exclusivemag.net - How To Play the Pimp, not the Prostitute

It has always blown me away when people get all up in arms about the description of our beloved industry as a game of pimps and hoes. When they do, I always assume the problem is one of three things: 1)- I'm dealing with some kind of lame who's not quite aware of how the world's oldest profession works. 2)- The person taking offense is one of these insane asylum escapees who don't deal with reality (To paraphrase Robert Ringer's definition: Reality is not how you WISH it was and reality is not how OUGHT to be, reality is how it IS) or lastly, 3)- The person I'm talking to IS a pimp.

If you're one of the many in either category 1 or 2, I've got two words for ya homie: WAKE UP! When it comes to this unconventional, but still ultra-real race called the music biz, getting to the cheese in the middle of the maze just may depend on how clearly you can see the situation for what it is. With that said, when it comes to the music industry, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better metaphor than the seedy world of the hooker and her (or his- hahaha) protector/room&board/bank. Assuming you deal with reality, looking at it with this point of view just might also provide you the keys you need to beat the system.

One of the main things pimps live by as they collect "workers" for their stable is that hoes do the choosing. In other words, the pimp doesn't pick the worker; the ho picks the pimp. In the old days, when a woman was seen out without a man and she was dressed up to a certain level, the old-school players would even say, "She got on her choosing shoes." I bet you can already dig the main reason pimps live by a code like this; it has nothing to do with them being gentlemen either. The main reason is if the worker really, really doesn't wanna be there, they haven't somehow brainwashed themselves into thoroughly believing this situation is the best they can do for themselves, it'd be pretty hard to keep them around when the pimpin start going down. In other words, like every other rap song says, "You gots to let a hoe be a hoe."

"Yeah Haziq, I can hear what y'all sayin, but how, in the world of music business, do you make sure you the predator and not the prey?" Well, ladies and G's, instead of you "choosing" a label because you THEIR flashy cars, big hats, and nice jewelry (I know some of y'all be on ya knees beggin TI when you see him in the mall; don't front for me hahaha) you should be layin YOUR game down so hard the label "chooses" YOU. You say you wanna be a pimp, not a ho? Here's how, I call it the 3 P's…

1) PRODUCT-
"You're only a customer…when you come into the presence of hustlas..."Big Daddy Kane It all starts here baby. You can't make a customer out of nobody if you got nothing to sell. What's the lane you're carving out? Remember wrestling? Well think of this game as WWF- (complete with fake "beef," but that's another column) if they already got a Hulk Hogan, they don't need two; maybe you need to be an Iron Sheik! Always remember it's way better to be the inventor of a category than the best" at it. We'll talk about creating a brand later, but the bottom line is you want to be yourself.

Boost up the parts of yourself that are most unique, keeping in mind that if you speak from your soul you GUARANTEED to touch someone else’s. It’s the beauty of being real. Don’t let yourself get scared into thinking nobody’s gonna want to buy the weird stuff you wanna create neither. I promise dog, you can decide you wanna sell songs about horses makin’ babies with monkeys and if you feel it enough, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WILL BUY IT! Of course you can also choose to be a rest haven for hoes and let all your ‘workers’ sit on the hard drive in the studio- or even worse, you could take all the songs u spent all this time and money on & just let the next man have em all for free! But if that’s how you choose to do it just know- they got a word for that type behavior- but it aint pimp...

2) PRESENCE-
“If ya don’t know, now ya know nixxa…”-Biggie Smalls

Presence refers to owning small (or large) slivers of space in someone’s mind. Does your market know you exist? Do they know you have product for sale? Do they respect you? In other types of businesses this seems like common sense, but so often in our industry you see examples of acts who take their music and either never press up CD’s in any serious fashion (we call those studio rats), or they take the cd’s’ and give them away to OTHER ARTISTS (we call them idiots). Open Mics are NOT your market unless you are referring to the rare type of open mics that also involve something like comedy, spoken word or a live band, and therefore attracts ‘patrons of the arts’- that is, people who come out specifically for something a little different than what they normally get exposed to on the radio or on tv. Open Mics in general though are for two things: practice and networking. They may also get u some peer-to-peer respect but how often do you want these starving artist losers to remain your peers? Break your record and stop begging dog.

True presence has to do with performing where the streets can get to know you. Radio is a great tool but remember the food chain goes- Strip Club, THEN Regular Club THEN Radio. If you’ve ever been in a club when a song came on that you’d never heard before and seen a whole section of the crowd go nuts- you’ve already know. The folk you saw and heard going crazy were “the streets”! Those are folk who listen to mixCD’s- those the ones who be in strip clubs, etc. Why’s the strip club first? It’s the only place a dj can play a brand-new record at 1am and not mess up the dance floor!!! This gets people familiar with your song so when the DJ in club112 hears that reaction he says to himself “Aaaaayyy, I better play this on my radio show before the next dude does so I can claim I broke this first…” Simple, right? Last thing I’ll add about mixCD’s and achieving market presence is that the 50cent method is DEAD! Too many people make mixCD’s now. U ever heard a mixCD from Rich Boy? Rick Ross? If you did and u aint in their hometown, I guarantee it was AFTER u heard their single. The only way to use mixtapes in 2007 is to mix your records in with the hottest records of the moment so the girl at the mall or the hair salon will buy it for the new Beyonce’ single- and hear yours by accident….You now have some PRESENCE in her mind (if you have good product…).

In other words, you gotta put ya ‘worker’ (song) out there on the track (in the clubs)… nobody gon’ knock on ya door (studio) lookin’ for hoes (lookin’ to give u a record deal)…. pimp

3) PEOPLE POWER-

“They say that no man’s an island….So where do I stand?...”-Freekman We’ve all heard the saying “If you hang with 9 broke friends, you’re bound to be the tenth”. Well there are few places where it’s as true as in the music industry. It takes a team to be a king. Period. And while it’s definitely true that money helps, please believe records are played, opening concert slots are given, videos are shot, and songs are written and/or produced everyday just because the person in power likes the person in need. One of your main priorities should be getting around folk in power- buthow do you become someone worthy of a favor? Since you purchased this publication, Im going to give you the 5 magic words that will get you assistance from anyone under the sun you need or want help from. Ready? Here they go: “HOW-CAN-I-HELP-YOU?”

The 48 Laws of Power (Robert Greene) says u never appeal to mercy (please help me!) or even gratitude (remember when I did that one thing for you?) –you only appeal to a person’s self-interest (here’s what’s in it for you if u do this for me). That really says it all, but the only thing I’d add is always dig the well before you thirsty. You’re just like everybody else if you come to the DJ when you have your mixed, mastered, packaged product in yr hand when you come and try to buy him a drink- BUT what if you go to your favorite DJ now and tell ‘em he’s your favorite? Everybody love compliments, and the bottom line is we like people who make us feel good about ourselves! Strategize your goals, figure out the team that can get u there easiest and then start figuring out how YOU can help THEM! After all, what do u call a pimp who don’t provide service? Broke!

Everyday Im Hustlin’ Haziq Ali Send all feedback, comments & questions to Haziq@Don’tBeAstarvingArtist.com

PS. If these 3 p’s don’t get you there, the there’s always the 4th P- Persistence! (AKA The 5th P you should never be… P---y)

Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.