yo ok im a newbie in the game still teething and crawling...when this mixtape is complete and ready for the ear...how will it be advertised/hustled/promoted/....who will hear this...what can us as emcees featuring on this tape be exposed too...i need to know for myself..
you ask some pretty relevant questions there Money...well its like this...and this goes out to anyone who might have the same concerns...rightfully so of course.
first and foremost, when we decided to embark on this project the primary aim was to do something with and for the pool of talent we a**umed existed here on the Africasgateway website, the intention being to a**emble something for us as the patrones of the site, bring the emcees as well as the producers together on one record...but as time pa**ed, it became apparent that not all who call themselves emcees here really do spit, but as always the PRODUCERS steped up and helped us along...
what that meant was that we had to abandon (partially perhaps, in pursuit of another avenue) the original idea to market the album fully here on the site using, say the overhead banner or other flyers you see when you open the site, we couldn't call the album an "africasgateway" mixtape when we have only a handful of cats on it as representation of emcees here, its not statistically relevant in that way (cos we all know the hacklers are gon bicker about being left out and what not)...
so for fear of revealing too much too soon, let me just say, on the success of the Re-Invention VOL 1 alone, we were fortunate enough to find people in right positions in their various media fields who liked the offering and the work put into it...by that i mean, we have connections with international blog owners, international & local magazine reviewers/ editors, radio station DJs and various groups on production as well as other hiphop forums that have worked with us before on other projects (the
INSPIRATION: pieces of our broken mind LP for eg) and loved what we did, so they fully on board.
basically, the formal marketing and distribution of the record will be handled by
AUDIBLE BRAILE ENTERTAINMENT as well as
SIAMESE ENTERTAINMENT, that will involve running around radio stations, getting them to give our album a bump, the manufacturing of merchandise (T shirts with the cover on em etc) to promote the album at various events like shows, hiphop workshops etc (and mind you, this is all coming from our own pockets)
between myself, Alias and Trompie i a**ure you, the connections we have to push this album to the heights it deserves are already in place, we are still in negotiations with more outlets (stores). however for fear of speaking too soon, i cant really say more on this matter...what you should trust is this...we have put all our energy, time, finances and effort into this (as we are sure you have) and the last thing we are to do is sit back and watch it gather dust....its going to get the due coverage
but we should remember that it is after all a
MIXTAPE, and unlike other DJ/ Producer mixtapes its not one man's album but a collaborative effort choreographed by myself and Trompie. with that said, it should dawn to YOU, as the EMCEE or individual PRODUCER that if you want people to check for the work you put in on the album, you will also have to do your part, tell people about it, once it drops and all the information about where people can find it drops, pa** that on as well, lets create the necessary snowball effect, after all, word of mouth is still the most reliablee source of pa**ing on information...
Re-Invention VOL 1 dropped last year, but for those who are not in the KNOW, it is still making mad moves to this day, more information will be coming your way about that...if anything, itl be inspiration and affirmation of what i said here today, we push an album to the fullest degree, it will keep making moves 10 years from now, thats ma word...our music is timeless...the same goes for what we are creating here
hope that answers your question................
