“People always say, ‘Well that’s the industry standard.’ Fuck that, we are the standard now,” says rapper Hopsin in the trailer for his label, Funk Volume‘s upcoming documentary film, Independent Living. Funk Volume has been stealthily been growing their fan base by doing things their own way. Known for their unorthodox business acumen, regionally and stylistically diverse but small roster, and immensely proactive and supportive fan base, artists Hopsin, who is also a co-founder, Dizzy Wright, Jarren Benton, SwizZz, and DJ Hoppa, along with co-founder Damien Ritter, are proud to share the trailer for their upcoming documentary film, Independent Living. Clocking in a combined amount of over 1.5 billion YouTube views, over 1.5 million Facebook Likes, with pre-orders of albums in the thousands, and regularly charting in the Top 10 on iTunes and in Billboard, there’s no denying that Funk Volume has earned their position as an independent label to watch and learn from.

In the short trailer, Funk Volume pulls back the curtain on the philosophy and non-traditional tactics they’ve embraced to become one of the most successful independent hip hop labels today. Filmed during their Funk Volume 2012 Tour when they blazed through 44 cities in 50 days, the documentary displays the five artists’ relentless dedication and work ethic as they play to sold-out crowds during a time when the industry is being turned on its head. Says Dizzy Wright, “I’m a daddy, I’m paying for daycare so when I’m on the road, this my job. It’s also my dream.” Echos DJ Hoppa, “Not only is this a lifestyle and a passion but at the end of the day, it’s a job. You can’t just be dope, you have to be dope and hustle.” Hustling and being strategic comes naturally to Funk Volume. With no real office and a strong emphasis on in-house production, touring, and video production, the label is ignoring industry standards and succeeding. Says Damien, a Stanford Business School graduate who worked with Fortune 500 companies, “We’re trying to do something that hasn’t been done in a while – bring it back to the artist. From the beginning, we concentrated on building a fan base and concentrating on social media. We knew booking agents, press, and other industry people would come knocking eventually and once they saw what we were building, they did.”

The rest of 2013 will see Funk Volume keeping busy with Jarren Benton releasing My Grandmas Basement next Tuesday, June 11th, Dizzy releasing his Golden Age mixtape in July, Hopsin releasing his next full-length project Knock Madness in the fall and SwizZz working on his next project. While the artists remain busy churning out music and hitting the road, Damien is currently working on a book to help independent artists better understand what it takes to build a career in music.

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