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I connect a lot with Montrealers, Torontonians and Americans. It seems Montreal stands alone on one side of the playing field whereas Toronto and the United States have united determined to let music be heard and artists be respected. What's going on with Montreal?
I've spent years watching artists come in and fall back. I'm not even going to talk about talent or a lack thereof, I'm simply going to scratch at the surface and let you all think about it.
First, let me put all musical artists in the same pot: rappers, emcees (no matter what your subject matter or genre of hip-hop) and singers you're all in this together. Montreal is overflowing with talent but it's also overflowing with garbage - there I said it!
Not everyone can be a star; someone has to be shining the lights. Just because you can write, doesn't mean you can sing or rap. And just because your friend thinks he or she is talented, doesn't mean he or she really is. Oh! And just because you're "well-connected" it doesn't make you an artist manager or a record label (I'll talk about that another time).
Anyway, truth is we have a lot of noble attempts to put Montreal on the map but what we end up putting out there doesn't always reflect the truth. Our urban music scene (that includes pop) has so much to offer but shows so little. Seriously, put your personal differences aside and stop being "yes" men. If someone in your entourage has been "grinding" to put out their music for the past few years, be a real friend and tell them (nicely) that they're not going to make it. If you dislike someone who you know is talented, be a business person and reach out to them, even indirectly.
Make your money and build your career! Put your personal issues aside and get what's yours! You don't need to be hitched on to the person forever. Business 101: Dollar bills are all the same color no matter who's handed them to you or how you got them.
Key Advice: If you don't make it on TV or on the radio, PLACE your music. Build an alliance with a music publisher (look it up if you don't know what it is) and get on track to place your music on television, in commercials, in elevators, in movies, in video games. wherever! You don't have to be the face to your music. Make your money and build your career!!
Sincerely, KJ
P.S. I need to bring something to your attention. In a Q&A session on Morburn, local rapper Ceas Rock said the following "For us to have a scene that other cities will respect, we have to be responsible for filtering out the [BS].
That means, telling your boy he's not that nice instead of gassing him up. [.]
For the amount of money and support that is being pumped into WACK movements, we could already have had a core group of artists that could have crossed over into the mainstream, or at least established themselves as upcoming underground acts.
Instead, we have a bunch of scattered, disconnected artists who have to struggle to reach out to other groups and hoods in the city because so and so doesn't like him, or she [messes] with these guys, so she can't [mess] with them." Truer words could never be spoken and thank you Ceas Rock for not being afraid to say so.
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