WAR ROOM: Getting Started

First thing you need to do is get the following in order:

1. Notebook

2. Pen

3. PC, MAC, or Laptop with Internet access

4. A BUSINESS-oriented email account (not suckadick@yahoo.com)

5. An hour or two per night

6. A calendar

7. DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You probably have all of these things, right?

Remember, touring isn't easy for rock bands, so expect it to be at least twice as hard for a hip hop act.

So the plan is, "we go on a local or statewide tour" This is the first type of tour you will execute; easy for a rapper from New York, but harder for a rapper from Wyoming, and that is the way it is.

Not that Wyoming doesn't produce sick rappers, I don't know any rappers from Wyoming, but I won't put it past them to have an elite ripper or two in that state.

If you've got some real good friends, you can ask them to help be your committee.

**Clarification Note***DO NOT PUT YOUR CAREER IN SOMEBODY ELSE'S HANDS! You still need to have total confidence in your future, enough that you want your own influence on it. You can get a TRUSTWORTHY and psyched friend or family member to help you plan and communicate with the world. They probably want to help anyway, right?

You should still plan this by yourself, at least the first time, so you know what goes into it, and if you ever enlist the services of another, you know what to expect from deadlines to cost.

So, in a local draft of a plan you want to open up GoogleMaps which we will use forever and again.

Then add a tab to this window. Go to Google (they're just the best, period) Zoom in to your state, find a circular route beginning and ending in your hometown.

You know your state, you know where the universities and the party cities are. Write down every town you want to visit in the same order of your tour. Something to help with that, would be to calculate the distances and driving times between each city.

You should be able to input the zip codes if you looked up the city zip codes for your targets on the Googlemap interface. Open a calendar, and find your dates and make sure they coincide with your driving times and distances.

A 10 city tour should last 2 weeks.

It won't be like you'll be writing any of those directions, you won't even have to print them out; you can if you want to and I'm sure it will help a bit to have it in front of you; However, it doesn't have the venues addresses, and you will want them to make a printout of your final plan-in-action file.

Oh yes, you will have a file for this.

It can create a lot of paperwork, which is why you should normally wait to have all of your tour information and confirmation emails on paper. And work off of your computer.

Once you can see what type of tour you'll be doing it looks like, "this isn't so hard" but we know better than to underestimate this process...

A poorly planned tour can drain your finances, effect your employment, and you could end up burning bridges with venues with a display of your poor planning which just appears as bad event management, regardless of your intentions.

But now you have an idea about what kind of tour is being created in your first steps.

BUILDING CONCENSUS I: Securing The Venue

You will be executing Part 1 and Part 2 of BUILDING CONSENSUS simultaneously.

College towns are the way to go. Especially if you can book your show for a Thursday night in these towns (most college kids have Friday off, or a late class, if that.) So a lot of venues have that night for a "college night" anyway. In your bigger cities, if you can link up with a great act, you want a weekday, Tues or Wed depending.

Try not to book on Sundays or Mondays, unless that is all the venue will give you. If you cannot give the venue a strong lineup with artists they may be familiar with (which is why you looked up the shows for each artist) They WILL most certainly not give you a weekend. Plus, most of these venue owners have a problem with hip hop, and "the kind of crowd it brings" So not having it on a Friday or Saturday night, helps you to put them at ease about it.

Let's face it, (now I'm going to go there) Hip Hop gets a bad rep from people who say they are serious about performing, but invite people who are looking for trouble, or they themselves are troublesome, ie; smoking weed in the venue, fighting, not buying drinks at the bar, bringing their own drinks to the bar, not tipping, etc...

You have to be very careful that you don't give yourself a bad name by not respecting a venue, which is the biggest reason they have reservations about booking hip hop acts in the first place.

It is this reason mainly that I created this blueprint, as a hip hop artist, you have too many tangibles that could hold you back from being successful at touring. And unless we identify these intangibles, we can't make moves. The more you understand, the better you can plan.

When you search for venues anywhere, you must use a filter like "hip hop/rap" to search for venues, the ones that show up don't quite "as-a-matter-of-fact" accept hip hop submissions, and there are some of course who want nothing to do with hip hop or rap. Metal is another one of those red-headed stepchildren that gets no respect. (Shout-out to the ginger kids)

Look for venues that are currently booked with hip hop acts and contact them.

If you're a RAPVeterans® NATIONAL Member, you will be invited to watch a live stream where I call venues on a circuit to make sure they will book hip hop acts. I don't care what it says on their profile, "any genre" don't mean a damn thing.

You need to make sure your spelling is pristine and that you should always communicate as a "representative" of the act. Don't say, "I'm a rapper, and I want to book a show", talk a bit about the date you have in mind (it should be so far away (month-s), the venue will most times have it open; Unless they are a national touring spot. Then who knows?)

Venues don't really care about your submission, they would rather meet you so whenever you find their booking email, you can send them your press-kit, wait 1 week, and then give them a call.

Be nice and professional, they might not even had a chance to look at your press-kit, and if you behave as though they slighted you, they will show you what that slight really could be...

You see, most venues usually have a SIN (Service Industry Night) and this is where venues offer drink or food specials to employees of other venues, just so you know, they talk and if you have made an impossibly irreversible impression, you can bet this is where, "you'll never work in this town again!" Can be true to the bone.

I got my first job by calling and showing up to the place EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR A WEEK, I'm not kidding you. They weren't even hiring, but I showed my earnestness and commitment to the objective; they appreciated that and hired me the next week. I loved that job.

So don't be afraid to call, the absolute worst thing they can say to you is they "don't want no nigger music here!"

That is an obvious worst thing, but even if that's what they want to say, they won't say it like that. So, "no" will be the worst (usually) that you will hear. Because of this, you need to compile a list of every venue willing to work in hip hop, that's all. Some cities have more than others, your job is to make one of those venues commit to a date.

If they'll listen, tell them your plan, which should include a roster or lineup, your touring dates, your promotional plan, etc... Most venue owners just want a professional act. If they don't have time, ask if you can send them your press-kit. You can send it blind, but if you ask, at least when they see your email, they know it was from the guy they talked to and they're more likely to check you out. Here is where you have your information. Like a business plan, but one for you to get them to agree to secure your tour date.

You might have already sent the press-kit... Send that shit again if they say yes.

They, like you and I, are tired of live music acts from all genres who plan poorly and suck. But then they blame the venue for not doing more.

BUILDING CONCENSUS II: Committed Acts

Alright, you have what you need; Drive, ambition, supplies, etc.. Now you're going to use these things. You want to plan your tour at least 5-6 months in advance. You will need to do this because getting in touch and getting commitments from other artists is hectic. You plan your lineup, and then one or two of the acts fall out. THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS.

You will not end this tour without a "last minute" cancellation from somebody you have spent months communicating with, and they always want to wait until the day of the show to do it. ALWAYS!!! WHY??? People have their reasons, I guess. So, you will compile a list of ten acts you want to perform with for any particular town.

You want to have 4-5 acts on the bill, unless you are performing with a local live band then go 3-4 acts. I like to go to a couple different sites for this, one is the powerhouse: ReverbNation

I know folks like to use soundcloud, but communication sucks there... Another is Facebook hip hop networking groups, most states have these groups, some are official and some are started by a guy and he doesn't have many friends.

It is important to remember that most venues want you to link up with an established local act, so that it's not a waste of their time to book you, so finding the best acts with the best draws is imperative, or at least ideal. Finding those acts you will be most compatible and be the most successful with is tricky.

Sure you could message the top 10 artists on reverbnation charts for any city. But keep in mind that since hip hop act doesn't get to go perform live shows as much as a rock band, they rely heavily on the online path to greatness.

So just because an artist is number one online doesn't mean that it adds worth to their stock in real life.

Many bands I know have one song put online, they have 200 fans, but they're touring in Germany and making some decent livings, mostly because they focus on the real world aspect of their careers. And the opportunities have been cemented in that genre, most genres... Except Hip Hop/Rap You can get those opportunities too, it just takes a little time and a lot of diligence. When looking for these bands look to see who is doing shows and look around their profile for pictures of their shows.

Ask yourself this: 1. Are there a lot of people in this show? 2. What did the stage look like? 3. What did the crowd look like? 4. Do they have a facebook link back to their profile or band page? If they do, use it. They will respond quicker than on reverbnation. Bandlab is another good site to start communication with artists.

Something else to remember, you should personally dig their music, but if you can't, and they are still a hard-worker for their craft, swallow your pride and work with them. Like I said, if you have looked for the right artists to link up with, they are not checking their online stuff as much as the other guy you didn't pick.

So hit them up on facebook and find out if they want to speak further on the issue of booking the date in their city with you. You have to make sure also that this act is a working act, they don't sit around and record music and post it online, that is NOT a career in music. That is a hobby.

It will be harder to find a healthy number of acts in really small towns or largely underpopulated states like Wyoming for instance (much love to you all out there, still). Once you know who will be on your super, prestigious, exclusive list. Now get them all the same message and wait for them to get back with you.

One week is long enough, before you should move on to other options, like the guys you didn't pick (hey, no one said it will be perfect)

Whoever commits to this project, get a picture of them from their profile (preferably in a performance or promotional setting) and place it in a new folder for your promo pics. Or ask them, they may have an image they like to use.

But again, no matter WHO drags their feet, you are ultimately responsible for YOUR tour. Got it?