THE LONG ANSWER

As usual, if you're an artist who makes an exclusive living just being an emcee (or producer, or DJ) then this obviously doesn't apply to you.  But if you're reading this then the likelihood of you being among that realm is almost nil.  A career emcee simply has better shit to do than be reading some second-rate blog from a dude like me.  And in case you actually are, then you'd appreciate the honesty.  Because the amount of kats out there who act like pros with big money are more liars than anything else.

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Hey emcee, are you making enough money rhyming to pay rent and all of your bills on a month to month basis?  How about you mister DJ?  And you, producer guy who's selling exclusives on Soundcloud for $20 a pop?  If your answer was anything but "no" then you're a liar.  If you're still living with mom then it's likely that you think you're making it happen, but reality will strike hard when you take that false assumption into the real world.

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So where does that leave the rest of us 99%?  What can we do to improve our condition?  You'll notice this leads to more questions than answers.  But eventually you'll come to one of two conclusive decisions: juggle a real job in there somewhere, or diversify your artistry by being more than just a one trick pony.

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There's no shame in expanding your artistry.  In fact, all you're really doing is making yourself more valuable to the music community as a whole.  By broadening your craft you are now an asset to not only yourself, but to other artists as well.  And, if nothing else, that is absolutely helping you expand your network.  If you're a producer, pick up some turntables and learn to scratch or blend.  If you're a DJ, learn to make beats or put together showcases.  Or if you happen to be Chief from Tribe Chillin in Las Vegas, then be that emcee who learned to be a professional engineer.

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For some, it comes from a need to find other ways to make money because they come to the very painful realization that their music simply isn't making them enough of it.  For others, like Chief, they learn that they want to make a living in the world of music no matter how many different hats they have to wear within that world.  In Chief's particular case it meant literally changing career decisions halfway through getting a degree.  The kind of degree that would have guaranteed him a pre-prescribed life of comfort doing something he knew he didn't love.  Sound familiar?  If not, just ask your parents if they're in love with what they do for a living...

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Chief decided (very wisely, in my opinion) that certain things in life are simply worth more than money.  He knew that regular work with a guaranteed paycheck wouldn't feed his soul the same way that being immersed in a life of music would.  So he took the proactive approach, went to school for audio engineering, and made it official.  Now with a new project on the horizon (appropriately called "Mischief") he's playing both sides of the fence.  He's an artist with product to sell, as well as an audio engineer for hire.  And not just your homie with software on a laptop in the closet of his mom's crib.  We're talking about a certified professional engineer who can record as well as handle post-production mixing.

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So now that you know about the kid, let's jump to where we had a conversation about this exact topic!

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Q:  Which did you start dabbling in first, audio engineering or emceeing?
A:  I started emceeing.  Then as time progressed I realized I needed better quality tracks and decided to take the initiative to learn how to make that possible.

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Q:  Being that you do both, which would you say is more fulfilling?
A:  Rapping was my first love and always will be.  Just the writing, piecing [things] together, and all the rhythms get me super hyped!  I love engineering as well, but expressing myself through rap might be more fulfilling in my opinion.  There is so much to say and I love that!

 

Q:  I notice a lot of the features from your upcoming project "Mischief" are from within the Tribe Chillin family.  Besides yourself and Wave MMLZ, do any of the other members play multiple roles as well?
A:  Wave and I do most of the behind the scenes moves as far as booking things, ordering things, promo, and all that jazz; while the other members mostly focus on writing.  Dream Catcher actually booked our whole Portland show though, so that was very awesome!  Cloud is dabbling in some video stuff but nothing too heavy yet.

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Q:  You're classically trained in audio engineering.  Could you tell me a little bit about that whole process?

A:  So basically I went through a 12 month program and learned everything from audio engineering to post production, which works on movies and game audio.  We also learned about computer technologies and audio business.  They taught us on a bunch of consoles as well as softwares and how to know route signal flow.  We also learned live sound, which was concert venue audio and broadcast audio.  So they made sure we knew basically all kinds of [different] audio.  The school was definitely a blessing in disguise.  To graduate the program you have to intern at a studio.  So when it was my time I was interning in [Los Angeles] at Serenity West Recording Studio.

 

Q:  Did you run into any other artists while there, or was everyone strictly doing the audio thing?

A:  Yea a bunch of the kids at school were either rappers or people in bands, as well as gamers.  Some had no musical background at all and just kind of ran with it.

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Q:  Did you do your own engineering for the "Mischief" project?

A:  100%.  It's funny because I had it all mixed and mastered.  [But] after I learned a couple more things from the engineer I'm working with now, I had to redo the whole thing.  I'm very pleased with what I've done with this project!

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Q:  Are there any special points or behind the scenes stuff that the world should know about the release before it comes out?

A:  I made this album in 3 different states (Arizona, California, and Nevada).  And I will be hitting the fans with tons of dope things once the roll out begins!

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