Survei Hip Hop

Graphic Design : Banner for a website

2008-04-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

Something I am pursuing is graphic design. Here is a banner I am making for Sphere of Hip Hop . Maybe they'll use it?

This was made not with Adobe Illustrator but with a program like Illustrator called Xara. I'm still trying to figure out the program, for example there are some lines I'd like to get rid of so that it would be easier to see that the abstract figures in the background spell "Sphere of Hip Hop". UPDATE: did just that this morning.

Planning an Event or Concert - Tips - Resources for Promotion

2008-02-29T17:20:00.000-08:00

Use your resources in planning an event. Without the help of my friends and people they knew, the event planning for Hip Hop Hunger would not have gone as well as it did. Your resources will of course be different than mine, but I thought it would be helpful for me to provide this list. Here is a list of my resources for promotion and how I used them:

Situational:
[] RHS (Rogers High School) Leadership's room for making posters and lunchtime announcements.
[] Making a watercolor picture advertising the event as a project for Art Class.
[] Inviting friends from church and school.
[] Meeting and inviting friends' friends from church and school.
[] Meeting and inviting friends' friends' friends from church and school (okay you get the point).

Helpful People:
[] Teachers' and students' wisdom with experience
[] Musical Artists I mostly had already had some form of communication with
[] The RHS school newspaper calendar
[] Students in my leadership class and friends who added unique colors to the black and white posters.

NOTE: if you're planning on doing this event at your school, you may want to ask someone in charge if it's okay to make the event information available to everyone in and out of school or to what groups can you advertise the event.

Online I used:
[] The Hip Hop Is Music forums (for asking questions on how to promote an event)
[] BLOGGER.com for making a website to promote the event
[] Local Community Websites
[] Facebook for inviting friends to come
[] The News Tribune's (local paper) online calendar
[] Upcoming Yahoo!'s online events listing
[] ClubFlyers.com for flyers (thanks Leonard for recommending this!)
[] Sphere of Hip Hop's forums for advertising

Other posts in this series:
Introduction to Series
Step 1 - Brainstorm and Timeline
Step 2 - Communication
Tips - Resources for Promotion

Planning an Event or Concert - Step 2 - Communication

2008-02-24T17:44:00.000-08:00

Communication is not really a "step," but it is one of the most important things. In the Hip Hop Hunger event, it was my fault that for the longest time I didn't know that my school's portable stage wasn't stable enough for rapping and dancing, so I found that out with only a week before the event will happen. As I write this (I'm writing this on Friday, Feb 22) I'm wondering if someone will be able to donate a portable stage on Wednesday. Other than this, things have ran smoothly because of early communication.

If this is your first event you're planning, you should probably talk with some people you know who have event experience and ask them if they can give you advice. My friends who are in a rock band called Supersonia have had many successful events, about two per year from sophomore year to senior year. Before I planned the Hip Hop Hunger Event I sat down with one of them at a coffee shop and took notes about how to plan an event. So if you know someone at your school who's done something remotely similar to what you are planning, then talk with them.

Forms of Communication

The type of communication you have with people will depend on your event and your goals. In the Hip Hop Hunger event, it was my goal to get some big name acts at it, and I used email with them. It doesn't hurt to ask especially if it's for charity. It doesn't hurt to have at least that small connection with someone in which you invited them to come but they couldn't make it. If the event is for-profit (as opposed to for-charity) you will have to figure out your budget because then it is likely you would pay the artists. (If the event is not some sort of fundraiser or charity event and you want to do it at school, you might have to pay the school or venue.) I also contacted people at my school, and when I talked to them, I just spoke and exchanged phone numbers.

Also it's good to figure out what is the best way of communication for the artist/event-crew-person. If you're using email and you have their phone number, and it takes awhile for them to respond, then try calling! Also if you get stuck in a game of phone tag or if the other person prefers email, then email is a good choice. The best way of course, is to speak face-to-face, and if that's an option it's good to do it at least twice before the event.

Tone and Attitude

Here is a good article about writing effective emails: CD Baby on Writing Good Emails. In whatever way you contact someone, your attitude should be that you are requesting and not forcing anything on someone. Also, if someone agrees to help you, even if it's their job, you should approach them with the attitude that they are doing something extra for you. Your heart should be thankful and if you are, they will remember that.

Other posts in this series:
Introduction to Series
Step 1 - Brainstorm and Timeline
Step 2 - Communication
Tips - Resources for Promotion

Planning An Event or Concert

2008-02-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

I am introducing a blog post series about planning events and concerts.

When I was planning the Hip Hop Hunger event, I looked online for something about planning events and I couldn't find anything. But, I talked with friends and people I knew who had more experience, and I learned a lot.

While I am no expert, I think I can share some helpful information that is worth considering. Keep in mind that you should probably take the advice of someone wiser than me, but hopefully this will get you started.

To get you started here is step 1, when I make a new post in this series, I will bump this post up and write a phrase that summarizes the new post:

Other posts in this series:
Introduction to Series
Step 1 - Brainstorm and Timeline
Step 2 - Communication
Tips - Resources for Promotion

Planning an Event or Concert - Step 1 Brainstorm and Timeline

2008-02-23T10:27:00.000-08:00

The first question to be answered in event planning is "What will this event be and what is it for?" So start broad and think of all the ideas you can, figure out where you're going with it and go from there.

Someone emailed me with a question about planning events, and this is how I responded:

The first step is to brainstorm and write down every idea you can think of. The ideas can be as out-of-the-box as you want because having something unique helps. Then I'd say to go over your and your friends' ideas, if you're doing this with a group, and pick something. Then after you figure out what it is exactly you want to do, you should talk with the activities coordinator at your school [or an equivalent key person if it's not at school] with a few event dates in mind and find out if any of them will work.

Once you have the event day chosen, you will want to make a timeline stating when you want to contact all the artists/performers and important elements of the show such as sound, lights, and a stage. Earlier is better of course and it's good to plot this out. For the Hip Hop Hunger event, I started contacting artists around November of 2007 even though the concert wasn't until February 08. If the event is something you're passionate about that will make it better, it has to be something you'll be willing to go outside of your comfort zone for. Once you go outside your comfort zone enough times, you'll forget it was there and that will make things easier in the future.

Other posts in this series:
Introduction to Series
Step 1 - Brainstorm and Timeline
Step 2 - Communication
Tips - Resources for Promotion

The Future of this Blog

2008-02-22T16:15:00.000-08:00

As an artist and a student, keeping my priorities straight is important. So any free time in which I'm not doing rapping, which won't be much time, will be the time that I update the blog. Obviously I love blogging but it wouldn't make sense to spend more time blogging than making music, right?

The future of this blog. Someone made a very good point that I should upload some of my music on the site or at least link to a site that does have some of my music. I haven't been in a recording studio yet but I hope to sometime in March and then I will have some music to put online. But that might come after the initial wave of attention. Maybe someone will record a video from the Hip Hop Hunger event?

Another thing I might do is a blog post series on how to have a successful event and what goes into that. Hip Hop Hunger is the first event I've ever planned and I learned a lot that I think I could share with people. When I was planning the event I looked for things online and I didn't come across much on event planning, so I talked with people and that was very helpful. A last thing might be to publish some some short stories if I have time, but don't hold your breath, that's at the bottom of my "to-do" list.

Thanks for reading!

On Having a Blog of Note

2008-02-21T16:06:00.001-08:00

I've been blogging off and on for about 3 years and this was a surprise that I don't think you can prepare for. When I first saw that my site was a blog of note, I didn't know how to react, because I only created the Hip Hop Hunger website to promote a single event. I guess that shows how much a difference site design can make. In a semi-panic, I made a post explaining exactly what the site was and who I am, and then thanks to peoples' suggestions, I put a link in the upper-right of the blog so that people could donate to the charity WorldVision because I realized that a lot of people seeing the site would not be able to come to the event.

Also I think I did not react the best way I could have but being a blogger and an artist you could say that I wanted to connect with some people and address them and talk about myself, which doesn't really fit for the Hip Hop Hunger website, which is not supposed to be a blog, but a website for an event that is about something much bigger than me. So, I wanted to add something to the top of the welcome message to put the focus of that site back where it should be, which is that this event is for charity, specifically for hunger in Africa. Someone brought up some good points about food aid on the site at The Cause section. You can follow the conversation there. I tried to answer questions the best I could.

My other Blog is a Blog of Note!

2008-02-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

I know, it sounds like some sort of nerdy liscense-plate frame but it's true. The funny part is that it isn't even really a blog! What I did was I hacked the blogger format to create a webpage for my Hip Hop event known as Hip Hop Hunger. I put a lot into the design of that site but not a lot of writing, and this blog, however, is the opposite: a lot of writing and not a lot of design, yet. But it's the writing that really counts.

As an artist and blogger, I am thankful for this publicity, but it's too bad I don't have any music samples of my rapping for y'all to listen to! Well, I'll give what I can, and that is my excitement. I'm excited about my future as a rapper and I am definitely a beginner but I'm learning and taking it a step at a time. Each time I reach a milestone I'm going to "document" it here for me to look back on, and if that peaks anyone's interest well I hope somehow God could use these words on a screen two feet in front of you to affect us positively.

A GOOD hiphop Radio STATION?

2008-02-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

Well, we might be on our way to having that with the Sphere of Hip Hop.

Sphere of Hip Hop is an awesome XM radio show but I've been visiting them for their site and forums which are awesome places to hear about good, underexposed Hip Hop. The best part is that they specialize in Hip Hop that is clean, and the songs have lyricism, ranging from fun songs to very deep topics such as life and God. If they get enough support, they might become their own channel on XM Radio and that would be fresh, so they're trying to get as many listeners as possible for their special 3 hour edition that is airing this Saturday at 5pm Pacific time on channel XM 31 or DirecTV 829.

If you don't want to get XM Radio you can listen on the computer by using a Free Trial. This is a great opportunity to listen to 3 hours of Hip Hop for Free that you may never have heard otherwise. And it's a good way to support music that has some meat to it.

Hit up their Myspace profile at Myspace.com/XMRadioShow to get more info on the show and to listen to an exclusive commercial featuring emcee Braille.
Simply visit the XM Radio Online trial page and fill out the information to receive your online trial subscription. If you dig the online version, a standalone XM Radio Online subscription costs $7.99 per month. Then you can catch the Sphere of Hip-Hop show every Saturday night!
Get more information on Sphere of Hip-Hop at any of their websites including:

* Sphereofhiphop.com (online magazine)

* SphereofhiphopMP3.com (download some tunes)

* SphereofhiphopTV.com (watch videos and live performances)

* SphereofhiphopStore.com (online hip-hop shop with CDs, vinyl records, downloads and some other stuff)

* Myspace.com/Sphereofhiphop (add the main Sphere profile as a friend)

Second Song!

2008-02-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

I recently bought a new instrumental, this would be my second from d.C. from SoulplusMind. I'm thankful for it because I want to perform a rap to it soon at the Hip Hop Hunger event at my school (http://hiphophunger.blogspot.com/). I'm looking forward to it. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to do something at the event, but I figured since I've been working hard on putting it together I might as well have some fun at it and bust at least one rap!

So now I have two song/instrumental combinations and my goal is to have at least four within three months so that I can then perform a set. In six months I want to have 8 song/instrumental combinations and then I'll be praying and thinking about if I should make an 8-song EP or wait and build my name up a little and do a full album. This would be my first release but until then I'm just taking it one step at a time as God leads.

I haven't laid down any serious recorded tracks but I want to perform anyway man! That way I'll have some practice and have the songs down before going into a studio where time is often money that I don't have :)

by the way, you can check out d.C. from SoulPlusMind at http://www.soulplusmind.com/. He's definitely got beats with unique sounds and he's cool to work with.

First Performance a Success

2008-01-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I did my first public performance of a written rap. It was a lot of fun! I was nervous but I remembered the lyrics and I was able to deliver all the words. The rapping itself had complicated parts and I was glad that the audience got into it. The name of the event was the Beatnik Cafe and it was definitely like a cafe, so the Hip Hop song I did was a change of pace from acoustic music. The first person to perform, a guitar player and singer, was very good and I expect to see him get famous in the future. There were lots of amazing student musicians and poetry readers and the host of it was Shawn Laramie who is a friend of mine and a very good stand-up comedian.

When none of the four stand-up comedians showed up to the event, Shawn improvised and made a joke that there must be a comedian plague going around and that he could be the next to get taken out by it! That was the most fun I've had this school year so far, and I definitely want to get a set of four songs with music together so that I can perform a whole set.

List of 2008 - The Year

2008-01-05T17:53:00.000-08:00

This is a big year for me.

I did my first beat purchase in the last week of 07 and the first week of 08.

Hip Hop Hunger http://hiphophunger.blogspot.com/, a great Hip Hop event I've worked on, (also the first time I've ever done something like this) with the purpose of raising money to fight hunger in Africa is happening on February 27.

I'm probably going to perform at a talent show at my school, and if so, this would be my first performance.

I'm graduating High school, becoming 18, and it's the first year I can vote.

Podcast for Independant Musicians

2007-12-30T13:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas came early for me last fall when my grandpa won an iPod in a raffle and gave it to me. The main thing that I was excited about was Podcasts (I'm still a CD person). A podcast I started listening to is the "CD Baby DIY (Do-it-yourself) Musician Podcast." It covers things important to aspiring and independent artists. I recently listened to an episode about performances at nontraditional venues. Another episode was about using video to promote music. I've only listened to about four episodes, but I'm looking forward to listening to the other episodes too.

First Beat Purchase

2007-12-29T22:59:00.000-08:00

I did my first beat purchase ever. I guess it's a little Christmas present to myself. I plan to rap to it at a talent show event coming up at my school.

Phat Beat and Beatnik Cafe

2007-12-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I spent about 8 hours making a beat, and I like it a lot. What's interesting is that when I listen to it, it sounds really slow, but the tempo is actually quite fast, like 112 bpm. Just start freestyling to it and you'll see what I mean.

Right now I'm writing lyrics to it so that I can use it in a talent show at my school. That would be my first show! The plus side of the talent show is that this talent show is less of a talent show and more of a showcase. A good place to build up from. What they do is they take all the couches from teachers' rooms and they turn the commons into a coffee house. Which is why it's called the "Beatnik Cafe."

The types of things they are expecting are poetry reads, so that means that it would work if I performed a chill, lyricism-deep song that isn't meant so much to rock the party as it is to chill and convey messages. Of course, this "chill lyricism" song I'm referring to is not one that is found on this website yet, because the instrumental of it wasn't made by me (so there's no point to uploading it until I record vocals on it). Actually, there's not much of point to me putting my beats up on the site, but I figure, "hey, why not?"

Also, there's going to be an awesome event coming to Rogers High School in Puyallup, WA on the end of February that is completely different from the Beatnik Cafe, because it's going to be an all HipHop show. I am actually working on a website for it, and I'll put that up in the second week of December. It's for a good cause and it's going to be awesome. But more about that later.

Art teacher will be missed

2007-11-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

The tables in the classroom are covered with paper. You aren't supposed to write on the paper, but there were sentences like "We will miss you!", "I love you", and "Sorry for writing on the tables!" These are words of fellow students. Last words that didn't get a chance to be said, so here they are written.

Maybe it's because I know more people now but it seems like every year someone from my school dies. Yesterday it was a teacher. My art teacher. They say she died in her sleep. She did a lot for our school like art shows, events and more, and will be missed. I don't know if I'm numb or if it hasn't registered yet or what, because I'm not in despair, only a little sad when I think about it. Other people are affected more than I am. It's been a good class because I basically can do whatever art I want as long as I'm doing art, and I wonder what my class will look like for the rest of the year. I had a lot of freedom. For now, I'm just remembering the good times and I'm thankful that I got to have her as a teacher each year of High School.

She was a teacher for many years, and she was very active in the community so this affects a lot of people. She was a part of our school more than the brick and glass that form the buildings.

Proving Skills in Hip Hop Elements

2007-11-11T20:17:00.000-08:00

It seems like whenever someone finds out that you are into doing any element of Hip Hop, it doesn't matter whether you're the one who told them or not, they'll ask you to prove it. I'm not complaining, I think that's cool, it means you have to be ready. The other day before school someone found out that I am into hip hop dance (it's not something I'm pursuing but it's something that I enjoy, so that's why I keep it general). Actually, what was said about me was that "He's a breakdancer." Not true! Not quite. But when the other guy said, "show me a dance," I didn't argue, I just put on some headphones, played some LA Symphony and busted a move right there in the middle of the High School commons before school. I don't know how good it was, certainly nothing special, but no one was laughing or challenging me at the end of it.

A good sign.

The reason why I don't say that I'm a Bboy (the 'real' name for breakdancer), is because if I say that, then people get a picture in their head of someone spinning on their head. Plus, it would do injustice to call me that because I don't pursue it with all my will, I just dabble. Like on Friday, I went to the YMCA and asked someone in the dancing room there to teach me. I could've gotten intimidated because there are some really good dancers in there, but everyone starts somewhere. He was cool and taught me the six-step---something that I can practice and my first "real" Bboy move... unless popping counts. I'm still doing that at a slow speed but who knows? Maybe I'll start liking this as much as rapping.

Choosing a Hip Hop Name

2007-11-09T17:19:00.001-08:00

In the past few months, I've gone through 50 random name ideas, seriously considered around seven and actually went by three. It was a "process" but now I believe that I have a name I'll stick with. I had a name that sounded too similar to another rapper's name, so I knew I was going to change it, and when I wanted to communicate through myspace and create a soundclick (to try it), picking a name was something that I absolutely had to do, unless I wanted to be stuck staring at the "Create a Username: " page.

Survei is the one that it came down to. It's a bit out-of-the-ordinary, which is what I was going for, it feels deep, and it has a meaning. What it means is that I am constantly looking ahead and asking questions, figuring things out and learning new things from people. Also on really good days, it means I served it up, (but don't tell that to anyone or I might find myself between a tough rap battle and hard place.) I take advice and learn from other people.

Keep it movin

Survei

Welcome

2007-11-05T20:59:00.000-08:00

I am an aspiring Hip Hop artist. Maybe I'll use this website as my artist page, maybe it will just be my blog. I have big dreams, goals and plans and a love for writing songs so keep your eyes out and maybe you'll see me and you'll remember that you saw my name somewhere before.

Peace.