Building and maintaining relationships in the music community is imperative to an artist creating early on in their career and connecting with others is easier than ever with the new modes of communication in today’s advanced technological society. A producer can collaborate with local artists in real-time while earning through the sale of their services. Whether it’s purchasing beats online, or meeting up with the creator to start from scratch and work to find new unique sounds, collaboration has never been more accessible to the average artist.
There isn’t a specific path to greatness, but both beats sales and service sales can determine the quality of music and relationships made throughout the creation process. Today artists can create music through many different means, the “start where you are with what you have” mindset has allowed producers, audio engineers, and vocalists to create unique music that they have complete control over. Sometimes a vocalist only has the means to purchase a 3-for-1 beat sale and record, mix, and master all of it from their bedroom, yet they end up dropping music online that garners millions of views and streams.
Making music through a collaborative process allows artists to improve their work, create real lasting relationships, and invest their efforts into each others success. In a 2019 Revolt interview with J. Cole, the rap legend addresses his thoughts about the “no feature” stigma: “I’m starting to realize like, oh s — t — let’s say I stopped this year. I would feel like I missed out on certain experiences, you know? Working with certain artists, being more collaborative, making more friends out of peers, making certain memories that I feel like if I don’t, I’m gonna regret it one day.” Even someone who can drop a double platinum album without any featured artists recognizes the importance of collaborating.
The most extreme example of this is the relationship between Kanye West and Jay-Z. When they made Watch The Throne, each artists’ fans were united to embrace two of hip-hop’s best on the same epic scale. In an interview for Complex, Jay-Z said that they “often recorded in hotel rooms” and that the album “went through three iterations,” as he and West had scaled back from their original musical direction. This collaborative effort allowed Kanye and Hov to bounce new ideas off each other and create the right project. That album was nominated for the Best Rap Album Grammy in 2012, only losing out to Drakes’ iconic Take Care an album where Drake and Toronto producer, 40, collaborated heavily on.
Creating together takes a certain amount of vulnerability, but if the artist stays open-minded to praise and feedback from others they have the chance to make their art better. Artists working with producers’ beats should be readily open to feedback in order to release the best content possible. In short, being involved in someone’s art is a reflection of the artists’ talent and abilities, which motivates each party to give their best and show out.
All of this begs the question: how can the average creator find people to collaborate with? One of the more modern processes is through network applications like Uwavee. The app allows artists to create a profile showcasing examples of their work to others, and sell their services for collaboration. Uwavee provides a platform for creators to find the assistance and services needed to complete their projects, earn through collaboration and pursue a career in music. By networking through the app, once the finished product is released then fans of who you partner with will be drawn to your content, and vice versa. Artists’ early on in their career have to go out and get it any way they can, but Uwavee allows that same person to make a living, create great music, and build a stable base of fans and peers in the music industry that will help promote their content and reach their goals.
Source
J. Cole admits he ‘s embarrassed by the “no features” meme — GQ
Kanye West and how he affected Watch The Throne — Complex Music
