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This is how I build with artists

artist development brand development Apr 02, 2024

listen to the podcast of this letter!


I have about 100,000,000 streams with just the music I've produced with other artists. 

half of what the DOPE label 🤝 focuses on is building a meaningful catalog of music that helps you earn residuals over time  💸

(producers need dope artists in order to do this). 

& I used to think you have to cold DM big artists and just hope for the best,

but all my 'big placements' started off as normal, everyday releases.

Utatakho was, essentially, one of those 'normal, everyday releases.'

But then we won song of the year 🏆.

There was also a super huge remix, we won a bunch more awards

(we're still winning them right now as we speak actually),

AND...

that's just one song.

I went on to produce many more than just that for Yanga.

That's how I learned that clout chasing 'bigger' artists simply won't work.

just as a numbers game, it's highly unlikely to succeed as a plan.

simply put, you missed that artist when they were coming up.

established artists ALWAYS have go-to producers and engineers they met ON THE COME UP.

This is the key 🔑,

because if you can understand it, than you'll understand why my new single 'UFO' w/ Deontá Genius is the start of something truly beautiful.

(go run that up btw!!)

even this link up is one that began genuinely, as I've known Deontá for over 5 years!

tomorrow I'll give you gems 💎 on how you can maintain long term relationships with artists,

but for now lemme give you a game plan on how to actually find and connect with them now.

1️⃣) peripheral connections.

this is basically the whole reason you should be in discord and in DOPE.

connecting with producers and working with them regularly is a good way to get access to artists you otherwise wouldn't be able to.

5ive from the discord has been working with me a lot lately,

as well as other DOPE homies, like Supahmahn:

and since he's in DOPE, he get's first dibs on playlist placement.

since he drops nothing but heat, all this has led to him 1) gaining over 100+ new monthly listeners,

and 2) being seen by more artists; many come to me asking about 5ive because he makes heat.

TL;DR - be like 5ive.

work hard w/ your homies, post consistently, reap the gains.

2️⃣) post good content.

all of my music with more established artists is because I post content;

  • DizzyEight - found me through a Travis scott type beat tutorial.
  • Khantrast - found me through the type beats on my channel. 
  • Moxas - found me through a peripheral connection I had with another producer, who I met only because I gain their followership through posting content (so I made a beneficial peripheral connection by posting content, and that led to a 'placement' - combining this step with the first one 🧠).
  • Yanga Cheif - again, type beats on my channel.

I could keep going, but I think you get it.

when they say the Internet is big,

they really mean it. 

just start posting homie - we do workshops monthly to help with content creation if you're interested 🤝.

3️⃣) bring something to the table (acquire motion)

this is just a combination of the first 2 above. 

we used to call it 'clout',

but 'motion' truly is a better word.

as producers, it's valuable to be able to make meaningful moves.

to be able to post content or music that people will actually care about.

you need an audience to do this.

not a big one, just one that cares about what you do. 

this is a bit of an abstract concept,

but I have a video essay on my channel that explains it well 🙏

so go here to peep that ASAP 💎.

Link w/ the homies, give OD amounts of good, high-quality value thought content, and build a meaningful reputation amongst people who enjoy what you do.

this is the key 🔑.

Blessings,

Chu

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