Standing Out Is Key

Making songs that involve some type of dance has been the new way of coming up lately. Artists like Souja Boy And New Boyz are examples prime examples of artists that came up from making a song with a dance move and it catching on.

Although this can make an artist blow up really fast, it can also be somewhat of a difficult task to accomplish. Not only does the song has to be catchy but also the dance moves and the video have to be on point. Some artists are more creative then others. 

A recent trend is now to  to combine all of the dances that have already been "created" and make a compilation of the dance moves will also naming the dance names in a way in which they rhyme and go with the beat. Artists like Silento' with "Whip/Nae Nae" and DLOW with the "Can't do it like me challenge"

With so many people trying to get noticed and get their music out it is important to have something that makes you unique. Things that catch other peoples attention with something that stands out. Fetty wap for example has a great voice and he also has one eye. This makes him unique no one in the industry has only one eye at the moment. Slim Jesus is a gangster white boy his video went viral. The music that hes rapping in my opinion is not better than a lot of these underground rappers trying to come up but hes a white boy acting gangster surrounded by black boys in the video, he stands out. Amanda Hackey is a girl that "cant dance" and is also not your typical rapper she is bigger than what we will usually see but people still watch her. She's different and she embraces all of her "flaws" which makes her personality stand out. 

Fetty Wap

Slim Jesus(True Religion shirt)

Amanda Hackey

When it comes to the music industry it is no longer just about the music, personality and the entertainment that comes with it is also important. By what I have observed being different gets you farther than being average. 

Kanye West

Kanye West though, net worth about 150 million. College drop out, rapper, designer, entertainer. His story brings me motivation and even made me question my current status as a student lol. Kanye is known for not only his music but also his candid ways of saying the things that he says. He is extremely extroverted which he has gotten good and bad repercussions for before.

He started off like most rappers do, struggling to be heard. Until he was heard. Went to Chicago State University for a year and then decided that he wanted to become a rapper so he dropped out. This got me thinking about myself and when I decided that I would like to be involved in the industry someday. It was actually my first year of college, I was in my dorm room and I thought about how much I enjoyed music. I would always rap along to Nicki's songs, knew every word. I would b that annoying kid in High school that would always be rapping along to her songs. So much so that people used to look at me like I was crazy.

Then I saw this girl about my age who rapped and was getting a huge buzz for it. I thought to myself...shes not that good. It motivated me to write a song, I sent it to a few of my friends and they were surprised I got a lot of positive feedback. After that I began to write my own songs. I received some negativity from people who knew me before and wanted to tell me what I could and could not do. That didn't stop me and it has not stopped me.

But back to Kanye lol, he was able to come from nothing and build an empire for himself. After he did the becoming a famous rapper thing, Mr. West went into the merchandise industry. They used his name on a lot of products, things like shoes and clothing. Now Kanye is designing his own clothes which are a little on the expensive side if you ask me, but hes making money.

I use Kanye West's story as a source of motivation for myself. I think that we should all have a little Kanye in us. His story makes me feel like you can do anything that you put your mind to. Of course talent has a major play, but also personality. The willingness to move forward and follow your dreams at all costs. Taking risks Kanye took a major risk when he dropped out of college he believed in himself, in his talent. I am not encouraging anyone to drop out of college but I am saying to believe in your dreams, believe in your talent.

"Fun Songs"

We are victims of our own culture. Most of the Hip-hop songs that come out talk about girls, drugs, cars and a lot of superficial stuff which is why people feel like they have to go out of their way to show off that they have, and sometimes pretend to have more than what they do. I think that we need to start looking beyond that, famous rappers are put into a position where they can speak to a generation and make an impact and I think that they should use it a little more effectively.

Some people do not know how to differentiate from reality and fantasy and that is when it becomes a problem. A lot of rappers talk about violence and things that are not really happening in their lives, that encourages young kids to go out and practice what they hear. There is no way to mediate who listens to what because although clean versions are made there is always that chance of someone playing something in the street and a kid might tune in. I think that as entertainers we should be mindful of the little ones who are listening who might not know that some of the things being said are just for entertainment purposes.

This is why the culture is so controversial, its really hard to tell when someone is being honest or just telling a story. Bobby Shmurda for example. He got famous off a song called "Hot N*gga" last summer which went viral. The song went into detail about his crews lifestyle. How they did not hesitate to shoot anyone, the drugs that they sold, and a lot of other personal things. It turned out that everything that Bobby rapped about was true and he actually was doing all of those things that he was rapping about. The police had been investigating and he and the GS9 crew are still in jail. Although the song was very catchy and made everyone dance the message that was sent out to was not one to follow. The police took the opportunity to make Bobby an example of him to show that they do not tolerate that type of behavior.

When I get the opportunity to be heard I am not saying I wont make fun songs because Hip-hop is all about expressing yourself and having fun. But I definitely think that I will be mindful of the things that I say because I know how influential words can be. Children who might not know the difference between entertainment and reality are listening, growing up with this. I think that this is something that we should all keep in mind, if you are interested in being an entertainer or involved in any type of influential position.

Chasing This Mythical Creature

We are all stuck in our heads

We want to be happy, but our happiness often revolves around the unhappiness of others

It is what we all long and search for 

We spend our entire lives searching for it, and sometimes we get a tease of what its supposed to be, when it sets on our shoulders

But then we move or someone makes a sudden movement and it flies away

So were back to chasing it 

We chase after it like children chasing an ice cream truck, in the hopes of being able to have it in our hands one more time

In the hopes of being able to feel it again 

And we are invested, so invested in catching up that we neglect to look around 

Neglect to realize that there are resources that others who are also chasing their own posses that can all come together to make a net to help us catch it together

But even then, sometimes when we finally catch up to it, and we hold it, we realize that it was not all that it was cracked up to be that the colors that we saw from a far were not as fluorescent as we thought they were. 
By, Franchesca Perez