Features

Many jokes, memes, and arguments have been made following "The Slap heard around the world." While some disagree with Will Smith's actions at the 94th annual Academy Awards, many in the culture applauded his decision to walk on stage and "slap the shit" out of Chris Rock.

Rock's fans quickly took to the internet to support the comedian, pointing out he was simply making a joke. "Whether you found it funny or not, he's an artist on stage doing his job, and Smith was 100% out of line."

A couple years back, I ended up sitting next to someone from Spotify on a flight to Austin for SxSW. I had no idea who she was at the time but decided to pick her brain for an article I was working on. Ironically, the article was about the possibility of streaming services replacing major labels. As we discussed the huge door that streaming services opened for independents, she made a statement that I totally agreed with but still found completely unnerving.

With her latest single, "Marriott", impacting radio across the country, Lyrica Anderson, sat down with Kelby Cannick, the pubisher of Makin' It Magazine, to discuss her latest project "Bad Hair Day" and share details about her journey through the industry.

What's discussed in this interview:

Kelby Cannick, publisher of Makin' It Magazine, sits down with King Carter, manager to 2x Grammy Nominee DaBaby, to discuss the music industry and his latest venture, Social Currency Enterprises. 

Brooklyn, NY rapper and singer, Tamara Bubble, isn’t your average indie artist. In a music industry filled with artists, Bubble stands out through her style, sound, and business mindset.

In the music industry the job title, A&R manager, is deemed to be one of the most important job titles to a music artist in the industry alone. There was once a time where an artist had to know someone who knew someone else in order to get in front of the best A&R managers. Take Woobi, A&R manager for Alamo and Sony Records, for instance, who is considered to be one of the best in his generation.

NOBODY gets in XXL Magazine for free. EVERYONE PAYS! Whether it’s paying direct through advertising or paying indirectly through tens of thousands of dollars on PR, Marketing, Promotion, etc, it costs money!

The chances of you as an independent with only a few hundred followers on IG getting featured in XXL Magazine are practically ZERO!

I recall being criticized for referring to Future as the “soul of Atlanta music”. Maybe I was premature in my assertion, but that same statement today would hardly raise an eyebrow. I can clearly remember my first time meeting Future at the Def Jam office in Atlanta, and not too long after, spending an evening in the back of Magic City for the Dirty Sprite listening party. Atlanta was buzzing; but I was still on the fence. Having seen so many independent artists come and go, there was a clear pattern of their buzz lasting only as long as their budgets. “Racks” was an undeniable record, but it was YC’s record. When “Tony Montana” dropped, it was inescapable. Even Drake jumped on the wave.

While explaining to an artist’s manager the benefit of spending nearly $1,000 to register for the Revolt Music Conference, I realized something. I sounded a lot like the many people who’ve tried to convert me to using Apple products over the years.  As I described hearing Puff speak about attending his first concert and the moment he knew he wanted to get into the entertainment industry, I couldn’t help but visualize Steve Jobs speaking to a room full of Apple acolytes at the very first World Wide Developers Conference. In that instance, I thought to myself , “Is Diddy Hip Hop’s Steve Jobs?” While this may seem like a leap for most, being both a fan of hip hop and avid nerd, stacking these two side by side offers some interesting parallels.