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2008 as told thru the eyes of our video camera, a year of significant progress:

We kicked off JANUARY of 2008 with “THE 3RD RAIL”, this video is of HANGAR 18 performing “Go Get That” before the crowd of several thousand that flocked to Mountain Creek:

In February we traveled to Austin, TX for some time at the South By Southwest Festival. We caught up with “Sway Desofo” in what was the 49th and second to last episode of “The Breakdown”

Next on St Patrick’s Day, we were able to gain successful inclusion of Clay Street into the ARTS and ENTERTAINMENT District of Clay Street in a last minute stand we swayed the County Council and walked with a 7-0 verdict (Timmy comes on second):

Moving into May we took it to the streets quite literally on Clay, setting off the “Clay Street Supper Club”

As we moved into the summer we really kicked open the brand new location of NY’s Finest Ice Cream and Italian Ice with a special visit from a Breakneck Road friend Travie McCoy:

As racial tensions started to flare on Clay Street we organized a panel discussion on race in Annapolis:

We thanked customers at the close of the Summer at NYs Finest:

While on a West Coast trip to raise money for “The 3rd Rail” we stopped in Salt Lake City to record a track with LAM and Pigeon John called “Fight to the Top” which finished the year at #11 in the US:

As we headed into the Fall we had to do stand against a newspaper that was using Clay Street as a dumping ground, the result was a fine, and a bill for removal of the papers…not to mention some bad publicity for the paper:

We finished the “Clay Street Supper Club” series with a special Halloween Night edition that was eerily forecasting of the days “Change Gonna Come”:

We sponsored the winning runner for “The Turkey Trot” on Thanksgiving:

In December, we headed back to Salt Lake for a great show and to record “There U Go” the second single, here is clip from Kevin’s verse on the upcoming release:

To finish out the year, we opened our newest piece of the NY’s Finest operation, Freshest Grinds, here’s our “Behind the Beans” exclusive:

Contrary to popular belief, 2008 was an incredible year.

Also to note:
-we raised over $5000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation upon completing the Mayor’s Midnight Run (marathon – that’s 26.2 miles…don’t forget that .2) in Anchorage, Alaska
-we oversaw the expansion of the “The 3rd Rail” to 3 events coming in 2009
-our brother Billy was married to his girlfriend Angela in a beautiful outdoor ceremony

Popularity: 100% [?]

Artist Powers: Shag you rotten baby

This one goes out to my man Sonny Brown, hardest working man in Bmore.

Artist Powers. Don’t sleep on it. The labels from the majors to the indies will have you believe that you need them to fulfill your goals. Everybody say BUUUULLLLSSSSHHHIIIITTTTT!!!!

Lets talk about the power you have as an artist. First, lets recognize that you are what’s called a “sphere of influence”. This means that those that hover around you whether they be your fans, your entourage, people who see you at shows, people who see you on myspace/facebook/elements are exposed to and impacted by your decisions whether it is wardrobe, opinion, car choice, basically…and please give me the license to use the most played out term in the music biz…your lifestyle. Remember terms are like gear when everybody is rockin it its played out, everybody is talking about “selling their lifestyle” but, no one really knows what it means, REALLY.

So, allow me to display if I may the way to get your brand in gear. Take a month and write down everywhere you go, what you buy, what you wear, what websites you visit, what you eat, what you drink…not what you wish you could eat/drink/wear, but what you honestly rock/do. You can’t sell Gucci on needing a new bag, when you don’t rock a Gucci bag already UNLESS you are rocking a China special from Patapsaco or North Point (and if you are holla I may have some better deals for you…haha) and your lifestyle truly has you among those that are rocking Gucci and they are rocking the real shit and you are faking it till you make it. ONLY then do you have a case, but showing up at the local club with 500 other fake it till you make it types does not get the job done.

Okay, that settled get your list together, and start to segment things. Example: how many days you rockin your fresh pair of dunks or how many times did you eat at 5 Guys (that’s the joint) or how many times did you hit up Starbucks for a chai tea or how many times did you hit up the cleaners to get your gear looking right for the weekend? Global to Local there is money everywhere, don’t get yourself completely trapped on the national brands. Next identify what was going on around you when you were engaged with these brands, were you on stage? Was your picture taken or video done and did it make its way to YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, Elements? What kind of comments did you receive? (Master your media, that’s another story for later) Were you at a party, who else was at that party and by who I don’t mean celebrity necessarily it always helps but, I mean who in terms of what did the crowd look like? Was it mixed race, what was the DJ spinning, what kind of venue was it in? Was it a “cool party”, big points come when you are embedded in the “cool”.

Now, once you assembled your list and detailed all the goods that were affiliated with that list you are ready to make the approach. Now focus on one brand that you know would make sense and put yourself in their shoes. Remember when you enter into a partnership with that company/store/whatever and they bless you with their hard earned cash or goods you have an obligation to represent. You cannot get arrested in your fresh new Dunks, bad move. Think like that business, what is affiliating with you going to do for their sales? Also, keep in mind if you are going after squeaky clean brands and you have a not so squeaky clean myspace page or website you will probably lose. Either clean yourself up or you are looking at the wrong partner.

Next page should be brief bio about you, highlight the big things you’ve done and the follow on media that resulted. Examples:

-Released album to a dress to impress crowd at Loft Party in the arts district, pics featured on myspace page and received 15 comments from attendees

-Opened up for Lupe Fiasco (GQ artist of the year) over 1000 in attendance, featured in local paper as result

-Blah Blah, Blah Blah

-More Blah Blah, Blah Blah

-Not more than 1 page of Blah Blah Blah though

Notice how I use the terms “dress to impress crowd” and mention the GQ thing with Lupe, remember if you are thinking in terms of getting dough or free cleaning from your Cleaners you need to be thinking like them. They are not going to be selling much to your dirty grime club goer, they need to see where the money can come from. Plus, since this is a local person, telling them you have 100,000 friends on myspace means nothing but, the 15 comments from party attendees tells this Cleaners that you are getting follow on from the locals that were at that show. Feel me?

Then you hit them with with what you are looking for and why…example:

Artist is proposing free cleaning for 6 months in exchange for a banner placed on artist website, a blog written on artist myspace page proclaiming the artist support that the Cleaner is extending (Cleaner contact info would be helpful), and a small coupon for an agreed upon amount between artist and cleaner to be placed on the next flyer that the artist is showcasing in the local area. Last, explain where and how the flyer would be distributed.

Finish the proposal off with a little bit of jazz, you are an artist after all, you want them to believe they are affiliating with a “sphere of influence” and they want to know you are on the inside, giving them a white piece of paper will invoke no emotion.

The very last page should have your contact information.

…………………………

Popularity: 85% [?]