Hittin' The Streets

3-20-25

I'm goin' digital. I'm online. I've been online. I just don't get into the same "social" bullshit. How is it social if everyone is behind a screen? You're probly alone when you're on social media. It's a joke. Buncha people following people to get more followers. It's all about how many people does he know? You can never be a leader being a follower.

I get on sites here and there to promote. I'd rather build my own site. If you wanna find my new songs, here's the place. Phil4Ril.com. How do I get people on here? Time to hit the streets. Most people know me from being out there. "Hey, you performed at .... that one time.", "Oh I have one of your CDs...", "I heard you on the radio before." "Are you Phil 4Ril, I like your music." Woah, people know me. The first time someone told me in person they listened to a CD of mine (an old, 2 song + 2 instrumental - 4 track total demo). I didn't really believe him.  It was new. I was used to having friends and family hear the songs, and go "ehhhh." or no response. That's even worse. Is it that bad? Now people are telling me they like it. So I wasn't crazy, I can do this.

Time to promote more. Passin' out and postin up flyers, passin out CDs and sellin them when I can (that's another topic I'm goin to hit for sure...) $75 from selling CDs just recently. Not bad. Not great. How much you making streaming? And I don't need to reach millions. Not even thousands. This is just goin out to the store, hittin up music events I already go to, and doin the usual. I wasn't really goin' out my way to sell them, just asking people when I'm out. The homie Dane even hit me up online and got 2 different ones and one for his friend.  and I went to drive an hour just to deliver them to him personally.

The few fans who really mess with your music are more important than hittin mass numbers. You still have to get out there. Most rappers tho are lost in the sauce. Online is oversaturated. Nobody has time to even watch your 10 sec. clip on instagram. They've been programmed to scroll and click and flip and go vid to vid. It's not a place for real content. Pictures maybe. I can put them on my site. I can add them, take them down, move them waaaay easier.

Go hit the streets. Print up some flyers, press u some CDs, go freestyle somewhere, go to an open mic, book a show, whatever you gotta do. Send songs to radio stations, although the chance they play it is low. Find community stations, college stations, internet radio stations, specifically with hip hop shows. Open mics mite seem like just free shows at first. They are a good place to get experience performing live in front of people. Imagine if your first show ever is the Superbowl (I doubt it, I know, just an example) and you've never done a live show before. The pressure, the nerves. If I mess up now at least its only 100 people and not 100 million. Sometimes its only 10 people. I still perform like its 1 million people. I'm trying to get better at this and its the only way. 

Open mics are also a good place to meet musicians who are in a similar area and space, even mentally. There are a lot of good talented artists that you can collab with. Many have day jobs and scheduling may be an issue, at least they aren't big headed superstars, yet.

Also, they're a good place to get fans and start sellin merch like CDs, promoting your real shows, and just gettin out there to be seen. When you do something later, they've already seen you, and the familiarity begins. Then its about consistency. Then you have to bring the quality. So with that being said, I'm about out. I have an open mic to go to tonite. And I need to print up some more CDs. Gotta go peace.