You've got lyrical style and flow and think you can make it as an MC.
But it takes loads of ambition and hard work to build up a large enough fan base and a solid reputation. If your goal is a record deal with a major label, you have to start on the street and work your way up.
Knowing the right ways to promote yourself, from cutting a mixtape to booking your first gig, can give you a big advantage. This is your guide to getting ahead.
Getting started
One of the first ways to build buzz is by freestyling on the street. Maniak Dre, aka Gary Andr? Watson, built up a bigger vocabulary and worked on his flow by facing other rappers on the street. Freestyling also helps you size up other MCs, he said.
"To me, the whole rap game is competition," Dre said. "If he's better than you, he's going to sell more albums than you; if he's better than you, he's going to get more people to shows than you."
In the past year or so, more and more MCs have started MySpace pages as a way to spread their music. Local promoters are now looking at MySpace pages to decide which rapper to book.
"I remember a year ago, most everybody that came in here didn't know how to use the Internet -- didn't know anything about it," said Amanda Beale, aka Amotion, who owns Deep Flow Studios in South Baltimore.
"Now, most everyone that comes in here has a MySpace page. It's definitely growing," she says.
Getting in with a group of other MCs can be a good or bad thing, depending on what kind of crew it is.
"If everybody's on the same page, there's always strength in numbers," said Steven Loney, aka Low Key. "If you do all the right things and everybody's on the same page, it's a beautiful thing."
Cutting a mixtape
Mixtapes are a cheap way to get your name out and show people what you can do lyrically. Usually, mixtape beats are sampled from hit songs and paired with fresh raps.
Some rappers prefer to make beats and record at home using computer programs such as Fruity Loops. But recording studios are still the main go-to for plenty of MCs.
A mixtape can cost $1,000-$2,000 if it's recorded in a studio. Pressing 1,000 copies of the mixtape will run you $800-$1,100, depending on how much money you want to spend on the layout.
Mixtapes have 20, sometimes even 30 tracks. To get that many, you should record 35 and cut a few, Amotion said. That way you wind up with your strongest tracks.
