What Happens to the Black Artistic Genius?

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Donny Hathaway, Lauryn Hill, D’Angelo, Dave Chapelle, Michael Jackson….etc etc.   Have you ever wonder why people with so much talent tend to just let their career’s go once they have reached the point of success that could catapult them to the next level.

Think about it.

These black artist are all genius in their own right.  But what happened?

How did they fall off the grid or end their career?  The better question is WHY?

My thought is it comes down to pressure.   As an artist you are pressured in to being original, yet stay commercial.  Make Money.  Succeed.

Now as a black artist…there seems to be an extra caveat to go along with that….not only do you have to be successful, you have to bring the whole crew, block, fam, everybody else along the ride with you.  This is prevalent in about 95% of hip hop and R&B songs (don’t quote that statistic…just know it’s a hell of a lot of songs)

When a pipe is filled to capacity what happens?

Thinking about some of the artist I named above…many of them are TRUE artist.  They create/created from a different place.  In the beginning everything was alright….when they had their loyal fan base…they where on the radar…but not 100% in the Lime Light.  But noticed when they reached that stage in their careers where they did appeal to the masses…where added to the A list of stars…they cracked.  The pressure was too much.

Its like black creative genius, along with many stars in general, have a psychological barier that prevents them from following through.

Just a thought…

What Do You Think?

Printing These Thoughts to Tape

L.Byrd

How Come All My Female Friends Disappear When They Get a Boo Thang?

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Fellas… have you noticed that your female friends…you know the ones that call or text you just because, want to hang out with you all the time, lets do a photo shoot, or “I need advise…why can’t I find a man?” type…yeah them female friends…They always disappear when they get a boo thang in their life?

WTF….

Am I just that platonic buddy that you use as your “boy friend”….literally?

I often wonder if they have hooked up with Ike Turner, Jr….who threatens to go Chris Brown on that ass if they tweet hello to their male friends?

Maybe they are that in love.

Maybe they are blinded by the D–Fence, if you know what I mean.

I just don’t get it….why do women do that?

I started to notice this trend in college.  One of my closes female friends ALWAYS went MIA when she started talking to a dude.  Then when he kicked her ass to the curb…”Byrd…what you doing?  We should study together…”  or “Do you want to go eat lunch together?”

Personally I can have a girlfriend, dip off, or whatever and still have an ongoing relationship with my female friends.  Its called multitasking…or better yet…BEING A GOOD FRIEND!!!!!

WTF…

I have noticed throughout time that all my close female friends tend to do that.

Maybe its me….

Am I the rebound…that is not even getting any???

They are using me for emotional and psychological stimulation.  I guess that makes me a simp or something?

My conclusion is this….Female Friends are USERS!!!!! If you are a heterosexual male…when it comes to your female friends you are simply the void filler, until that next boo thang comes into their life…then you are placed back on the friend shelf, waiting to be used during times of need.

Women are something else….

As Always…this is fitting

Printing These Thoughts to Tape

L.Byrd

Creative Design Technology of The Future: T(ether)

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How dope would it be to have Tony Starks computer?  A piece of tech that truly interacts with you, alleviates the idea of sitting and typing on a keyboard query, or screen interface (tablet computers), all together…

Well some nerdy cats at MIT’s media lab has innovated some tech that might get us to the Stark technology sooner than later.

They call it T(ether)

Creators Matthew Blackshaw, Dávid Lakatos, Hiroshi Ishii, and Ken Perlin call T(ether) “a tool for spatial expression” that “acts as a window affording users a perspective view of three-dimensional data through tracking of head position and orientation.”

Pretty cool huh???

Imagine the possibilities of their interface.  I’m thinking in terms of strictly collaborating with others.  From an engineering standpoint….industrial and civil engineers can go to work hashing out solutions for a certain build they are working on.  Designers such as Architects and even Interior Designers can work out there specs in 3D without having to sit down at an AutoCAD terminal.

Creative people such as Filmmakers and Animators could easily splice together scenes saving hours of….. one group finishing a scene now lets send it to the other group back and forth scenario.

See endless possibilities.

Shits might also be cool to play 3D Tetris :D

As Always….T(ether) makes me feel like this…

Printing These Thoughts to Tape

L.Byrd

5 Red Flags Of a Bad Business Deal Before it Begins: Be Aware

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As a creative entrprenuer…I often run into potential participants that I avoid at all cost because 9.876 % out of 10% of the time, they will just be a bad person or organization to deal with….for me and my business platform (key words for me….)

I came up with a list of 5 Red Flags I look for in initial conversations to determine if I will take this project on or not.

1) How Much Do You Charge?- If this is the first question…before even seeing the company website, conversed with me about my business, know a little about my company….well this shows that their bottom line is only about price.  These folks most likely don’t care about the “value” of a service….they are willing to take shitty to mediocre work…as long as the price is right.  In other words…they have no standards…as long as its cheap…they will take it.  Sorry folks…The Nest:MS is not a company of cheap hoes….just saying LOL…. :-/

2) I/We don’t have a budget….-  Seriously?  This kinda ties back to Flag 1.  You are inquiring with a professional about services they render…and you don’t have a budget to work with?  Any organized organization comes up with a set budget for things they are looking to invest in.  These people here fall into two categories: 1) totally unorganized and have no clue what they are doing 2) Poking around for the cheapest rate they can find…and then rolling with that.  Avoid these confused, cheap bastards.

3) We are a 501 C3…can you donate? - Ahh Yes…the 501 C3 orgs…. a.k.a the non-for-profit groups.  Don’t get me wrong…I believe in giving to a good cause…but at the same time I am a business man.  Yes writing off at the end of the year is great…but that doesn’t keep the lights on outside of January-Febuary (tax refund season). Many of these groups try pulling the sympathy card for free to super cheap services.  501 C3′s have access to thousands of government grant money.  They can have many great financial community supporters.  They can be comprised of board members with decent jobs who can collectvely pitch in for the greater cause.  Im sorry I cannont donate thousands of dollars of services for free…at most I will give a non for profit discount in the form of a percentage or time…but not for free. (Learned this lesson the hard way).

4) The Connector with Opportunity- Some opportunities do only come once in a life time…but be very careful with dealing with connectors that can “advance” you career.  See connectors that try to barter an “opportunity” or exposure for a discounted rate or free is something like a con artist.  An opportunity and exposure could potentially be that 1 gig to get your business booming.  It could potentially lead to your next big contract.  It could potentially change the value of your company. Notcie the common trend with the connector with opportunity?  POTENTIALLY!!!  There is no guarantee.  Everything is based off of speculations.  Often times this shit doesn’t work in the benefit of your companies best interest.  Again learned this the hard way.  Get paid what you deserve up front.  If your work speaks volumes, well those big opportunities will come again.

5) I trust you…do what you want- If a participant leaves all creative control to you…be very afraid.  Often times these folks are the worst because they think that you are a psychic and will deliver the very thing they were thinking.  Sometimes you can hit the ball out the park…often times they are going to want you to tweak this and that…can you do this?  These people are followers and they become micro managers, making you their tiny robot creating the exact thing they want…once they given you free rain and didn’t like it. Always pull as much info as you can before starting a project.  If they give you free rain…make it clear and contractually binding that they relinquished all control.  In other words cover your ass so you don’t end up in the revision realm for eternity.

These are things I look out for.  Hope they helped.  If you have any Red Flags please leave a comment.

As always…

Printing these thoughts to Tape,

L.Byrd

Understand The True Purpose of ReBranding…

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Would Be Participant Says: “Hello Louis!!! Man I love your design skills.  I have a company and we are looking to rebrand.  How much do you charge for a Logo???”

SOUND THE ALARM!!!! Wrong!!! Buzzzzz!!!! Try Again

You’ll be surprised how often a representative at a company, usually a smaller company, inquires about a logo and say its because they are looking to re-brand their image.

Pause…

Lets think about this…a new or modified logo will help you re-brand?

No it will not Dear Sir…

See this idea of branding and rebranding is a lot more complex than people realize.

The sole purpose of a rebrand is to signify change.  Change in not only the company look, but also the company attitude.

Seeing that a brand can be considered the summation of how your customer or clients (I call these people participants) perceive your company, when you think about rebranding it has to be clear throughout each sector of the company…sales, retail, accounting, marketing, even the cafeteria (if you have one).

Side note:  A brand is not about YOU, its what your target audience perceives you as.

Rebranding’s main goal is to reposition your company in the marketplace. Position yourself in a new light with your participants.  The end goal is to speak to your participants psyche and show them why you should be their top choice.

Rebranding can be a simple adjustment to what your company has…or it can be a complete overhaul…it depends on where your company stands in the marketplace and what you are trying to accomplish.

So as you can see simply changing a logo or maybe a stationary will prove ineffective if you do not change the attitude.  And an added caveat to that would be action changes perception.

As Always…

hmmm lets see…

New video directed by the homie @seanphazes Check it out

Fear Is A Good Thing…

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You remember being a kid and being afraid of the Boogie Monster?  Well I wasn’t scared because I was a baby thug….but most kids was. What happened when the Boogie Monster chased you in your dreams?

You ran for help…

What happened when he had you cornered in the wall….you fought.  You did what you had to do to survive.

The same goes with life.

Often times we are faced in situations that bring up the emotion of fear.  Fear is not a bad thing…it is actually a good thing…dependeing on how you look at it.

Being a creative entrprenauer I face fear far too often.  However, when I see that bastard…I do what I can to make it my bitch.

Fear can come arise from starting a new project, wondering if I can do what I said I could. Fear comes from wondering if that next gig is going to come because my account funds are starting to dwindle.  Fear can come from possibly having to find a full-time or part time job just to make ends meet.  Fear can come from wondering am I good enough.

As you can see fear can come from a lot of situations in life, but the secret to success is to not let that fear consume you and foster self doubt.

When fear arises in a situation, use that as fuel to your inner flame for survive.  Use that fear as motivation to avoid the places you do not want to be.

Life is all about perspective…so if you perceive fear as something bad…well it will consume you.  If you look at fear as something good…well you can sat it on a high traffic corner with a mini skirt and some high plat form white shoes….

Fear is Good…use it

As always

Printing these thoughts to Tape,

L.Byrd

Are There Really Any R&B and Hip Hop Producers Remaining??

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Words are often misused.  Thinks about.  Love, Friends, Swag, and Producer.

Are there any true R&B and Hip Hop producers around?  I mean real ones.

I’m picking on R&B and Hip Hop because that’s what I am most familiar with, but I think this idea can go across any genre.

Let’s face it.  Everything is so water down and diluted now.  Anybody with a keyboard controller, a DAW, or music workstation is a producer.

Today on twitter I asked a “Producer Manager”, in her opinion what is the best way for a producer to get their music heard?  Her response was….”mixtapes is where it’s at…”

Seriously…. Mixtapes??

Ok…mixtapes usually equate to some artist, recording over or free styling to a said beat.  There is a creative element envolved…but, I wouldn’t call that production.

So I started to think even more…Why is it that in Pop (popular music…because that’s what all this stuff is) does everything song the same?  Why is it rare to hear a song that stays in my mind for more than 3 minutes after it goes off?

I came to the conclusion its because there is no real production going on anymore.  There is no producer really working with the artist to create a dynamic piece of work.   Its just some folks getting together and making cool songs.

They are doing dope beats…but they are not producing shit.

I hear tons of solid beats on the airwaves, youtube, and even on some artist albums….but I don’t hear any true production.

Its becoming so rare to hear a stellar production, that I feel as they I forgot what a produce song sounds like.  And when I do I have an Eargasm.

I get a reality check when I hear classics from the early Boyz II Men and Babyface/LA Reid collabos or when I listen to College Dropout Kanyes 1st major release or Commons Be also mostly produced by Kanye.

If you want to get even more of true production listen to MJ and Quincy Jones Thriller.

I’m sorry mam…mixtapes should not be validity a good producer.  At most I can see a mix tape as a possible step in the door to being heard…maybe thats what she was alluding to.

Production is so much more than just a solid 8 or 16 bar loop, which might maybe have a baby bridge in it.  Production is bigger than the beat.  Outside of the budgeting, psychology, compromising, and emotion that should take place in production…the real purpose of the Producer is to make an idea reality…the intangible, tangible…at least to our ears.

I strongly feel that the “mixtape society” is breeding tons of great BEAT Makers…but not many great Producers.

What do you think?

Printing These Thoughts to Tape

L.Byrd

As Always…