happen to me?' And, why not? On the flipside, what ever happened to being on the grind and doing it the old-fashioned way? I feel and hear your pain.
And the stewardess semi-prostituting herself is not as uncommon as you portray in your article. I think Karin Stephans is a perfect example of this. Unfortunately, this type of behavior will get some women ahead of the game, even if they have to get ahead by giving it....you know what I mean?
There are some who say they have a dream; but unfortunately, they want it handed to them on a silver platter. Your model in the article probably wants to be discovered - on the street or in a mall - and get the contract and whisked off to Paris and get the jet-set lifestyle and the bling (if people are still saying that) and the fame and everything else that comes with it.
Unfortunately, most people do not realize their dreams. They're either lazy or they remain in an alternative reality because it is safer to dream than risk the pain of failure. Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist is a great book about reaching one's destiny by overcoming fear and leaving the security of our stagnant lives inorder to make our dreams become a reality.
For the lazy ones, leave them where they are. Hopefully they'll have their path to enlightment and able to break through their fear and realize their dreams. But, you have to want it!
I guess the bigger question for me is, why rely on someone like Mr Dupri to help you find the path to success in the first place? Anyone can make a professional quality record very inexpensively at home, with the right microphones and computer equipment. And it will be yours, not his. And if you find a way to sell it yourself, you keep the money, not him. If you've got talent, you no longer need anyone like Mr Dupri, not in 2007 anyway.
I agree and disagree. I gotta be real with you my dude, the music biz is a daunting task to break into.
Its no easy feat, and to be honest, I don't think, for a lack of better words, the glory would be as glorious if it were to come so easy. However, with that being said, being 1/3 of a self managed production crew (yes, production, not just looping a 4 bar sequence) I find myself always telling the other 2/3 of the fam to stay focused and keep grinding. I have NO doubt in my mind that we're going to blow in the near future, but we love music so much that it would be a beautiful thing to drop our corporate jobs and focus on our real passion much sooner than later.
I've never wanted to be involved with music for the money, in fact our crew started Dj'ing together in our young teens and racked up a number of national/international accolades before we even touched the boards. Music has been my life for a minute now.
But for us, a big thing to consider is we're from Canada and that really puts us in a tight place when it comes to moving to NYC or ATL cause as you know, post 9/11 work visa's are a mutha - especially for a muslim.
We've been grinding for a minute now and I'm actually going to be quitting my cushy corporate job in a month to pursue music with as my full focus, so I'm prepared to make that sacrifice.
If you need an intern or assistant, say the word. I'd drop it all and make that move.
If you wanna know what we do, take a second and check the beats. www.myspace.com/aleemjk
In the meantime and in between time, the grind continues! Nothing is going to stop us!!
One
AJK
ajk@bksproductions.com
Not to cast aspersions on your success Jermaine, but you conveniently forget to mention that your father was totally intergrated into the music business system when you got your start. It's easy to talk about the need to have a "guerilla" mentality when starting to work towards your dreams when YOU had a tremendous advantage that while not necessarily negating your need to work hard, did give you a tremendous advantage that the vast majority of beginners do not have when they start. Also a question.How many instruments do you play? One of the problems with the popular music business is the lack of actual talented people who know music theory and can apply technical profiency in instrument manipulation to create real music and NOT pop confectionary that will be disposed of like a Big Mac.
I think that much of the problems you see with the work ethic of the 20-something generation comes from the parenting style they were raised by. Many of these parents, if involved at all, were more like a friend, or worse, an ATM machine. these kids have been GIVEN so much. They just expect the top-of-the-line lifestyle without earning it. I see so many parents living their own suspended adolescence and not teaching any real values. It's a sad state.
This from wikipedia...
"...Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. He grew up in the College Park community of Atlanta, Georgia. His father is Michael Mauldin, a former president of Columbia Records."
Now I'm not saying Mr. Dupri hasn't worked hard for all he has recieved. But if one more person with a silver spoon in his or her mouth talks to me about the benefit of hard work and starting at the bottom, I'm gonna be sick.
You know, Tori Spelling had to audition for 90210 just like everyone else (although I doubt the casting office DIDN'T know that her father was not only producing the show and was of the most successful producers of all time) and let's be honest, GWB did get into Yale.
When your parents have a foot in the door of the entertainment industry or any other large money producing field, yeah, I'm sure hard work is still required but as someone still busting his ass trying to simply get an agent and working temp jobs to pay the rent...man is it hard to listen to Mr. Dupri complain about someone elses work ethic.
the folks who need a dose of this probably do not read this site. they can't be bothered with other folks' opinions because they know it all; which is why they deserve to start at the top.
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