State City Music Weekend...Hip Hop Summit. Dover, Delaware July 25th, 2010

Now I can hear you some of you 'sucking your teeth' already. A Hip Hop summit in DOVER, DELAWARE? Why? Well if you KNOW YOUR HIP HOP and you follow like that 'elitist' thought you just had in your mind, you will IMMEDIATELY recognize some of the names I am about to mention. If you don't recognize them (along with their pictures)or the companies they represent, then you might not know as much about the genre (or music because they are not just limited to hip hop) as you thought you did.







One of the panelist was Mr. Jayson Rodriguez. You may have seen him on MTV. Sucker Free. Micheal Jackson's FUNERAL. ALL OVER MTV. He is a Delaware native. Google him if you don't know who he is. Or start here..

http://thewarehous.blogspot.com/2009/12/twitter-person-of-week-pt2-j-rod.html
. I definitely wanted to come down to see what my boy Jayson was going to say. He even cleared up just exactly how MTV 'decides' who gets on. I will give you a hint. You have to pay your dues. It is very RARE for them to feature an artist without that. This doesn't mean that they are not WATCHING YOU THOUGH. So all of you artists out there keep doing your thing.






These three gentleman pictured above are DEFINITELY people to know. Richard Mahee (Stars Confidential), Brian Calhoun (VP of New Media & External Affairs for SoundExchange) and Rich Nichols (Manager of the Legendary Roots Crew). They spoke on a range of topics including, how to properly use the Internet as a medium, what your chances are of actually GETTING ON and how to get paid for your work among other things.





The event was hosted by none other than Grouchy Greg Watkins. Another Delaware native. I have known him for well over twenty years counting school. He DEFINITELY knows his stuff. He is one of the founding member of AllHipHop.com. He offered up PLENTY OF INSIGHT in regards to his own trials and tribulations.




Here are a couple of flicks from the day's events. It was definitely an informative panel that gave 'frank discussions' in regards to artist development, getting started in the business, success rates, business preparation and many more of the ins and outs of the music business from the artist's perspective.

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Shizz Nitty of OT Records to share the stage with VS. The Earth this summer...

Shoutout to Matty Gate$, the boys at OT Records, Carlos Stephens, Richard Victor Mahee and all of those helping this thing along. I am just passing it along to the good people 'tis all.

Shizz is set to hit the stage, along with, Ya Boy, who did the Los Angeles Championship Lakers theme song "We Run LA", Yung Texxxus and the Panjabi MC (Beware of the Boys ft. Jay-Z).

Better to be doing what you say than to talk about what you are going to be doing I always say. Or as Matty Gate$ and 'em so eloquently put it:

Business over sucker ish...Congrats homie.


You don't know who VS. The Earth is? Get familiar then. They are from Hagerstown, Maryland.


http://www.vtenews.com/



FULL ARTICLE HERE:

"Hollywood, CA (Billboard Publicity Wire) June 18, 2010 -- What happens when you are a local band who performs throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and you are more profitable than most major artists? Vs. You are called "Major". The band is doing nothing different than what marketing genius Gene Simmons would do. VTE created their own branded products and started promoting them at their own events. Soon they will license the brand to a series of lifestyle events. Four months ago Vs. The Earth had two hundred and fifty people show up the their Hot Topic in-store, before they even had a record deal. Now they are selling cds at every regional FYE chains everywhere they stop to perform a show. In February rock band Vs. The Earth signed a national distribution deal with WMG/E1 (www.triumphantpictures.com). This Saturday and Sunday Vs. The Earth will perform its last local show for its family and fans. "We contacted Richard Victor Mahee and asked air personality "Sway" to hang with fans and Living Colour to come play with Vs. The Earth, in our hometown (Hagerstown, MD) to kick off a great summer and college series of shows. We wanted to show our fans appreciation because we will not be back for almost one year". Over the summer VTE Clothing will also move into major retail chains across the country.

Generating cash flow positive earnings in 2009, Vs. The Earth decided to share some of their knowledge with other musicians and labels in markets where they perform. Over the next 60 days Vs. The Earth, who performed 320 shows in 2009, will also select proven regional artists such as Ya Boy, who did the Los Angeles Championship Lakers theme song "We Run LA". Ya Boy was just signed to Akon and Konvict Records, Shizz Nitty, "Sox in Da Air" and Yung Texxus will also be part of performances with Panjabi MC, but we will also hand pick artists and bands from Reverb Nation (www.reverbnation.com) to perform on local and regional shows. "Reverb Nation has over 700,000 musicians. It is easy for us to identify who is qualified very quickly because they provide a robust platform for networking and fan development. They will pick at least one regional band like they were three (3) years ago from each market to join their shows. The bands will be picked from a strict criteria based on available information from Reverb Nation profiles and RPKs. "We know what it is like to be a local band doing cover songs to pay rent band member's rent, but if these hand picked bands follow our lead, we have the experience and relationships to help them get to the next step," Craig Price, EVP, VTE Global.

Rock band Vs. The Earth, has also launched the brand VTE, which is not just music and tours, VTE has tied its lifestyle into beverage (energy drinks) and apparel branded VTE. First their music video, featured super model Mindy Hall from Brett Michael's television show, VH1 "Rock of Love". The Vs. The Earth video and music have been promoted through a series of commercials to millions of viewers during MTV and Fuse events like the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. In July VTE is performing at the filming of Will Castro's new SpikeTv show during the IMG Miami Swimsuit Fashion Week (www.mbfashionweek.com/miami/). Invited celebrity guests and participants are Ed Hardy, J, Kim Kardashian, Dwayne Wade. The event will reach media outlets worldwide, leveraging the VTE brand even more. "We reach media outlets and over a half million twitters on each client release. Working together with VTEnews.com and ReverbNation.com we will effectively promote music and the VTE Lifestyle Events events nationwide,' Says Richard Victor Mahee, Mahvrick/Stars Confidential.

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