@Judahonthebeats Choose Wisely Video

Monday, April 13, 2009

Guest Blogger....... Torkaveli

Real Talk with Torkaveli: Investing in Yourself vs Hustling Backwards


In my dealings with local unsigned artists, I see professionalism and dedication. I also see artists that are hopelessly in the red from spending money with no direction. Their reasons?

"You gotta spend money to make money"
"You have to invest in yourself"

Granted, those statements are true. But is there a certain point where spending money doesn't make sense? When is investing in yourself a potentially bad investment?

The answer to this question ultimately lies on you. What are you trying to accomplish from your potential expense?

Others around you will certainly give their advice, but it's not necessarily in your best interest or in line with your specific goals.  In many cases they may even be trying to benefit themselves with their "advice".

For example, it's a well known fact that you need to have a certain quality in your vocals and mix in order to be heard clearly. No matter what the quality is, someone will always tell you that your sound isn't up to par.

Does your sound really suck? It may. It depends on what your goal is. If you're doing an album, you may genuinely need to get it mastered correctly. But what if it's for a mixtape/other promotional venture? Then is it good enough? IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT YOUR GOAL IS.

Things like this should be considered whenever someone's trying to hit your pockets. You should determine whether spending will specifically benefit what you are trying to accomplish.

If you indiscriminately throw out money, there will always be people waiting to catch it. Use your head.

7 comments:

upset the setup said...

real talk.

L. Denise said...

"You have to invest in yourself"

I can DEFINATLY dig that!

KT said...

damn good read!!!!

J-$crilla of Guns-N-Butter/Inner Loop Records said...

this is good tork. but, for real- 2 things:

if u dont have a good engineer then yer shit is always gonna be subpar. for instance, if tabi's album "dope" was recorded and mixed in a basement studio with an amateur "engineer" then his shit would have been horribly recieved. just like if XO's last album was mixed/mastered at Chun King Studios then he would have prolly had Questlove and and the rest of the "stampers" stampin it heavy.

always put out the highest quality shit u can. if u cant afford an engineer who charges 250 a mix then maybe u gotta go with a cat that charges 50 a mix. theres cats out there that can do yer shit justice for 50 a mix but u gotta dig thru the bullshit. tell an engineer to mix 1 joint- if it sounds worthy then youll give him all yer business for said particular project. if it sucks then move on to the next one.,.,

Secondly, i agree with the whole concept u present, have a goal and budget yerself. give yerself a 6 month, 1 year and 5 year plan. meet the goals and dont go off on tangents doing other things that will water yer brand down or take u off yer path.

good read and those are my additional $.o2

DJ Torkaveli said...

^^^^^
Good stuff

Lala. said...

No bull...he was keeping it a 100.

Overok said...

Jeffrey, you are starting to sound like someone I know...I proud of you guys.

I'm shedding a tear at work.