WHERE ARE ALL THE FANS???
Written by Mutha F'er
The above question is what every local artist especially in hip hop should be asking themselves. Every local hip hop event I have attended in my adopted city of Charlotte NC has left me asking the same question: Where Are The Fans? It seems that every time I attended any of these events, the people in the audience are either other hip hop artists such as emcees, rappers, producers or DJ's. It's always an audience filled with people who are involved in hip hop in some way. When I ask myself, WHERE ARE THE FANS?!, I'm talking about the average person who doesn't rhyme, make beats, DJ's, owns a label or etc. I'm talking about the average person that has a 9 to 5 job that just enjoys hip hop music in general. I'm speaking about the person who has no desire to do anything hip hop related such as rhyming, making beats, DJing, etc. Whenever the FANS do attend, they usually come with the artist to be used as that particular artist's cheering section. When that artist has finished performing, the FANS usually walk out with the performer. For example if artist so and so is scheduled to perform third, their fan/fans will stay in the venue until artist so and so performs and after that, leave. So imagine if that artist is performing last, that artist will literally be performing for the people that came with him or her. What I notice is very FEW "real fans" in my adopted city of Charlotte, NC go out to these local events and support local hip hop.
So, each time I go out to one of these local events, there are a ton of artists, DJ's and producers with CDs in hand and other promotional items, all ready to get on stage and shout out their myspace, facebook and youtube pages to an audience filled with their peers (other artists) who really don't give a f--k because they're about to get on next and do the same exact thing! All of this makes it hard for artists to come up and sell their merchandise because in most cases local artists don't usually buy each others music. So as an artist at one of these local events, you are literally telling other artists "yo, GO purchase my CD. It's on itunes." AND VICE VERSA. wow!
In my opinion, the solution is for these local artists to try to open up for more established acts that come to town, such as Gucci Mane, Young Jeezy, Jay-Z or etc. These artists will attract the average 9 to 5 job working hip hop loving fan to come out to the event. As result, the local artist now has a legitimate crowd to perform in front of and sell merchandise to, but as long these local artists are at these local venues performing only in front of their peers (other local artists), they will not be able to build a legitimate fan base.
You don't go to Monday Night Mic Fights I can tell. A lot of fans come out. And oddly you will find a lot of female hip hop fans. All races ages. Just people who love the music. But then on the other hand it becomes over kill at a point! How many times a month can you really watch the same acts doing the same songs over and over again. The game have become watered down when it comes to people "doing shows"
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