Image Changes

I know I said that I'd post this last night, but I got wrapped up in following back everybody who has followed me on Soundcloud, which took some time. But anyways, here we are. I want to talk about something that has been generating some controversy and misunderstandings: my image as a recording artist.

Since I've restarted my push towards making it in the record industry, I've had people asking me what's up with the pimped out pictures and songs. Some have gone as far as to believe that I've turned to a life of crime. Whatever.

The truth is actually much more mundane than that. In the fall of 2010, creditors descended upon me as the last buffers I had against the recession were used up. Everything shut down overnight. I stopped in the middle of promoting a mixtape and didn't even log back in to any of my accounts. And that's how it was for 3 years.

Now, summer of 2013 rolls around and I decided to jump back in because the creditors have been paid off. When I started back up, all I had were what was left from the last time I was grinding. Most of the promo material had a pimpish/mackish theme to it despite the fact that the image was dated in 2010 and it was hella dated in 2013. But it was all I had.

Where most people would have been frozen with inaction until new promo material could be created, I charged forward with what I had. I began promoting the same mixtape that I left off with exactly as if I had hit a pause button for the past 3 years, same songs, pics, biographies and all. While it wasn't optimal, it was better than sitting at home doing nothing, waiting for the stars to align perfectly.

So, to answer the questions: No, I am not hanging out with strippers, dancers, adult models, or any other women with ties to the sex trade. That Godhand and what he stood for has been gone for many years. The infamous picture of the girl in a thong was taken over 6 years ago. I never dated or had any relations. It was a professional photo shoot with signed contracts, photocopied IDs, and the whole nine. It wasn't some trap house escorting gig that turned photo shoot when somebody pulled out a camera phone while shouting "Worldstar"!

So the feminist police can stop frothing at the mouth: I didn't coerce or take advantage of anybody to get any photos or voice samples. All women freely and gladly contributed their services in exchange for compensation that exceeded their goals. I didn't trick, con, or mislead anybody.

The songs that I led out with were also the same songs I had lying around. "Nod Ya Head Musick" was already released on a mixtape. My next release will be "Get Ya Where I Want Ya", a remastered version of a song that I used to perform every gig back in 2003, that will drop on a mixtape next month. After that, I will work on getting "Nights Over Egypt" sample-cleared by the summer. I decided on that song not because it's the least offensive song in my repertoire. I'm doing it because Eddie's song comment over of Soundcloud (yes, I read EVERY comment). If somebody really wants a song to be released, I'll usually make an effort to make their wish come true.

So where now? I'm going to continue transitioning into my new image. It won't be pimpish, but it won't be choir boy either. It will take awhile for me to get new publicity photos. If you're looking for me to not offend anybody and to please everybody don't hold your breath (especially if you are not from a demographic that even PURCHASES MUSIC). There are some people out here complaining about my stuff not being G-rated, but the hilarious thing is that these same people probably have not bought an album, single, or movie LEGITIMATELY from whoever made it in YEARS. If all you do is pirate bootleg media at the salon and complain that nobody is catering to your tastes, then cry me a river.

Also, folks shouldn't criticize aspiring recording artists for saying something, then act like the exact same thing is all cool when Jay-Z or Beyoncé or Rick Ross says much of the same thing and they let small children listen to Nicki Minaj. Let's stay consistent.

But the criticism is all a temporary thing. Because we all know what will happen if I make it....All those whose delicate sensibilities were so offended will be standing around holding champagne glasses, laughing, and acting like they were always on board from the jump...despite the lonely path behind me. 

Happy New Year, y'all!

Godhand Black

@Godhand502

Matrix Revolutions

Lately, I've been getting asked why I stay grinding so hard that I'm routinely functioning off two hours of sleep each night. Some wonder why I don't just take it easy for a second now that everything seems to be falling into place? The answer is that I don't relax because I've been here before. Several times.

For those unfamiliar, one of the movie of The Matrix trilogy was Matrix Revolutions: a film in which it's revealed that there were other Neos who had previously tried  to liberate everybody, but had failed. Similarly, I've been right at the threshold of making it several times before: the 2003/2004 campaign and the 2010 campaign are good examples.

In 2003/2004 I was on top of everything. I was an underground purist, so all my songs were either battle raps or party songs made for drunken crowds. I had a couple of weekly repeating gigs, I was running The LAN Collective website (which had over 20 million visits before closing), I had a cable access show in the Greater Louisville area, I had the "LAN All-Stars" album, the "Net Beef 2" album, "Astro Train" was on the Peak Summit Festival compilation CD and the Hope and Play movie soundtrack, "Fireflies in the Moonlight" was in rotation at WLBJ 1570am and had been glowingly reviewed by Louisville Music News, I had poetry being published, and a few independent labels were biting. So what happened? Why didn't I make it then?

The reason is that many things broke down all around the same time: my aging live sound rig was breaking down from all the shows, my computer's hard drive crashed and I lost the ability to edit my cable access show and thus my show, Benk lost his studio and his producer Lil' Jay left to go write songs in Atlanta, Dietrich started dating a chick (who's dead now) that disapproved of all his creative endeavors, Fry's living situation became sketchy when his chick kicked him out, I had a falling out with Peak Summit Festival, and The LAN was running out of competition from other crews and disintegrating into nothing. I went from having unstoppable momentum to being totally out the game.

Then I got back into the music and eventually in 2010, I was standing right on the edge again: "On Lock" was blowing up, "Drinks Up" was selected by FutureMusic magazine as a reader hot demo pick on their accompanying CD, I was #1 on the Myspace Unsigned Hip-Hop chart, "Nod Ya Head Musick" had just been selected to be on DJ RPM presents The Showcase 169 mixtape, and I had the owner of JT's asking me to host a weekly repeating gig, and a few major labels had A&Rs checking me out. So what went wrong? The answer is that the recession caught up with me. I had survived it up to that point, but in 2010 the debt collectors finally cornered me and I ended up having to put everything into clearing my debts. This effectively shut down activities at Chamber of Nights Records. Also, there were a few other factors such as Fella not signing a contract after we completed "On Lock" so the label interested in signing us moved on, not to mention Darryl disappearing in the middle of "Drinks Up", leaving me with an unclearable version of the song (once again, an interested label moved on), and MySpace had their falling out with ReverbNation which eliminated about 8,000 of my fans from being counted in the rankings. All this hit around the same time and I ended up drifting out of music.

Now it's 2013 and I'm once again in a good position. I'm not taking it easy because much like Matrix Revolutions, I've been here before and failed to make it. So I'm going to continue through all of the long nights with no sleep, all of the driving on empty, all the hard work, all the family members who disapprove of me being anything other than a passionless puppet, all the collaborators with cold feet, all the equipment failures, and all the smiling faces on Pleasure Island telling me to relax and sip the champaign like I already made.

I'm staying the course and not relenting one bit this time. It's grind time. All of my tomorrows start here.

It's been awhile...

Since the last time I posted, there was a wave of progress following the FutureMusic magazine coverage. Around that same time, I reached #1 on Myspace's Unsigned Hip-Hop Music Chart. As a result, collab requests poured in. I received more than I could handle. I started falling behind on response time.

I dropped "Nod Ya Head Musick", a track by Yung Miss featuring a verse by me, on Coast2Coast Mixtapes' DJ RPM Presents The Showcase Vol. 169. But just as I was about to fully promote it, the jaws of the recession finally closed in in me. I was able to forestall negative effects from the recession, but eventually it caught up. Almost all progress grounded to a halt gradually over the next year.

I performed a few shows at JT's Bar & Lounge with some other performers from Louisville. It has great promise but not everybody was serious so it didn't work. During the downtime, I did edit and mix songs that I had already started, but that was about it. I let my ReverbNation pages and all social networks go dark. I was off the radar. I even started rebranding my Youtube channel as a prepper/survivalist channel. But then I came back.

I hooked up everything in the studio that had fallen into disrepair. I updated all of the programs, drivers, and operating systems for my gear and software. I finished the mixes for several songs and developed a signature vocal effects setting. I upgraded several programs and pieces of gear. But there was one problem.

I didn't have any new material that was ready for release. All I had was a free mixtape that I only had an 8-bar verse on from 3 years ago and a subliminal motivation CD that I made. I charged forward as if the mixtape was new and the hottest thing around. I went from unranked locally on ReverbNation's Louisville Hip-Hop Chart to #1 on the Louisville Hip-Hop Local Chart, #1 on the Louisville All Genres Chart, #13 on the National Hip-Hop Chart, #15 on the Global Hip-Hop Chart,  and #116 on the Global All Genres Chart.

The mixtape has gone from just over 1,600 downloads to over 26,000 downloads in just a month of renewed efforts. I have greatly increased my online fan base. I also recently did a show a Highlands Taproom with Chuck Tone and Eddie & The F@ckmunkys. This is the last month that the building will be there. The venue is moving further down Bardstown Road. It was good to say goodby to the old venue with all it memories: jamming with Eddie & The F@ckmukys, DJ Dietrich, Catastrophe, The Event, BENK, and many others, hosting Tuesday nights with almost everything being improvised. Good times.

Right now I've finished and mastered an EDM (electronic dance music) track called "Don't Stop Now" ft/ Big Beat, which will be on Coast2Coast mixtape's EDM Vol. 7 mixtape. I have also finished  and mastered a nightcore remix for "Don't Stop Now". I have come to the conclusion that I will now make nightcore remixes for every song and eventually release a compilation of nightcore remixes. This is because nightcore mixes are very cheap to make and the target audience is fiercely loyal enough to offset their lack of market size. Nightcore YouTube clips enjoy insanely high 99%+ approval ratings.

I'm spreading my promotional efforts in a more global approach. I've found that some other countries are even more receptive to my music than my own. But that's enough for now. The grind still awaits.

Spending Spree

In the last few days, I've been on a spending spree. I've purchased a boom mic stand, a spider shock mount for my Oktava Mk-319, a pro audio surge protector, a sample CD, a pair of monitor headphones, and an address stamp for the record label. I'm working on a track that sounds like a No Limit throwback beat that I'm creating from the new sample CD I just purchased. I'm not even going to rap complex over it, I'm just going to ride the beat and have fun with it.

I'm now #19 on Reverb Nation's local Hip-Hop chart. Competition has become much more intense after I entered the Top 20. After two days stuck at #20, I had to readjust my promotion campaign to compensate. Now I'm rising again in ranking. I added the past shows from the fliers I recently found to my Reverb Nation page. I updated my current artist bio by integrating information from my old bio that I found along with the fliers and press clippings. I had forgotten about doing show production for Jars of Clay, Chris Rice, The Florida Mass Choir, Guardian, and Across The Sky (all of which are Christian/Gospel acts). I also got a couch from my day job that they were going to throw out and I'm in the process of cleaning it up before I drop it off at Daryl's studio.

I've been working on cleaning up the studio room in my condo. Its almost to the point of being functional once more. But the recent surge of activity that I've been on hasn't come without its drawbacks. I'm having trouble juggling my dating life with my business life. I operate on so little sleep that I require energy drinks, eye drops, and extra prep time before going out on dates just to appear alert and well-rested. Even then, I still find myself spacing out at times when my mind temporarily shuts down due to fatigue. But no pain, no gain....

Busy, busy....

I joined the Lexington Area Music Alliance the other day. I'm now at #21 on Reverb Nation's local Hip-hop chart. I've begun working with my boy Darryl, who I used to rap with back in the days. So far, its going great. He has as much drive as I do when it comes to making moves in the industry. Also, I don't think I've met anybody that has as much knowledge as he does about underground Hip-Hop. Normally, I stump people all the time when I mention underground rappers and their albums. But he was able to tell me things about most of the underground rappers in my iTunes library that I didn't even know about. He literally has as many albums on his hard drive as I did on my last 3 hard drives put together.

I've started cleaning up the junk room at my condo and reconverting it into a recording studio. I also just found a bunch of old resources in the attic at my parents' house including a Stanton turntable, a pair of noise canceling headphones, a small pair of monitor speakers, an electric typewriter, two CD labeling kits, a stack of solicitation postcards for submitting demos for magazine reviews, four CD racks, my old master tapes from back in high school, and a folder containing all of my old show fliers and press clippings. I spent the evening integrating the new stuff into my office/studio room. I also added the press clippings to my Reverb Nation profile.

On my way to my day job I got a call from a woman who was an extra in the Secretariat movie, asking me if I heard anything about a red carpet event here in Louisville. The only thing I was able to find was an advanced screening a week before the movie drops (but by no means the first screening, since several major cities have already had screenings) and next week there is an unveiling of an exhibit at the Kentucky Derby Museum that is in honor of the movie. Other than that, I couldn't find anything. Its kind of strange receiving cold calls ever since I got listed on the Kentucky Film Office directory. While at my day job, I ran into a beer rep and got his contact info so I can talk to him about getting some promo materials for the record label launch party.

I'm going to turn it in and get some sleep now. I have to record with Darryl tomorrow after I drop off my printer/copier/fax machine at the repair service. Peace.

A Dream Come True

Today was a great day. I received final confirmation that I've been selected to work on the movie "Daylight". I also received word that Future Music Magazine has selected "On Lock" as one of the 3 readers' demos selected for full feature review in the upcoming issue. This includes an article, picture, plugs for my webpages, and my song featured on the CD that accompanies the magazine. This is BIG. Future Music is to the United Kingdom and Spain what Recording Magazine and EQ Magazine are to the United States. A large amount of big time industry people are going to read about me, hear my music, and be provided with a way to contact me. My phone will start ringing much more than it already is real soon.

In other news, I advanced to #36 on Reverb Nation's local Hip-Hop chart. I listed Chamber of Night Records in the various phone book directories so it'll be listed when the new ones come out. I talked with Club Envy and Prime Lounge about hosting the record label launch party. I tweaked "Chromed Out Spinners" some more, adding reggaeton-style air horn sound effects at various points to hype it up a little more. I also submitted "On Lock" and "Nod Ya Head Musick" to The Magic Hour internet radio show (hosted by comedian Magic Jackson in Atlanta). Tomorrow, I'm going to the Lexington Area Music Alliance meeting and joining as an artist (I'll have Chamber of Night Records join as an organization later). I'll try to take it easy on the music tomorrow because I have to catch up on my reading for my upcoming test.

Tough weekend...

I had a tough weekend between my day job and entertainment industry work. I went to a film audition in Evansville, Indiana for a film called "Daylight". I'm going to be working as audio mixer and gaffer behind the camera and I'm going to compose music for various scenes and make a cameo appearance as an extra. After I got done with the audition, I went to downtown Evansville to see if I could find one of their entertainment newspapers to get a pulse on the city since the last time I was in Evansville, it was a performance at The Funny Bone about 5 years ago. Downtown Evansville was a ghost town on a Sunday. Nothing was open except for the casino. Not drug store, not restaurants, not bars, NOTHING. I know that the recession has hit Louisville badly, but Louisville's recession is NOTHING compared to what Evansville and its surrounding area have been going through.

I was eventually able to find a News 4 U magazine at the casino's hotel lobby. I'm going to launch an Evansville promo campaign for the label's music since I'll be up there repeatedly for the film. Also, I'm thinking about putting together a comedy show that I might want to bring into Evansville. The Funny Bone is gone, but there seems to be a Comedy Caravan up there. I drove back to Louisville, then went straight into the day job, functioning solely on caffeine and sugar. I got home and managed to do a minimal amount of online promotion before passing out from exhaustion.

Earlier this weekend, I made it into Reverb Nation's local Top 100 Hip-Hop chart on just the 6th day of having a profile on there. As of right now, I'm ranked #77 locally (and still climbing). My new goal is to make the local Top 20 in the next week. On Saturday, I attended the CD release party for Eddie & The F*ckMonkys, a band that I used to jam with back in the days at Highlands Tap Room in Louisville. It was great to see that they're still going strong after 10 years. I also ordered business cards and promotional refrigerator magnets for Chamber of Night Records. Today, I'm mostly going to catch up on my reading for this upcoming test. Tomorrow, my main focus will be securing a venue for the record label launch party so I can begin focusing on creating fliers and radio ads for the event. On Wednesday, I'm going to sit down with Fella and officially sign him to the label.