“First Flight” represents a departure of such for Universal Indie in terms of musical content. By sifting through our catalog you can tell that much of what we release features that “classic” hip hop sound. Marcii’s project, at least musically, is more in touch of what’s happening in the music scene today. Now before you go and cry sell-out, you can be assured that like our other releases the lyrics will be up to par but this is music from a younger artist geared towards younger fans.

We’re also shooting a professional video for what we think of as the lead single, “U Know Who U R” featuring Zahra. If you’re interested in hearing a taste of what’s to come you can peep some unmastered songs on our Facebook page.

With this release we are really counting on the fans and the press to get on board with this release and help spread the word. Join our mailing, add us as a Facebook friend, review the release and/or add the video to your site or blog. Anything you can do to help is sincerely appreciated.

For more info check out www.universalindie.com

In this episode Cartel talks about the new production style he’s using on these projects, “Hoodgrown Swag”.

I get an email from Jamendo stating:
“Someone on Jamendo made a donation to the artist Cartel. Here are the transaction details:
* Name : ColdShiver * Message : There’s already so much taking in this world i figured i’l give something back, the least i could do. Thank you for this A-grade music, these tracks blow most commercial stuff away if you ask me, Cartel, Gang Starr and Nas are my favorite rappers, keep up the great work. Tracks i loved: 1. Cartel Ft. Gates – I Remember When 2. Cartel Ft. Tommy Mula – Elevate 3. Cartel Ft. Gates – U Know My Style 4. Cartel Ft. Brix – Real Talk 5. Cartel Ft. Mallz – Green 6. Cartel – Intro Prepare For Glory (too bad its so short, love the melody)”

It was definitely a pleasant surprise that someone liked my work enough to want to donate money to me because while there are donation buttons on the site for just this sort of thing, indie hip hop artist don’t usually see money from these type of promotions.

The real question is “why not”?

Hip hoppers like to consider themselves rebels… we go against the status quo… or so we like to think but in my opinion, the indie rock guys go against the grain more than we ever do and I attribute a lot of the blame for that to hip hop fans whose views are limited to how the music should be promoted.

Some of the most exciting, experimental music models have happened in rock and other genres of music. You have groups like Radiohead who allowed fans to pay whatever they felt their album was worth to the donation scale where the more you contribute to an artist to help record his project… the more you’re rewarded.

Hip hopper’s constantly scream about how being independent is the way to go and how the internet is the great equalizer but then they seem stuck trying to market their music just as the majors would. What’s the sense of spouting this indie/internet crap if you’re not going to try anything different? So you’ve set up a Myspace, Bandcamp and/or Facebook page. Yes you’re giving away your album/mixtape for free and/or have it on sale at iTunes. Then what? Who’s not doing that? How is that any different than what the majors are doing? Where’s the hip hop equivalent of the band, OK GO?

That’s why I applauded Public Enemy for utilizing Sellaband or Ras Kass for turning to Kickstarter.com to try and fund his latest project in a manner that most hip hop artists aren’t. You would think fans would reward his efforts to think outside the “rap box” but when you visit sites like HipHopDx (which has the most juvenile posts).. here’s what the fans stated:

“lmao this dude cant find the funds to put his album out, so he askin his fans to bail him out.”

“How are you a veteran in the game and struggling for studio time. This isn’t about conformity. He doesn’t know how to grind.”

“what a joke he is pimping himself what a hoe”

“Is this nigga that broke or something what the fuck donate, nigga is crazy and then you get limited edition handwritten song what the fuck. this nigga crazy”

Wow… Really??? Talk about a lack of vision. So I ask again what the hell is wrong with hip hop fans??? Is their vision really that freaking limited? If people like Josh Ryan, I Fight Dragons or Kelly Richey were creating hip hop they wouldn’t be in the positions that they’re in now. The 1000 True Fans Theory just does not seem to pertain to hip hop.

With fans as ignorant as this… it begins to make you wonder why even bother?

Recently though, I’ve come to a crossroads of sorts. Do I want Universal Indie to be known for releasing good 90s style music or do I want it to be known for releasing good music PERIOD. I’m leaning towards the later. While I love the 90s sound and will continue to release music that vein, as a label I feel that it’s a must that I also grab talent that reflects what’s going on today with no compromise in lyrical content or beat selection.

In the next couple of months we will be distributing some releases by our distributed labels as well as some mixtape projects, the third Cartel album in the series and an album by the NEW Full Fam family. We’re also opening the doors to a host of new producers as well.

Stay tuned…..

Another project worth talking about is the joint EP by underground producer, Cartel and hip hop artist, Mallz. Their previous efforts spawned the two tracks below:

The Love

Green

Last but not least is the project with hip hop artist TG. As I mentioned in a previous post that this was going to be an EP release between him and Cartel, but after the response we’ve been receiving due to three leaked tracks off his upcoming mixtape, this has been expanded to a full album and will feature other producers such as Dave Barz (of K.Sparks fame) and Drawzilla (who has very placements and is currently producing Tek (of Smif n Wesson) for Duck Down. You’ll be hearing more about this as time goes by as this is shaping up to be one of the best release from ANY New York artist in a long time. Not a claim to take lighty.

I also see the possibilities from a marketing perspective as well. Since as of this writing, independently created iTunes LPs aren’t being added to the itunes store my thoughts of utilizing this format are a little different from the traditional thinking. Instead of trying to sell these, I’d prefer to give them away and charge for the option of portability. What I mean by this is, let the consumer gets their hands on the iTunes LP file as a free download. Let them listen to all the tracks in their entirety, view all the cover art & all the photos, watch all the video, read the linear notes. They’re free to play it all they want through their computer. Now, If they’re feeling the music so much that they want to add it to their favorite mp3 player or burn it to a cd, they’ll pay (hopefully) to download the album.

Understand that it’s not about trying to force someone to purchase something because in all honesty it’s not that hard to get at the actual music in these things, it’s more about guiding people to support artists that they’re actually feeling. By offering these iTunes LPs as free downloads without limits, hopefully there will be people who will want to help further the artists careers. To entice people to purchase the actual release we could add bonus songs not featured on the iTunes LP. Kind of the opposite of what they’re doing right now with these things but one that may work well for Universal Indie’s situation.

If you haven’t download the ENHANCED version of Cartel: Tha Throwback, you can do so at:
http://universalindie.com/universal-indie-releases-first-free-hip-hop-album-in-new-itunes-lp-format.html

I love the hardcore shit, shit I grew up in the projects in New York so I have a ground-floor understanding of “the streets”. With that said, I can’t listen to a lot of these dudes running around claiming the streets because they see some gangsta movie on dvd or talking about hustling when it’s obvious to those who’ve been there that they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Yea, I love the street shit too but it has to be authentic for me to fuck with it.

We’re about to “DMX” the game with the release of Bronx born artist, T.G. (Tommy Gunz)’s upcoming EP release. I use the term “DMX the Game” to describe a period in hip hop when Puffy and Jay were winning with the floss shit and DMX came in on some straight shit totally flipping it for a minute. Real street dudes could feel where DMX was coming from and it was a great antidote for the hip hop that was coming out at the time.

If you look at the hip hop market today with it’s focus on flossing, dances and just plain ole “cooning”… I think it’s time for the return of the real street artists with something to say. That’s not to say that T.G. will make the impact that DMX did, because we hardly have the budget that a Def Jam does, it’s just to say that if you’re looking for something with a little more meat… then you’ll probably appreciate this upcoming release.

Below is one of T.G.’s song “Gotta Fight” of the album “Cartel – Tha Throwback” which can be downloaded for free here

Our upcoming projects include “The Requiem EP” by Dub MD which features some big name producers and artists, the next “Cartel” album which will also include a few “name” artists as well as an album by our R&B artist, Akisha.

On the major label front Cartel is in the process of placing tracks on Maino’s next album and that of Frank Lucas (the son of “American Gangster” Frank Lucas) which can only increase his profile and that of his past and future projects.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be a good year for our little label.

Just when my passion for the music was at it’s lowest, through my Universal Indie site, I get an email from a young woman stating she had read my previous blog on R&B singers and decreed that she was totally different from those who I’ve dealt with in the past and that she was really serious about her music. In all honesty, I tend to ignore these kind of emails because I just receive way too many to check out them all but the tone of her email made me curious to see what she was working with.

I checked the link that she sent me in her correspondence, there was photos and some background info but no links to any music. She definitely has the look, but the question was.. can she sing? So I hit her back. Turns out she has no recorded music so she sang for me on the phone. Okay.. this is a done deal. I need her. She’s the complete package.

We’re meeting next week to finalize everything… then I want to get cracking on a six song EP to start getting her shows and to fulfill an obligation to Frostwire.

I’ll definitely keep be posting more frequent now.

The first one that I worked with I started dating which effectively ended our working arrangement when the relationship didn’t work out. Ok, so maybe this one is my fault. Lesson learned. The second young lady that I worked with had an incredible voice and had some real songwriting talents. She stated that she had always dreamed of pursuing a singing career since she was a child. I believe she truly had the talent to succeed. We worked on two songs that came out amazing, and then…. the new boyfriend entered her life. I remember receiving the phone call two hours after our studio session was supposed to have begun stating that she was no longer going to sing because her boyfriend (of 5 days) didn’t want her too. WTF? Was this really her dream? Can you imagine if Beyonce would have stopped singing because of her boyfriend?

Which brings me to my current situation, Zahra. I met first Zahra when we were shooting the video for M.A.’s “What U R” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFzXBNwjyjI&feature=channel_page – hey don’t laugh… I had just purchased my flip cam and wanted to use it for something). We needed a female to be in the video and so M.A. choose her. She stated she could sing but that she was working with someone else so I didn’t even mention anything about working with her.

Fast forward to December where one of the artists brought her through the studio to sing on a hook. When she sang, I was completely blown away. Such a large voice emitting from such a small frame. I let it be known that I wanted to work with her and that we needed to hook up. She agreed.

In January she sang some hooks on some tracks that I was trying to sell and in February we recorded our first song together, “If He Don’t Got Money”.

I thought the song came out really well, especially considering that she wrote in on the spot in about 5-10 minutes. I uploaded the song to Viddler and embedded it on 300 MySpace page profiles. The songs seems to have virally taken off. Check my Viddler stats as of this writing, the song has now be embedded 5,148 times. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? That’s within only a 5 day period.

I contact my dude J Hatch about letting her perform at the showcase he throws in Manhattan and the guys from Frostwire reached out to me about helping me to promote her album they we were working on once it was complete.

The problem is… for the past two weeks she’s missed our sessions and I haven’t heard too much from her. I don’t know what’s going on but now that we have the ball rolling, we just can’t let this momentum die. That’s just crazy and I hate to feel like I’m hunting someone down by calling all the time. I mean there’s a ton of people who love the opportunities she’s being given. How hard is it to find a female R&B artist to work with and have absolutely no drama?

So with that said, I’m still going to try and get something done with her but I think I’m going to shoot for like a 5 or 6 song EP as opposed to a full album so that we’ll have something out on the streets.

I’ll keep you updated.

We already completed one song which I think came out exceptionally well and I’ve decided to document the making of her album by utilizing video. As i’m new to this whole “vlogging” thing you’ll have to excuse me for a stutter here or there as I’m more used to dealing with actual people than talking into a camera.

Hopefully, you’ll find the viewing of these videos interesting and get to know and love Zahra & her music.

If you’d like to check out Zahra’s music, for now check the Universal Indie Myspace page.

The only thing I regret is not setting up my Twitter page BEFORE the promotion started. I’ll admit that I really didn’t understand the purpose of Twitter but I definitely do now. If you don’t have a page on Twitter and you’re trying to expand your fanbase, set one up immediately.

So anyway, my promotion has run its course and after all is said and done 26,769 have downloaded my album. Many have visited my site, joined my mailing list and Twitter page, and have requested me as a friend on Myspace. In the span of a few days, the awareness of my project has expanded exponentially. I have to give the Frostwire guys credit because in a day and age when most people are trying to make money off the backs of indie artists, they offer this service for FREE when they could have easily charged for something like this.

All this has taught me that you need to attack your promotional efforts on as many fronts as possible because you never know where an important opportunity will arise. If it wasn’t for Jamendo, Frostwire wouldn’t have found me. Now that I’m on Twitter, MySpace and Jamendo… maybe I’ll finally get around to getting a Facebook page up and running.

To say I was intrigued by this business model was an understatement. I mean though I give away music on the Universal Indie website, my original goal was to give away enough releases to build up a base of fans who would appreciate the kind of music that we put out and would be willing to purchase a few of our products down the line. That may still happen but I’m thinking that I may jump into this netlabel thing full speed. I mean why not just give it away and try to make money through other means such as donations, licensing, touring, etc? What am I really losing? Due to the fact that the cost to record songs are damn near zero… everyone seems to be an artists or label trying to sell their wares. When it really comes down to it though, how many of them are actually making any money? With so many artists, where are the fans? We all know someone with a Snocap widget on their Myspace page that hasn’t made a damn dime. That’s not to say that we won’t sell any upcoming releases down the line, but in my opinion at this stage of the game, getting the music out there to create other revenue opportunities is far more important.

I know I’ve listened to a few albums and thought that they should have picked a different single. I definitely felt “Heartless” should have been the first single off of Kanye’s new album but hell, what do I know… and that’s the point.

I need to step up the promotion of my album and I’ve decided that my money would be well spent utilizing one of these new age record pools like MP3Waxx and Digiwaxx. I get serviced by both of these services for my Hoodgrown Magazine website so I’m familiar with both but I think I’m going with MP3waxx.com. While Digiwaxx is probably the bigger and more well known of the two, they are just a little too expensive for me. Not only is MP3Waxx more affordable but one of the artists on my album, K.Sparks, just utilized them and was very impressed with them. He stated they did what they said they were going to do and opened up a few opportunities for him. K.Sparks is a beast when it comes to grinding so his cosign was the icing on the cake.

Now comes the hard part. Knowing which of the songs to actually spend my $300 on. I hardly have the money to through around so I have to do this correct first time out. I need you guys to help me pick out the best single to invest my money into promoting. You can listen to the album below and then go to Universal Indie.com and choose the song you think is best.

Your help is really appreciated. Thanks!

I was so excited by the idea that I’ve already created the cd cover for the album. I’m also toying with the idea of creating different cd covers based on classic Motown albums featuring all of the artists that are on the album and offering different versions of the album for download each with a track that the other doesn’t have. A collector wanting all of the songs would have to download all of the versions.

On top of this album there’s a ton of new music coming your way from Universal Indie which includes another album from the Scholarly Pursuits, as well as an EP that we’re working on produced solely by myself. There’s also a project with a rapper/producer out of Spain but I’ll reveal more on that later. In the time being make sure you download and enjoy the tons of cost free music available at this site.

I remember being on mastering guys back to hurry up and send me the finished mp3s. Not that I need to be because David does a hellva job, but because I couldn’t wait to upload it to my site and Jamendo. Now I love Jamendo but if you’re using a Mac, uploading to the site is painful process since you can only upload Wav, Aif or Flac files which are 100% times larger than an mp3 file (an exaggeration I know). Windows users can download a Jamload application which speeds up the upload process considerably. A Mac app was promised but has yet to materialize in the two years that I’ve been a Jamendo member. Once it finally uploaded, it was pretty smooth sailing setting up my page for the release on both my site and Jamendo’s. I must also mention that I love the widget that Jamendo provides for your website. It allows your music to shared on other blogs and webpages as easily as you can embed a YouTube Video.

With that done it was time to begin the first part of my promotional campaign, sending out the press releases alerting those in the know to my project. Already a few have already picked up the release:

MI2n.com
Laptop Rockers
British Hip Hop
Top 40 Charts
Marc Dollarz Music

I’ve also conducted two new interviews which I’ll post up as soon as they’re live and received some constructive critisism by man dude at MixTapeShow.net which caused me to make some adjustments to my site. Thanks Dex.

So it has been an eventful first few days and I’m already thinking about next week where I’ll focus on promoting on Myspace and trying to get a few album reviews as well. The beautiful part about being an indie is that you shouldn’t be concerned with first week numbers. The Wu-Tang worked “Protect Your Neck” for a full year before Loud picked them up. Too many of today’s fans and artists alike assume that if you don’t do a certain amount by a certain time that your project is a failure. As an indie, you have the luxury of not have to conform to such idiocy .