Instrumental Intel - Ep 12 Embracing Independence and Authenticity in Music with Admiral (7-20-24)

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Achickwitbeatz presents ⁠the Instrumental Intel podcast⁠, bringing you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news & tips, insights & interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm EST on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠.
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Instrumental Intel Podcast

Achickwitbeatz brings you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news, insights, interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm ET on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio,⁠⁠⁠ Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠, and your favorite podcast platform.

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Transcript Generated by Riverside

00:00

Hey, thank you so much for tuning in to Instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer Achickwitbeatz, and I'm excited to bring today's show to you. I've got some music industry news. Been a lot of things going on, and so I'll give you the highlights of what's been happening over the week.

00:16

Of course, I've got beats that I've produced to share with you and my special guest, Admiral, who's joining me later. We're going to chat a bit about embracing independence and authenticity in music and so much more. So make sure that you keep it locked. But before I press that button to get us started, I got to give a super shout out to my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Been rocking with me for a long time. Definitely appreciate it. And without any further ado, let's go!

09:13

Hey, this is music producer Achickwitbeatz, and you're listening to my podcast, Instrumental Intel.

11:55

Alright, I'm back with the Music Biz Brief for this week. It's been a lot of things happening. So here are some of the highlights. First off, Luminate's newly released 2024 mid-year music report reveals some key trends in the music industry, focusing on distribution of streams across different artists' tiers and the growing quote unquote middle-class of artists. So the report shows that 29,253 artists achieved one to 10 million streams in the first half of the year,

12:25

percent from last year while 5,222 artists had 10 to 50 million streams which was up 5.4 percent from the previous year. Many of these artists use indie distribution with 62.1 percent in the 1 to 10 million range and 37.4 percent in the 10 to 50 million range. So major companies like Warner Music Group are increasingly focusing on this particular segment.

12:49

The report also examines emerging genres, the impact of live music on streaming, and DSP features enhancing audience engagement. It highlights the rise of physical music formats and analyzes audience retention and live show revenue cycles. Additionally, it notes increased streams from paid subscriptions, with country music receiving the most and Latin music the least. K-pop fans are the most eager to stream new releases and live streaming events can help retain subscribers.

13:17

The report includes detailed mid-year charts offering a comprehensive overview of the current music landscape. So, if you want to check it out, head to Achickwitbeatz.com, check out my Beats, Leaks, and Treats blog. You can download the report there and also view the webinar where they actually walk through and explain some of the statistics that they've gathered.

13:36

Alright, an MDSQ2 2024 analysis reveals that Spotify is the largest music industry company by market cap reaching $62.5 billion. So Spotify's market cap rose 18.2% from the first quarter while Universal Music Group fell 1.5% to $53.7 billion. Those are some interesting figures. It's kind of crazy that they've overtaken the largest music company as far as size goes.

14:06

will discontinue spotlights and intros' creation, features starting July 31st of this year. Despite the change, Amazon emphasizes the importance of voice in engaging fans across its platforms. They suggest exploring alternative features like Artist Follow campaigns and Alexa voice prompts. Additionally, voice reporting and the Daily Voice Index will remain accessible through Amazon Music for Artists. They also recommend using Hype Deck, a new feature offering

14:36

music, and playlist editions on Amazon Music. Alright, Instagram has introduced a new feature allowing users to add up to 20 audio tracks to their reels. This update offers creators more creative flexibility by enabling precise audio alignment with text, stickers, and clips, eliminating the need for external editing tools. The combined audio track is attributed to the creator, encouraging fans to reuse it.

15:01

In legal news, the major labels Sony, Universal, and Warner are suing Verizon for massive copyright infringement by its subscribers. The labels claim Verizon knowingly provides high-speed service to online pirates and has ignored over 340,000 infringement notices since 2020. They seek up to $2.6 billion in damages asserting Verizon prioritized profits over legal obligations.

15:27

This lawsuit is part of ongoing legal actions against ISPs for facilitating music piracy. In the ticketing world, Eventbrite and TikTok have integrated to allow creators to add Eventbrite links directly to TikTok videos. So this integration aims to streamline event discovery and ticket purchasing within the app enhancing community engagement. Users can easily promote and discover events facilitating faster ticket sales through an in-app browser with just a few clicks.

15:55

The feature supports multiple event promotions simultaneously and is available globally where both platforms operate. And Ticketmaster has partnered with American Airlines to allow A-Advantage members to use miles to purchase concert tickets and sports tickets. The A-Advantage Events website offers Ticketmaster's full inventory across the US and Canada with options to use miles or a combination of cash and miles.

16:18

Additionally, Ticketmaster has integrated with Shazam to let users buy tickets for artists they discover, linking tracks directly to Ticketmaster events for quick purchases. This feature is part of the Music Find You campaign, which also includes integrations with Snapchat and TikTok for ticket browsing and purchasing. In the first half of 2024, five Washington DC venues faced 73,000 speculative tickets

16:43

worth $49 million despite StubHub's claims to ban such sales. This issue, highlighted by the Fix the Ticks coalition, coincided with their day of action on July 9th, which is pushing for Congressional ticketing reform to combat fake tickets and deceptive marketing. Amid these rising calls for tighter regulation, StubHub has postponed its IPO to autumn, citing stagnant market conditions. The delay comes as advocacy for secondary ticketing regulation intensifies.

17:12

with 65,000 messages sent to lawmakers. This scrutiny could influence US market regulation, especially with the UK's Labour Party proposing a 10% price cap on ticket resale. Also, the US is considering a new bill, the Content Origin Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfaked Media Act, which is being called the Copied Act for short, to regulate AI-generated content. The bill mandates transparency in marking and detecting AI content.

17:39

protects creators and holds violators accountable. It joins other AI-related bills addressing deep fakes and copyrighted disclosures and of course, music industry leaders support the bill for its emphasis on transparency and creator rights while some in the AI sector are arguing that it's fair use in AI training. So definitely keep you updated on that. There are so many different things going on.

18:03

It's still a work in progress, we gotta see where this is gonna land. Alright and finally Deezer has introduced an AI playlist feature called Playlist with AI called Playlist with AI allowing select paid users to create custom playlists and text prompts. This follows similar AI playlist features by Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube. Initially, 5% of Deezer's paying subscribers will have access to the beta version.

18:29

The feature uses Google's Gemini 1.5 AI model and generates playlists based on moves, genres, and activities while filtering inappropriate content. These are aims to enhance user experience and music discovery through AI. A broader rollout date for the feature is yet to be announced.

18:46

Alright and that's it for this week's music biz brief. Stick around I'm gonna take a quick pause for the cause and then I'll be back with my special guest Admiral to discuss embracing independence and authenticity in music. Stay tuned.

26:26

Hey, I'm Achickwitbeatz multi-genre music producer and strategist to indie artists and labels. Visit at Achickwitbeatz.com for resources for artists and instruments in various genres available for songs, blogs, blogs, podcasts, themes, T.V., commercials, and more. Once again, that's at Achickwitbeatz.com. That's A-C-H-I-C-K-W-I-T-B-E-A-T-Z DOT com…

26:52

Let's make something happen. Thank you so much for tuning in to instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer Achickwitbeatz, and I'm excited, thrilled, and delighted to announce that I have with me in the virtual building today, Admiral. So if you could maybe give us a little bit of introduction into who you are and how you got started into music. Okay. So as mentioned, my name is Admiral. I'm a MC

27:22

slash entrepreneur representing Bronx, New York. I've been a lifer when it comes to the music, but in terms of just being in the business, I started my brand in 2009, just gradually just built from that point on. So that's pretty much in a nutshell, that's who I am. All right, well, who would you say some of your biggest influences have been, whether it's musically or even other entrepreneurs?

27:51

Okay, so in terms of music, I think I became a fan just of hip hop, just listening to Rakim and KRS-1 early on. That was like my early inspiration. My sister, when I was a kid, she was a local DJ in the neighborhood. And I remember we used to have a little park jams in a park.

28:21

I'm one of the first records that I would hear was from those two guys and really just automatically was sucked in and just been a fan ever since. But in terms of just like influences once I started, you know, really pursuing being an artist.

28:45

your Nases of the world, your Wutang Clans all these, those are like big influences for me just coming up and I'm starting to develop my sound over kind of like the measuring sticks in terms of like the top MCs. So that was kind of really what really real being and at that point when I really started to really dig in and get digging as far as an artist and you know.

29:13

and sharpened in my pen. That's really what I used to really measure what I was doing against them. Okay, yeah, those are some major heavy hitters there. And yeah, so obviously you were probably drawn to them because of how lyrical they were and you're using them as a balance, I guess. But how do you kind of get into the process before you start writing to make sure that your pen game is strong, that your mind's in that?

29:41

mind state to be able to just kind of let it flow. Yeah, one thing, and like if anyone was familiar with my music, you can tell that it comes from a genuine personal place. So for me, just really, you know, solitude is like a starting point for me. I do a lot of my writing in the most random times, you know, sometimes in a week, three hours of the night. And just...

30:08

from drawing inspirations from the day, just things that are happening around me and just around my loved ones and just people in general. So I draw from all of that. So that's kind of where my sound was created.

30:25

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. So you just kind of absorb in, need some time to reflect, that's what's up. Yeah, very organic when it comes to it. So I don't try to like steer my music in like a particular direction to make, you know, to make specific type of records, you know, just to satisfy people. I try to keep it, you know, as pure, you know, as pure as I can and much, you know, true to myself.

30:52

Okay. Well, typically, when artists are actually artists, you know, like how you mentioned, sometimes it's a little bit harder to figure out how to market your audience. So, like, how do you, yeah, how do you kind of overcome that struggle to found your people? Yeah, so I think early on, it was probably even more, more challenging just because, you know, from an industry standpoint, you know, artists don't, don't, don't, don't

31:22

have as much control in terms of what the content is that they need to market. And I just think like being independent, I'm able to kind of create the music that I want, what the people are here. And obviously it's a little bit more challenging in terms of just...

31:44

folding that into the masses and just what's been kind of put on the forefront, right? But at the same token, right? There are a lot of tools that are available to us now that probably weren't available in the past that we can get our music to the people, you know, that what we have to offer. Yeah, yeah. You know, just the tools that are at hand so easily and even to be able to get.

32:11

your music into all the different streaming sites. Like it's so much quicker than I ever imagined. Exactly. That it could have been. And I think that it's a great thing, but at the same time, um, like just recently it said that major labels were kind of starting to take more of the market share again, because the Indies were holding it for a while, but they always find a way. Right. They always find a way to make sure that they can, um, you know, stop us there, you know, their control.

32:38

you know, the industry. So there's a lot of backdoor, you know, backdoor business, obviously. And I think it's starting to be discovered, you know, now that, you know, these things, things that are happening, you know, from, from the label standpoint, and something like you said, controlling that market market share. So, you know, you always have to kind of keep yourself, you know, as informed, you know, as you can, the kind of keep yourself, you know, functioning and profit. Yeah. Yeah.

33:06

Yeah, I think that that's part of the reason why they were holding the share or Indies were holding the share so much Just because like you said people were starting to realize like yeah, okay I don't want to listen to this just because you tell me you know a hundred thousand other people stream this within the first amount of minutes then you necessarily trust that but Yeah, it's a really great point. I think that you know, we're on a guest brink of

33:33

just a shift in the industry altogether. And I'm really hoping that I'm right, but yeah. So what are some of the comments? Yeah. Like some good stuff is coming, but yeah. What are some of the common challenges that you face within the industry, whether that be, you know, if you had to deal with a label at one point or, you know, the collaboration that didn't go so well, but what are some of the challenges that you faced and overcome? Okay. So I think a lot of the, just the,

34:03

challenges for me is just that knowledge gap when it comes to the mechanics of the business. That was the biggest challenge for me especially early on because obviously everyone comes up and they want you know what we grew up it was like you want a deal right so this was the goal right but ultimately you know you come to a place when you understand like a deal per se is actually a bill.

34:32

So when you look at that, it's not so attractive anymore. But I think a lot of, you see a lot of the artists that you see now that they're preyed on because they don't have that knowledge of business and honestly just want to be seen. Just want to have that look. Not understanding that, like, what's being signed and honestly what it takes for you to actually be truly

35:01

you know, truly successful and not just looking successful. Right. You know, so for me, that was one thing that really drove me into kind of pivoting from, you know, that, you know, looking like, looking so much towards like a major deal like that, I think. Like you said, we don't, I mean, we don't have artist development anymore either. You know, so, you know, that's a whole nother thing that was something that was critical in the past to kind of really build a brand.

35:29

you know, for an artist. But honestly, now when you, you know, any relationships that people have with labels, it's more built around like established product, right? You know, either you're a viral, like either you're viral or you just have a already built, you know, following that's, you know, that they deem, you know, profitable. You know, it's the only time that they even wanna be involved, you know, with an artist, which I understand, you know, from a business perspective, you don't have to invest, you know, those resources in an artist. You can just...

35:59

kind of slap your stamp on that artist brand, it's obviously a lot more, it's a lot easier in that respect. So I think that's kind of the direction that it's going from each labels at this point. So for me, I'm very happy to be independent. Obviously there's still a lot of world opportunity there, a lot of work to be done, and obviously it's a lot more hands-on. When you're independent, you really have to get yourself informed.

36:28

and really find ways to really drive your business and find a way to drive, you know, financially drive it to be able to continue to kind of deliver the music to the people. Yes, that's a serious gem that you just dropped right there. But yeah, like to find the information, like there's so much out there that's actually the purpose of this podcast as well, like actually sharing music business news and insights of other artists.

36:56

because you know, it is kind of hard to stay on top of stuff. So, but it's so important. You put your blood, sweat and tears into the music. You should be getting compensated for it every time someone listens. So, yeah. Right, and it's that balancing act, right? It's the balancing act of just trying to really understand what the time commitment is and you know, what resources you need to commit on the business and to really, you know, capitalize off of people.

37:24

both of your music, right? But that's the challenge, right? Because obviously, you know, if you, obviously you need a team, right? But obviously it needs to be, you know, what kind of team are you putting together, right? What are the roles that are involved and what do they contribute, right? A lot of times, you know, folks just have people around, you know, have people around them, because you know, honestly, you're the attraction, right? People like to be around.

37:52

people who are in motion, you know, and they feel like they're growing, growing and progressing, right? But obviously when it comes to, you know, having a team to help you take that next level, everyone has, you know, the roles have to be defined, you know, it has to be, you know, and people have to be committed to their piece of, you know, a piece of the puzzle, you know? So that's a huge challenge, you know, a lot of times like it's the people with a lot of folks around them, right? But who's really contributing, right? Who's really...

38:22

you know, helping push, you know, push it forward. So that to me, that's a big challenge that I see, I experienced personally, just like people that I'm familiar with to kind of run that challenge as well. Yeah. Um, yeah, that's a huge problem. What kind of advice do you have to offer anyone, um, to be able to weed those people out? Like you said, you need people who are actually focused on the goal.

38:48

Are there some, should I say maybe red flags that people can utilize before they get too serious into it? Yeah, I think so too. Because the one red flag I think is like people who are not, you know, this isn't what prior to you know, their involvement with you were not involved in this type of work, right? So there's no, there's no commitment to kind of their aspect of business for them. They really just.

39:17

want to do it just to kind of be close to you. So you want to weed out those folks. And honestly, do your research. People will see you active. And then it happens to me. It probably happens to you. It probably happens to a lot of other folks as well. It's just that when they see you in motion, people will offer themselves.

39:42

to be closer to your situation. So you wanna make sure that you're transparent, right, you're transparent upfront in terms of like, this is what you're doing and this is what you can contribute to what this movement is, right? And then, and air that out early on, right? Sometimes once you get too far down the road with it and then you try to do damage control at best.

40:09

It's more draining than anything else at that point. So I just say keep up front with people, right? Keep up front with folks and really kind of stay like, this is what I'm doing, this is what I need to help move this forward, right? And put the focus on...

40:28

those other individuals in state and let them tell you, well, this is what I can do. Right. You put it on them and then let them prove to you, you know, that they can, they can contribute in their committed to what your common goal is. Right. If it's not about that, then you might, you know, keep moving the way that you are until you find the right people. Excellent advice. Do you kind of approach collaboration like just artistically the same way?

40:57

Yeah, I think with collaborations, and this is something that I kind of struggle with a little bit with what I see now. Because for me, I'm very organic when it comes to collaborations, right? I don't want, like I said, I just, like for example, if it's, you know, I might be a more known artist that, you know, I like their talent and I would like to collaborate with them with. But if it's just, you know, specifically just business and it's not a...

41:27

mutual respect for the art is something that I tend to shy away from. You know, I'm very organic like creating, right? So like, like, I want to work with people I want to work with, right? That's that's kind of, you know, how I came up, you know, in this tune. And now I see you not see a lot of producers. I'm sure you probably have seen this too, with, you know, producers may collaborate with a with an industry artist.

41:53

and sign and broker some deal and then they start selling these packages where you buy a beat from the producer and they'll give you like a pre-recorded verse from the artist. That's not my thing. That's not my thing because honestly like a creative process is like you want to share an idea and genuinely collaborate on the song and make it what it's supposed to be. I just don't want a random verse on a...

42:22

on a song on an idea that I created and just plug and play. I don't believe in that, but I understand it from a business side. The production game is very competitive. It's a lot of, especially nowadays, before it was a lot more organic, but now you have people who are beatmakers per se, not producers.

42:52

quantity over the substance in the creative process, so to speak, right? I get people to just pay, you know, who shoot me like folders on folders of these, right? But my whole thing is like, right, have you listened to my music? Right. You know, have you sat there and say, all right, you know, I like what this artist is doing, right? I think I have something that like kind of,

43:21

I think that they would do something really great with, right? And then pitch that. You know, opposed to just randomly just sending, you know, sending folders over that. Obviously, you know, the attention span of people. I don't, quite honestly, I don't have the time for someone to send me a folder or two, you know, 200 beats in a given day and actually sit and get through them all. Right. With 10 other producers doing, like doing the same thing. It's just, it's just, to me, it's counterproductive.

43:52

So my thing is like, you know, do the outreach, right? Do the outreach, you know, build a rapport, kind of see what the artist is working on, right? So that's a whole nother piece to it. It might be something that I like, right? But if it's not in the flow of like what I'm working on, right, I may hold onto it, right? But it's not something that I'm gonna wanna work at that point in time, right? So it's a lot of little nuances, right? That I think.

44:22

that people can do better in that respect in terms of this relationship building. Right. I think that's, um, I think that's very important. I think it's like a lost art. Yeah. Right. Just doing, you know, doing some outreach, just like even when we, you know, we, um, set this interview up, right. It was, you know, it was, it was outreach, you know, you can explain, you know, what you, what you have going on and then, you know, we, and we lined it up, right. It's, it's so much simpler when you can do it.

44:51

do it that way, and then it's a lot more productive. But I think a lot of people, it's just everything, it's just, you know, everything's instant gratification, right, it's everything's just so fast that you're not getting the best out of the situation. By the way, you know, whatever way that they're moving. So that's just a little bit of, you know, the advice I would share to people to don't shy away from like building organic relationships. Yeah, that's an amazing gem right there.

45:19

It's like you were saying, like with the plug and play, how it's just kind of generic, it doesn't have a feel to it either. There's nothing to it, right? Yeah. Yeah. And what's the point of making music if it doesn't make you feel anything? Yeah. And it's even sad because now I'm looking at I'm looking at some artists, like artists are like, I really, really admire like their participating in this with that. But I get it, you know, get it from their front. So right, you know, I don't know what the financial situation is. Sometimes these.

45:48

People need to check. I get it, you know, it's the same token, but like I said, at the end of the day, when you look at it from an artist standpoint, right, think about this, you would have probably no communication with this artist, but you have a record together. Right. Doesn't feel good, you know, it's like, and then a lot of people can read through it, too. You understand when someone makes a song and it was really collaborative.

46:16

Right. And instead of people just throwing verses on verses on something. Yeah. There's a big difference. Absolutely. And even if the energy is off, like if it's a collab that you don't want to do, it just yeah, it's the whole thing. Then think about this, say it is something in this something great, right? And then you right now you want to you want to mark really marketing, you want to shoot the you know, you want to shoot the video and you want to, you know, you want to perform and things like that. Now, now what happens?

46:46

Yeah. You know? So it's just, Yeah. You know, it's a whole lot, you know, to be desired, like, with that. So a lot of times, and I'm starting to see it like more frequently now, for these ads, but it's just something, it's not for me. You know, it's not for me, like I said, I'd rather, like if I sat there and, you know, met an artist and they, you know, they're familiar with the work, whatever, and then we have some type of dialogue about it, then I'm all in, you know, but if it's,

47:15

something like this. This is just not generic like that. It's just not something. That's not my vibe. Yeah. Well, you can definitely understand that because so the whole energy sounds off and it's just no fun to listen to. But, um, right. We don't have enough fake energy in the world. Right. We don't need anymore.

47:39

Yeah, it's okay. You know, when you first came in, you mentioned that you represented Bronx. So if you could maybe share a little bit about how you think that that shaped you musically. Yeah, so I mean, it's changed everything from my life because like where I came from, you know, honestly, the literal, my neighborhood, the literal birthplace of hip-hop. So, you know, there's a, you know, there's a responsibility, you know, and, you know, with that, you know, that

48:10

You know, even hearing it from the OGs, you know, like, I've got the story from the beginning, like, three blocks away from the building I grew up in. You know, this is kind of, this is where, you know, where it really started, you know. So a lot of times that, you know, a lot of the stories and things like that that really educated me just for the culture itself came from, you know, a lot of, we used to have these things called punk chants in the neighborhood and every,

48:39

You know, every project and stuff like that, they would have like the top DJs in the neighborhood would bring the big speakers out, plug them into light poles and bring the crates of records out and you know, honestly throw parties all night, right? And no matter what the noise was, it was understood like it wasn't a big deal or you know, a lot of good vibe energy around it and really just like it was about the music.

49:09

It was really about the music. And I think that's the biggest thing that, when we think of the Bronx and it came to that, when it comes to hip hop too, right? It always remained about that. So for me, being an MC, coming out the Bronx too, for me, I always, in terms of just the content itself, it always had to be authentic to me. It always had to be.

49:37

you know, respectful to the culture. You know, that's something that I always, you know, respect you obviously to you as an artist, you always want to be respectful to the culture and to not, and not water it down. You know what I mean? So I really, doing my whole time doing this, it's kind of been built around that too. So, like even when we were just, you know, we just.

49:59

having cybers on the block, you know, coming up with the same thing, right? If you didn't have your bar work wasn't up to par, right? Yeah. Because you sit on the sideline, right? You don't, you don't disrespect, you know, disrespect the people that really do it. You know, by sitting there getting involved. So definitely, um, it's like a badge of honor coming from the Bronx, you know, when it comes to hairball. Yeah, that's incredible. Like you said, authentic and to respect the culture.

50:28

And you think about you listen to K.R.S.-1, you listen to Slick Rick, you listen to these guys, right? These guys were like these are like in my eyes they were pioneers, right? Yeah, absolutely. One thing that they did, they always paid homage to the originators that came before them too. And they were true to that too. So that's what I'm saying. That's kind of really what has been passed along generations when it comes to it.

50:57

Obviously now with social media, it's changed a little bit too, but now, you know, people gravitate to kind of like what they think the masses are doing, right? So you have New York artists who sound like some other artists. Now you have people that were doing, you know, putting a boom bap era doing Trill and all that type of stuff too. So it's a different...

51:22

And like I said, I have no issue with like experimenting with sounds and stuff like that. I think that's just part of being creative, right? Yeah. But know your identity, right? Know your identity, honestly, and don't forget your roots. Yeah. That's a big deal to me. Cause that's the thing though. Yeah. Like you said, you can't experiment, but it should still sound like you. Exactly. Yeah. It should feel foreign. Exactly. It should still sound like you. So it's funny. I have a, I have a, um, a record that, um,

51:53

that I dropped not too long ago that has a drill sound in terms of the production to it, right? But I still, in terms of how I rhyme to it, it was still in my pocket. You understand what I'm saying? It's the same token. And that was one thing I said, you know.

52:14

It's okay to mash up, right? It's okay to, you know, experiment and evolve your sounds. Honestly, it gets you different, like, honestly, working with different styles of music allows you to open up your creativity too, right? Yeah. For example, if I'm rapping over a boom-bap beat all the time, right? That's what the verses are gonna sound like. They're gonna sound, you know, they're gonna sound more repetitive, you know, than...

52:43

something when you when you go in different spaces sonnet sonnet Obviously you still use your flow right you can still you can mesh it, you know and make it sound like something fresh Yeah, mash don't disappear Yeah, yeah, I feel you on that definitely

53:04

Yeah, I actually work in a few different genres, but I can tell you one thing like that sound it's still going to sound like me. It's like, yeah, not the carbon copy of something else that someone else is doing just because you've seen that it's profitable. But yeah, I think that's the person I used to always say with that too, that I used to always, you know, you're, you're, you're a certain producer. You think that you like your dreams or premieres stuff like that too, right? You know,

53:32

You know their sound from a mile away. Yes. No matter what type of record that they're working on, right, you know.

53:39

This more likely is this guy. Yeah. You understand what I'm saying? You hear those cuts in the beginning, like, oh, that's Preemo. Like, yeah. You know, that's Preemo. Right, exactly. So that's kind of about the same thing that I'm saying, right? When it comes to being honest in your writing, right? You don't always have to write something on a Preemo sound or something like, you know? Right. You know, something like a Timbaland sound or something like that. You can do.

54:07

anything in your own own pocket, right? But it just gives you a chance to open it up, right? And open it up like you're hoping you flow up. It kind of really challenges. Yeah. Yeah. It's still be you, you know, at the same time. Hey, so, you know, with that being said, you know, you've given so much advice that I think will be helpful to a lot of listeners. But I just want to say one thing before I even set up the interview. I'm scrolling and it's it's very rare.

54:37

that I slow down while somebody's rapping. But like as soon as, you know, the video started playing, I was like, oh yeah, like you can hear the authenticity like in your sound, even the way, you know, you kind of film a bit like your movements and everything. Like you could tell that you were just into it and really representative of the culture. And so yeah, just kind of wanted to give you shouts on that because especially with so much content, you know, coming at everybody.

55:03

You know, you got the type of music that makes somebody slow down. Like, wait a minute. Okay. I'm not going to keep scrolling. So let me listen to this a little, a little bit, you know, that's me. Like I'm saying too. And this is the point of like kind of maintaining your uniqueness is that right. Because you want people to, you know, take that second look, you want people to, you know, do that, that rewind or that, that replay, right. Because in, and honestly, the only way to honestly, there's so much getting thrown at us, right. That's it. That's the.

55:31

way to go about it is kind of really stick to your person in terms of how you know and how you create right and kind of throwing them bring them into that world opposed to just trying to fit in with everything you know. Yeah so yeah we're getting close to that half hour mark but I just want to make sure that people know what you've got coming up in the works. You know.

55:59

Upcoming projects and also where they can follow you and find all your music and all that good stuff All right, sounds good. So, um, so first of foremost, I'm just in terms of how to follow me my handle on Ig is Admiral 11 Admiral 11 is handle there from anyone on Facebook still

56:21

Admiral X1, Admiral X1 there. My website is ameral11.com. And all my content is there. That is the one stop shop if you really just want to backtrack and kind of go to some previous work. And current work as well. You'll always find it there. In terms of.

56:45

TikTok and this is something that I've kind of just thought is I'm dabbling in a little bit. So I have some pages, underscore, Admiral 11, so you can find some work there as well too. But definitely in terms of projects, I have a new project out now called Honor and Will Part 3. So I have two previous installments of that project, three part series. So I just...

57:11

We recently released the last part of that, so definitely something to catch up on if you haven't heard that music as well. Very cohesive, very, a lot of personal work, a lot of inspirational music there, motivational.

57:27

music and that's kind of really what my thing is. I try to make some motivation in music and kind of share my experience with music. I'm working on another new project which I haven't announced publicly but just to come with the title. I'm about four or five songs into recording a new project so I'm looking to release some late in the fall which is called King's Calling.

57:54

on its way, so I'm definitely trying to keep the content coming. We're going to look out for some visuals too. I've got some new visuals coming just for the Una and Will 3 projects that we're going to look out for that. Probably going to be doing some performances in the fall as well, so just kind of moving and shaking touches of space. Things like that and just kind of doing, you know, enjoying the ride, enjoying the music.

58:20

That's what's up. And I feel honored to have gotten the exclusive on the new project coming out in the fall too. So nobody knows about that. So yeah, that's the exclusive. All right. That's what's up. Well, congratulations to you is no easy feat, um, putting albums together at all. And so especially to be working on so much and then even visuals and all that good stuff, I salute you.

58:46

Um, yeah, that's not for the faint of heart. I'm not trying to cheat it. No, I'm not trying to treat, you know, treat the art, treat the art either. So, you know, we put a lot of, a lot into, you know, what we do. So it's only right that we share it. Yeah. That's what's up. And we appreciate you for that. Um, yeah, I just want to thank you for taking the time to come on and share your story and share your wisdom. You dropped so many gems throughout this.

59:13

And so yeah, I just want to thank you for that. And hopefully I can have you back again soon in the future. No, absolutely. We're connected. We're connected now. So we'll definitely keep it soon. And obviously anything that you have going on and anything that you need for me, you know, I'm just a click away. So just feel free to reach out. All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. I appreciate you too. All right. And that's a wrap for this week's edition of instrumental Intel. I thank you so much for tuning in.

59:40

I thank my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and of course, my special guest, Admiral. I've got another great show lined up for you next week with Page1ne out of the NOLA. So you definitely don't want to miss that. So until next time, you know where to find me. Tune in, tell a friend. I'll see you then. Peace.