Getting on the Vine
Listen up! – how to get your face and story here
By Chris King
Of the St. Louis American
The phone has been ringing more and more here at the paper, with the same question: “How can I get on the Hip-Hop Grapevine.” I’m a musician and producer myself, so I always take the call and school the caller. But maybe putting it in print for all to read will save me some time down the road.
It all starts with the music. The first thing you need to do is send us your music. I get brothers asking me for the paper’s address. I give it to them – 4242 Lindell, ZIP 63108 – but when I have a second to explain myself I tell them they are being unprofessional. If you want to be in this game, you have to know how to promote yourself, and you should know that every publication lists its address in or near what is called a Staff Box. Look for it. Ours is on the Editorial page (A4), which is pretty typical.
Then dude asks, “Who do I address it to?” Damn, brother, you called me, didn’t you? Address it to me! But, if you read that Staff Box, you will see the Entertainment Editor listed as Bill Beene. Address one to him, too. You have to scatter a lot of promotional seeds to sew any media coverage. Anybody who works for a media outlet, hook them up and hope.
Even after I tell brothers (they are usually brothers – are you female rappers not grinding as hard as you could be?) that it starts with the music, they still say, “When can we set up an interview?”
So, I say again, “Send me your music. If I like it, I might call you.” Or I might not call you. I might just write about the music and leave you out of it.
Here is the deal. Lazy journalists, and critics who don’t trust their own judgment, simply do an interview with an artist and type it up. It is good, sometimes, to know an artist’s story – if they have a story – but for me it all starts with the art itself. In the case of hip-hop, that means with the music. Send me your music.
And, please, not a single. I have written about one and only one person on the strength of a single. Her name is Ebony Eyez and her single is “In Ya Face.” You make a single like that, you are instant entertainment news. But, in almost every case, talent and commitment are expressed only over the long haul. Send me and Beene a full-length CD. Send us a gang of CDs. Show us where you are with your music – in detail.
Guess what? We also want to know the names of your songs, of your featured artists, of your producers, of everybody connected with your game. I am not saying you need to get a professional CD manufacturing job. A homeburn is all right by me. But put all your dang information there in one place, in legible form.
Don’t make me track you down to get the information I need. I’ll almost never do it. I called B-Tight, a local dude who has a spot on the Vine saved for him. But naked CDs usually end up in the trash.
Let’s keep thinking this thing through. When you see stories in the paper, they always come with a photograph, sometimes with an illustration by my man Kevin Belford. Let me tell you a secret. I got one staff photographer, and I have to pay Belford by the piece.
What am I telling you? Get a decent photograph of yourself made, and include it with your CD. The real hard grinder will do that – and email me a scan of your photo to cking@stlamerican.com.
Doing all this will not guarantee you a spot on the Vine. The only guaranteed space is paid space. You want something about yourself in the paper the way you want it, then buy an ad (but not from me; look at the Staff Box for Advertising). If you want a journalist’s judgment on what you do, send it to me.
You hear me? Good. Now keep grinding. It’s a hard game, but the world needs music. Keep making the music. But get an education and fashion a parachute for yourself, a way to touch down in the real world. Because almost nobody gets paid in this game.
Speaking of getting paid, hold onto your money. I know some deejays who will take it, but not me.
