Let’s start this off right..I LOVE Hip-Hop. I mean my first CD was 12 Inches of SNOW lol…and my second was ONYX BACDAFUCUP. I grew up on it’s influence, it’s style, it’s culture but recently there’s things that have come to my attention that we need to change. I went to an event last night and the overall way it was ran was a joke. We get invited to these invites to cover the music and get a better understanding of a new project. Last night was an unfortunate setback…
First. Being unorganized isn’t cool. If you are throwing an event, know what the purpose is and execute. Don’t allow one dude with TEN girlfriends in before the people you “invited” for the purpose of YOUR event. That doesn’t make sense for what your trying to accomplish at a listening session. If you wanted to show off who you know and how many popular faces you can slam in a room, then host that event at a club so it’s a known party. And at that party, I’d be more understanding cause the dude got ten fcking girls. BUT don’t throw an invite only event for coverage purposes, then not allow those people in. Or better yet, switch the events agenda and say there are two sessions mow with no clear information to back it up. You “invited” people to your event who clearly don’t belong and just want to meet the artist. Have a meet and greet if that’s what your trying to accomplish. I have met everyone you can name under the sun (from Hip-Hop to US Presidents) so I can care less about meeting people ‘per-say’. I do enjoy meeting the artist, don’t get me wrong, but the reason for the event is to get an understanding straight from the artist themselves, so we “the people” can spread the word properly about their art. If you invite me to an event to serve a purpose, don’t change the story when people get there. It’s not good in the credibility department.
Second. It takes 2 mins to be nice, and 5 to be dick. Personally, I have worked/ran huge events all around the world that covered all genres of music and the Hip-Hop crowd/events stands out for being overly difficult. Now, I understand that the culture comes with an edge and attitude, which I’m down for, but the people who give the biggest attitude are usually the people who DON’T MATTER. There is no reason to be extra! Stop acting like your king shit and be a human. Don’t say were going to exchange information and you just give me an email. One lesson in life I learned early was, ‘You never know who your talking to’. Which ties into ‘Karma is a Bitch!’
Third. Communicate without threatening. Let’s say things aren’t going according to plan, and you are trying to control the situation. Fire with fire will NOT help anything. Having some body guard threatening the entire crowd about how he’s going to shut down the event is WACK. Cause we all know he didn’t pay shit to put on the event, and when push come to shove there are only two people that will shut it down. One, being the cops, and two being the promoter/owner. With that said, have a person who is dedicated to controlling the chaos and have someone who can handle the pressure of guest list entry. Not someone who is gonna get more out of control and rowdy then the general admission. Being respectful to people’s time or at least let them know what is going on will minimize confusion. Communicating will make things go smoother for the production, security and overall event.
Honestly, there is a lot more I would like to touch on but this is in direct relation to an event I went to last night. I have been to plenty of Hip-Hop events that have ran smooth but most of them are late and fcked up. And people, we’re talking about easy events to run, not 110,000 people, 200+ artists and 1500+ VIP guests you need to manage. We’re talking about 30-75 people. Total. I feel like Iverson, “We’re talking about practice! NOT a game but practice!”
Last night, I have never been around more fake people acting like they’re big shit in my life. I connected with some real people but most were on some “I’m the shit type energy” and that’s not advancing our genre of music. There’s gonna be people who disagree with me, and they’re probably the same ones who don’t get it anyway. I’m fine with that, not everyone is gonna get it. Maximize opportunity would be one of the themes here, you fill in the rest… I’ll end with this…Notice how successful people in any type of business don’t have to flaunt it, because they know they’re good. Like I said earlier; You NEVER know who your talking to…
Some food for thought
- Johnny G
