The Atlanta Pandora Takeover
Bruh! I made it! I got my own Pan-got-dam-dora station!
A few months back, I received an incredible email from a major streaming company by the name of Pandora, and they were informing me that my 5-song EP, Perception, was approved by their review team and was about to be added to their genome project.
After I received this email, silence, for the next 2 months. Until one day, I decided to reach out and test the waters of the unknown. I had never spoken with an actual person at Pandora before, I assumed there were robots just loading up songs. I asked them, "WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH MY SHIT?" the rachet side of my brain said that, in silence. I really just inquired with them to see how long would it take for my music to go live on their platform. To my surprise, I was greeted with a very nice email from a guy that wanted to know what distribution company I went through to get my music on Pandora, and before I could respond to his email one of my fans sent me a screenshot of this:
“Bruh! I made it! I got my own Pan-got-dam-dora station! ”
But, of course, I am never satisfied with just the minimums, I always want more out of a situation (Yea I am talking to you, labels). I knew that if it was that easy to connect with a person over email, it must be just as easy to connect with a rep in person. On my latest trip to Atlanta, I put my hypothesis to the test. I popped up at the Pandora's Atlanta Headquarters to connect, I didn't have a meeting set or anything. I just had my faith, my Pandora station and my crew for the day Tayy The Pro and Thank Aaron of HigerClass I knocked on their door and we were greeted by a IT looking dude, and he let us right in and introduced himself. As they say, the rest is history. See that history below:
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!
The struggle to keep grinding. (An Official A3C artist)
Guys, I have been on the go so much, I have not had the time to stop and be grateful for the successes and advances in my career. I have come such a long way on this journey, sometimes I take for granted how far I have actually come.
Guys, I have been on the go so much, I have not had the time to stop and be grateful for the successes and advances in my career. I have came such a long way on this journey, sometimes I take it for granted, because I am struggling to "Keep Grinding."
The other day, I had a conversation with my good friend and fellow artist, Alfred Banks. We were talking about how people always want to tell you to "keep grinding" after you have accomplished something great. This may not seem like a big deal, but to an indie artist or any entrepreneur I am telling you, it is! "Keep grinding" assumes that you are sitting at the top watching us climb up an never-ending ladder, "Keep grinding" says, this wasn't impressive, keep grinding says you need to do more (that maybe true, but unless you are helping, hersh!). As a person that has been grinding towards my dreams since I was 9 years old, trust me, you don't have to tell me to keep grinding. That's not motivational. Here's a better way to encourage us:
“Hey man, that is a huge thing you’ve accomplished there, looking forward to seeing more from you”
Dude, looks like all your hard work is paying off.
Congratulations!
I am proud of you.
”
I will keep grinding guys, but I also want to sit the fuck down and be thankful for things like this:
A3C has been my dream for at least the past 4 years, and NOW it is a reality. Thanks to my fans who know that I will always "keep grinding", I won this years first A3C fan-challenge . This will be an amazing journey. Stay tuned for what happens next in ATL.
More on A3C:
A3C Festival & Conference
October 5th - 9th, 2016 | Atlanta, GA
A3C [All 3 Coasts] Festival & Conference is the preeminent Hip-Hop event in the US, commonly referred to as, “Hip-Hop’s family reunion.”
Empowering, inspiring and educating those that shape Hip-Hop culture for 12 years.
““Luv to the team at A3C for givin artists a platform to be heard and build their craft!!”
”
“The festival offers something for every hip-hop fan, transcending generations and geography and welcoming both the trappers and the backpackers.”
“Top 12 ‘Must-Attend’ U.S. Music Festival”
Diddy, NPR and The Grammys think its a big deal, because they too, know the struggle to keep grinding. It's hard when you have dedicated your life to something and the only thing people see is a measly accolade, these moments mean way more than a Facebook post. They are a manifestation of the hard work already been put in.