Putting Together the Official Album + This Week’s Video

If I haven’t said it enough already, thanks to everybody who’s downloaded “The O-Bama Mixtape” so far!!

As of now it’s been downloaded over 300 times, and – seeing as this is the age of bootlegging – I’m sure it’s been copied, given out to friends and/or uploaded to P2P sites by now.  Just like I wanted!!

If you think the mixtape is good, just WAIT until you hear the album!! I can’t give the title away yet (until I get my songs for it copyrighted – after all, people LOVE stealing good ideas), but it comes out August 24th, and it’s going to be HOT!!

Okay, so my original plan for the album was to make all the beats myself… but honestly, I’m in more of a mode these days to write songs and let others focus on the beats.  Luckily, I always think ahead, and made a LOT of beats back in the days when I still felt like making them, so I have a plethora of them to choose from for the album.

Still, though, I wanted to expand my range and get other sounds on the LP.  My productions are great, but I don’t have all the fancy-smanshy high-end equipment that other producers have.  To that end, I have found other sources of beats whereby I can lease the beats I want to use.  This is different from owning a beat exclusively, as the original beat-maker will still be able to sell the beat.  The upside is that I can lease the beat for relatively cheap ($25 – $50 for most) as opposed to paying a LOT for an exclusive right to a beat ($100 – $1500 or HIGHER). 

Some people might think, “Geez, A.P.T., why not just own the beat exclusively so others can’t use it?” Easy: again, we live in the age of bootlegging, where other people are going to steal it anyway.  I didn’t even release the instrumental version of “Obama, Obama,” yet lo and behold, people managed to download it, slice out the “Obama” vocal, re-make the beat and make their own song anyway!! (I see you, Tyga – nice job on MY beat!!) Heck, I used other people’s beats for MY mixtape – even if that other person couldn’t sell their version of song, they could still get famous off it, so why spend all that money!??

Speaking of money: there are a LOT of beats I’ve found that I want to use, but at the moment I only have enough money to pay my rent, my phone, and my internet bills.  At this point in my life, though, I don’t let problems like not having money stop me from doing what I’m doing.  To that end, I already have a person who said they’d do my graphics for FREE (in exchange for name exposure – not a problem at all!), and I got financing for the beats that aren’t mine that I want to use on the album.

The LP itself is mostly done, but I’m going to re-record a few things so they sound good, and record some newer songs, too.  All in all, the album will probably have 12 or 13 songs on it.  I used to think this wasn’t enough songs, but I’ve bought many albums where they ran close to an hour and 20 minutes, and it seemed too long.  I only want a hour of your time, people – after that, you can play me over and over again until the next set of songs comes out!

Lastly: my video for this week.  Actually, it’s already up on my YouTube site, but I’m reposting it because (a) I put it up before I started this site, so it hasnt’ gotten much attention, and (b) it’s a song that’s on my mixtape, so it makes for good advertising.  I was tempted to place 2 videos up, but I’m trying to keep with my original mantra of one song/video a week (which is actually getting HARDER now that I’ve got all these video ideas floating around). 

I’ve already started next week’s video, and after that I’ll start putting up videos for songs that will be on my official album so I can get people excited about it.

That’s all for now – it’s hot in my apartment, and I think I need some fresh air.  See y’all on Sunday!!

-A.P.T.

E-mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/notoriousapt

A.P.T. Paperstyle #2 – Super Mario Paperstyle

Attention Colleges, Universities and More (especially in Atlanta):

Demand A.P.T. to perform in your city at your venue! Go to: www.eventful.com/apt and request a performance by ME - the more invites I get, the better chance you have of seeing me perform in your town!

DOWNLOAD “THE O-BAMA MIXTAPE” – Click HERE for the link!

This song is called “Super Mario Paperstyle” (beat produced by Def Davyne).

DOWNLOAD THE SONG 4 FREE: A.P.T. Song #10.5: Super Mario Freestyle

I made this song – “Super Mario Paperstyle” – because, quite frankly, I was bored out of my mind!

I have to go to work later today, which means I had all day to do… absolutely… NOTHING.  But, I checked the stats on my mixtape, “The O-Bama Mixtape,” and was happy to discover that it had been downloaded 200 times already within the first 48 hours!! 

So, I decided to record this freestyle as a “thank you” to all my fans, plus use it to advertise for my OFFICIAL album, coming out Sunday, August 24th.  I don’t want to give away the title until I have everything copyrighted, but just know that (a) it’s going to be HOT, and (b) at 5.99, you’ll feel like you’re getting it for a BARGAIN.

Anyway… enjoy the song!  I found this beat online, and had it stored away for a rainy day.  It has some cool punchlines in it referencing things relating to the video game series.  It’s now available for download (it wasn’t earlier), so… yeah! 

-A.P.T.

E-mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/notoriousapt

The O-Bama Mixtape Cover – Made by a Fan!!

“The O-Bama Mixtape” cover – you like it?

It was created by a fan of mine named Aaron Thompkins, a graphic designer and clothing maker who, apparently, does EXCELLENT graphic work! 

I guess since he made such a great cover, I should do some advertising for him.  So, if you’d like something done by Mr. Thompkins, here is his info:

Aaron Thompkins
AaronThompkins@UCMEdesigns.com
www.UCMEdesigns.com
www.BoKnowsAmerica.com
Phone:757.291.5804
Fax:757.887.2251

-A.P.T.
E-Mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/notoriousapt

Then and Now (Two Stories)

STORY #1: Trying to get on radio

Then – Summer 2005:

I was living with my Uncle Eric and my two cousins in Lansdale, PA.  From time to time I would catch the New Jersey transit up to New York in the hopes of getting my music demo into the hands of some of NYs influential music industry people.

First stop: Hot 97, the most popular radio station in New York. The plan: to go into the station, hand off my CD of songs, and hopefully be able to get them to hear my songs, fall in love with at least one of them, and play it on their station. 

Unfortunately, I got there just as they were closing.  Still, I knew there’d be night staff DJs coming in, one of them being Funkmaster Flex.  I waited outside the building for two hours – nobody showed up!  Frustrated, I decided to take a walk around the building, then head over to the next spot (wherever that would be).  As I walked to the opposite side of the building…

…I saw Funkmaster Flex!! He just happened to be taking the trash out at the moment I walked by.  I greeted him, said I was a fan, and gave him a copy of my CD. “Just listen to the first song, please!!” I said.  He said, “Okay,” but, given that I already knew he probably got this request 10,000 times a day, I figured there was a better chance that he’d toss it in the trash as soon as I was out of his sight.

Needless to say, I wasn’t going to be getting any radio play anytime soon…

Now – Summer 2008:

I get a LOT of comments on the “Obama, Obama” video from people all across the country.  Last night, I received this comment on the wall:

“Man I have you give you your props on this song, I live in New York and just a few days I was listening to the radio ‘Hot 97.1′ when they played Lil’ Waynes “A Milli” then your song and I was like this sh*t is awesome so I came on YouTube to find the real video and here it is.  Great work!”

How ironic – I don’t even live near NYC anymore, and they play my dang song without me having to even call in the station!!

STORY #2: “You can find me in the club…”

THEN – Summer 2005:

During that same trip to NYC, I decided to stay in the city late so I could go to one of the clubs and pass my CD off to a DJ.  I forget the name of the club, but I went around 10 PM or so, and I’m sure I stood out like a sore thumb.  I was the only one there with a demo folder and a CD, but I was a man on a mission: to get my song played in a REAL club, even if the song ended up getting booed.

Got into the club, and saw the DJ booth, located up on a second floor.  There were steps that led up to the booth, but it was blocked off by security.  I asked the guard at the post if he could hand my CD off to the DJ; he politely took it up, but, once again, I figured that, despite how good I felt my songs were, the CD would just be pushed to the side, along with the hundreds of other CDs he probably got on a weekly basis.

By the end of the night, NONE of my songs had been played.  Oh well – it’s nothing personal, just business: since no one knew who I was, the DJ couldn’t risk playing one of my songs and completely stopping the party!

NOW – Summer 2008:

I don’t go out to clubs very much.  The last time I went… dang, I think it might have been New Year’s Eve/Day!  Therefore, I have NO idea what DJs are spinning these days, though I assume they must be playing a LOT of Lil’ Wayne since he’s the most popular guy at the moment.

However, just because I don’t go out to clubs doesn’t mean other people don’t.  I got an e-mail from this girl named Carly, and it said the following:

Dear APT,

I heard your Obama song in a west indian night club in Hartford CT.  The dj started with the millionaire song and mixed the obama remix in half way through.  It was the first time that I’d heard of it and it put a big smile on my face in the middle of the bar.

Carly

Man, oh man, oh man… I need to go to a club here in ATL and see if anyone’s playing my song, ’cause that’s HUGE, man!

The moral of these stories:  Um… I don’t have one.  It’s just cool to know my stuff is being played on radio AND the clubs. Woo-hoo!

-A.P.T.

E-mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/notoriousapt

Critiques of My Songs/Videos (i.e. The Development of Thick Skin)

Another week, another video in the can.

That’s 10 videos so far, people!  (11, if you count “Hey Jesse Jackson,” which I count as half a video.)  When I started this thing, I had no idea how long I’d be able to keep it up for.  Now, I’ve gone from trying to figure out a video at the last minute to having video ideas for songs 3 to 4 weeks ahead of time.  I guess it’s true what they say, “practice makes perfect!”

Okay, so, since what I do is considered “art,” there are going to be people out there who like my stuff, and people who don’t.  One of the reasons people do not go for what they want to do in life is that they are afraid of getting any kind of negative criticism.  They feel like if someone tells them their work isn’t good enough, or that they are downright terrible at what they do, their self-esteem will shatter so badly they won’t be able to recover.

However, I’ve always taken the opposite approach.  I’ve always welcomed criticism because I figure that, in trying to become good at what I do, I’m not going to get everything right immediately, yet I may not always be able to point out what I’m doing wrong.  Unfortunately, most people are so worried about keeping a person’s self-esteem up (lest that person punch them in the face), that even if that other person does mediocre work, they’ll still say “oh, great job,” thinking they are helping the person.

This is FAR from the truth.  In actuality, it’s HARMING the person in the long run.  They’ll go along doing the wrong thing thinking it’s right simply because no one stopped them to say, “um, you could be doing that a LOT better.”

I’m fortunate enough to have people in my life (my brother, David, and my friend Michele come to mind) who don’t mind telling me when I’m doing a song or making a beat that either sucks or could be made better. Heck, I think I let my brother hear 4 or 5 songs late last year that he said wasn’t showing off my true writing potential.  After being mad at him for a couple of hours, I realized he was only saying that stuff because he saw potential in me to do really GREAT work, as opposed to just trying to get by with anything.

Because I put my songs out on the net, I get many, MANY chances to get feedback about my songs.  Some of it is sent directly to me via YouTube/MySpace/WordPress comments, and the majority of it has actually been pretty positive.  However, I like to go to other sites that I’m not a member of and read what other people think about some of my stuff – it’s a great way to get an unbiased view of my work since I’m not the one directly asking for the feedback.

Of course, most of the sites have posted my “Obama” video, so the majority of critiques have been about that song.  The overall response is positive, but, like all art, there have been people who posted comments that weren’t exactly the nicest in the world.  I don’t like to promote negativity, so those comments won’t be mentioned here; needless to say, though, I find it hilarious that a person NOT liking the song would actually take 2 minutes out of their day to express WHY they don’t like a song of mine.  It’s like, regardless of if they liked it or not, they still spent time focusing a portion of their lives on ME – so, in the end, it still benefits me!

But like I said before, I accept all kinds of criticism, be it positive or negative.  I was a theatre major at Hampton University for 5 years.  That’s FIVE years of being critiqued for stage performances, improv skits, class acting assignments, and thesis work.  Once you’ve had practice hearing good and bad things about yourself via numerous performances, you develop a thick skin for the comments you’ll receive about others for anything you do, for the rest of your life.  Someone saying a song or mixtape or video of mine “sucks” isn’t all that damaging to my psyche – especially when 19 other people are standing next to that person saying the same body of work is “great,” “uplifting,” and “f–kin’ awesome.”

Yeah – I hear that I’m “f–kin’ awesome” a LOT these days.

So, the point of all this is simply: if you have a goal or a dream, expect criticism.  Don’t let it slow you down, and remember that not all negative criticism is bad.  If anything, you can use it to re-route yourself into the right direction, and prove the ones throwing the criticism at you wrong.  It’s worked for me so far, and it can work for you, too!

-A.P.T.

E-mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/notoriousapt

One-Song-a-Week: Song #10 – Retirement Home

Attention Colleges, Universities and More (especially in Atlanta):

Demand A.P.T. to perform in your city at your venue! Go to: www.eventful.com/apt and request a performance by ME - the more invites I get, the better chance you have of seeing me perform in your town!

DOWNLOAD “The O-Bama Mixtape” - Click HERE for the link!

Hey! If you like the mixtape… help a brotha get his music career started – SEND A DONATION! Click HERE for more info!

This week’s song/video is “Retirement Home” (Produced by ME!)

Download for FREE: A.P.T. Song #10: Retirement Home

DOWNLOAD FOR .99 Cents - https://www.payloadz.com/go/sip?id=491528

GET “THE A.P.T. LP” AS AN AUTOMATIC MP3 DOWNLOAD OR MAIL-ORDER CD: Click HERE for info/download link – MP3 Download sent automatically after payment!

INSIGHT INTO A SONG:

I was inspired to write this song two years ago, when I read an interview with an old-school rapper (who shall remain nameless) on allhiphop.com. This particular rapper – who had a string of hits and was very popular in the 90s – felt that his recently released album did poorly because of poor promotion by his record label.

He also felt that the public was so dumbed down by what he perceived to be “poor-quality rap music” that his stuff wasn’t wanted by the public. He cited several rappers who, at the time, had major radio hits where the songs weren’t about anything really deep or insightful – just booty-shaking and “flossing” songs with no substance. And, like most older MCs who are no longer as popular, he stated how the rap music from back in the day was better, had more MCs who were about promoting “realness,” and was of a higher quality.

And to that, I said: “Get real!!”

I think older MCs have a very idealistic way of how ALL rap music was in the past. I’m an 80s baby, and lived through the development of hip-hop, so I can safely say that not ALL rap music from the past had meaning or substance. I think back to the early 90s when rap started getting more popular, and I clearly remember songs like “Baby Got Back,” “Rump Shaker,” and “O.P.P.” – and NONE of those songs were about anything deep, yet they happen to be very popular “oldies” from my generation.

In response to that allhiphop.com article, I wrote this song, “Retirement Home.” In the song, I basically bash old-school MCs who are always bashing the current batch of new-school MCs. At the time I wrote this, Nas’ popular “Hip-Hop Is Dead” CD was about to drop, so I found it to be a perfect time to record the song.

Who would have thought, though, that this hating of young MCs by older MCs would be happening two years later? I got word that old-schooler Ice-T dissed Soulja Boy, of the popular “Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)” song – specifically, he told Soulja Boy to “eat a d*ck.” I don’t care how old you are, saying that crap to anybody, especially a 17-year old, is just plain disrespectful. I figured this would be the perfect time to release that song, as it mentions the reasons WHY an older, no-longer selling MC would go about hating on a new generation of rappers who are simply taking the art form and tweaking it to work for them.

Side question: ever notice how every generation of musicians hate on what they consider the “bastardization” of their art form? R&B artists of the 80s often hate on the new wave of R&B artists, whom they feel are ruining the music, despite artists like Alicia Keys and Usher treating the genre with much respect. In the same way, rap artists from “back in the day” are fans of saying how hip-hop is “dead,” even when artists like Kanye, Common, Lil’ Wayne, and even Soulja Boy are making the genre popular.

As for the “killing of hip-hop,” people have been saying that for YEARS, and it’s still here. And truthfully, as much as the old-schoolers might hate people like SB, Lil’ John, Hurricane Chris or DJ UNK for making what they consider to be “bubble-gum music,” their songs hold a place in hip-hop. As much as I like NAS, I ain’t trying to dance to one of his songs in the club!!

Some Interesting Song Tidbits:

1. I did the old-man voice in the song.

2. The line, “Only 40 – but in rap years, you’re dead,” is in reference to the fact that most hip-hop fans think a rapper shouldn’t be rapping past that age. Personally, I say if the artist is still good, go for it – but, for the purposes of the song, I felt I should say that.

3. There are actually some recording mistakes in this song. The line, “went from wearing old tims to some old flip-flops” should actually say “new tims,” but sometimes when I’m recording I mess up reading what I type. I also meant to say “put your headphones on and take a seat back/singing out your old raps ’til your lungs collapse,” but I ended up saying “listening to old raps” instead. In essence, this makes the sentence make no sense – but oh well!

4. I produced the beat for this song. No samples, just instruments and a creative mind. If you like the beat and would like me to make one for you, hire me, maaaaan!

INSIGHTS INTO A VIDEO SHOOT:

In order to make this song have more emphasis, I felt it necessary to make my own “Crank That” song/video last week. Again, I have NO problems with these types of songs, so even though it’s not a song I’d normally do, I figured it would be okay, so long as I had this video to back me up!

I decided to film the part of the video where I’m “me” while I was still up in Alexandria, VA. I filmed me doing the song twice so that I’d be able to make fade-in cut shots. Why? If you’ve seen the back-and-forth melee between Soulja Boy and Ice-T, SB’s videos had him talking into the camera, and every so often there’d be an obvious “edit cut” where it looked like he took a part out and cut-and-pasted a later part on. This is why I’m sitting in one place for the “me” part of the video.

The second part of this video was me as the old-school rapper, who I named “Warm Lemonade” (Ice-T, Warm Lemonade – get it?). He’s the disgruntled rapper who scolds A.P.T. for making a “Crank” song that he feels is “killing hip-hop.” I filmed this part at my apartment in Atlanta, GA, using my plain wall as a back-drop.

This video shoot was relatively easy. Thank GOD!

Some Interesting Video Tidbits:

1. To play the part of the old man, I used some novelty old-man glasses I got from Spencer’s. To give myself the look of an old man, I powdered my hair and beard… with all-purpose flour. Gotta use what you have lying around!

2. The scenes of me watching “Warm Lemonade” from my hotel were actually filmed in my apartment. This is why I have the camera so close to my laptop – I wanted people to get the effect that I was still in the hotel. (Although, now that I’ve revealed that, it probably makes keeping that a mystery pointless

3. My mom actually bought me that shirt while I was in VA. I don’t think she ever thought I’d be using it as an old-man shirt, but it was a GREAT prop!

4. The microphone sitting on my laptop is an H2 Zoom mic. It’s the actual one I use to record my songs!

5. Editing time for this was relatively short – about 2.5 to 3 hours, plus added time in-between for me to goof around!

That’s all for now – see you all next week!

-A.P.T.

E-mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/notoriousapt

The O-Bama Mixtape: Here It IS!!!

Above: The YouTube ad for “The O-Bama Mixtape,” available for FREE download now!

DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM HERE 4 FREE:
http://www.zshare.net/download/161959272f9df90d  

Hey! If you like the mixtape… help a brotha get his music career started – SEND A DONATION!  Click HERE for more info!

Ladies and gentleman… it’s here – “The O-Bama Mixtape!!”

Wow, what a fun project to put together!  I’ve made CDs before, but this was the first one that was ever requested by others outside of myself. 

After the “Obama, Obama” song started to take off, people started messaging me asking, “yo, do you have a mixtape coming out?”  I thought, “that’s not a bad idea,” and got to work on it. 

And it’s done! And it sounds great!

Aight, so you know I can’t just give you a list of titles.  If you’re like me, you like to have an idea of how the songs were created. So, what follows is a list of titles, along with a mini-blurb about the song itself:

1. “The O-Bama Mixtape Intro” – Starts off with a clip from an Obama speech, followed by the song, which talks a bit about the choosing of Obama as President.  The beat used is from the Baby song, “I Run This.”

2. “I’m Gonna Make It” - Talks about my current situation, and my dreams of making it in the music biz.

3. “Obama, Obama” – The popular Lil’ Wayne “A Milli” remake where I talk about all things Obama-related.

4. “Shout Out 2 My Big Girls” – Dedicated to all the big, beautiful ladies out there.  Funny and poinient, too!

5. “Erectile Dysfunction” – A parody of Snoop Dogg’s “Sexual Eruption” that proved to be very popular at my brother’s girlfriend’s brother’s college, VCU.  It’s about… well, read the title, duh!

6. “The O-Bama Mixtape Interlude” – A very, very short interlude about how I hate interludes.

7. “I Just Want The Paper” – Produced by me, and featuring Notorious B.I.G. on the chorus, this song talks about wanting to have money, regardless of if I get anything else.  Very catchy and club-ready!

8. “Can’t Leave Rap Alone” – Features Jay-Z on the chorus.  Basically a slick-talking track where I talk about why the rap game needs me!

9. “Blow It All” – This is what I like to call a “skill track.” My flow on this one is fast, and talks about what I’d do if I had a big wad of cash to blow.

10. “True Lyricist” – Using the Tupac “Ambitionz Az a Ridah,” I wreck havoc on all those so-called “true lyricist” who whine and complain about not getting airplay against someone like Soulja Boy or Lil’ Wayne.

11. “I Put On (Remix)” - Has Young Jeezy on the chorus (couldn’t find the beat without him on it), where I talk about moving from VA to GA, trying to survive, and other things involving me

12. “Hey Jesse Jackson” – A remix of the Outkast song, “Ms. Jackson” where I go at Jesse Jackson for his recent negative comments about Barack Obama.

13. “Kick Bush” – A remix of Lupe Fiasco’s “Kick Push” where I go at President Bush for his… well, his lack of being a good President.

14. “Flashing Lights Freestyle” – Not really a freestyle, but I take Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights” and talk about Hollywood and the Paparazzi, as well as the stars that have been confronted with it.

15. “The O-Bama Mixtape Outro” – The last track where I give out all my contact information!

 So, there you go!  Download the mixtape, and let me know what you think!

DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM HERE 4 FREE:
http://www.zshare.net/download/161959272f9df90d/

Hey! If you like the mixtape… help a brotha get his music career started – SEND A DONATION! Click HERE for more info!

-A.P.T.

E-mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/notoriousapt

This Week’s Video + Thanks 4 Donating!

Geez and wow, is it Saturday already??

As I’m typing this, it’s 11:41 PM (start time) on Friday, so technically it’s on the cusp of Saturday.  Man oh man, what a week it’s been!  I started out being in DC on Sunday, came back to Atlanta, worked, hung out with friends, went to work… ya know the normal stuff.

Then, there was the internet version of my week: another online interview, tracking my views for videos on YouTube (the “Obama” one is now getting an average of 10,000 views per day), getting letters from radio DJs/listeners saying my song is being played on their station, accepting MySpace friends (now at over 400 – not bad, considering I had 250 prior to this whole thing starting)…

All that, and I still have a video to make!

I swear, it feels like I’m living a double-life right now.  I have all this stuff I do online to get my music out, yet I go about my normal life as if all that stuff isn’t happening. 

Well, at least I TRY to.  I don’t usually bring up my exploits or what I’m doing unless somebody asks me – I’m always of the thought that they don’t REALLY want to hear about it unless they ask.  These days, though, I get asked a LOT. 

I go to work now, and the first thing I’ll usually get is someone asking me what my next video’s going to be about, or how many hits my videos have on YouTube, or if they can be in my videos – an odd thing for me, considering that I was asking people a few weeks ago to be in my videos and… well, I didn’t get ignored, I just didn’t get an answer, or would here a “sure,” followed by a no-show appearance. 

It’s funny how perceived fame can make people view you different, even if slightly.  But I don’t feel like analyzing that tonight.  The thing that bugs me out is, despite the growing radio play, offers, media attention, whatever, at the end of the day the goal hasn’t been reached yet, which is to get PAID for my music!!

I just sent my song off to ASCAP so that I can get paid whenever my song is played on the radio, yet that can take 6 months or longer to get paid from.  I have a mixtape coming out Sunday that I can’t charge for because it uses other people’s beats, and the album I’m making that I CAN get paid for isn’t coming out until August 24th (it’s called “building anticipation” – first the free stuff, then the stuff you make people pay for). 

Until then, I’m relying soley on my job for money (ugh) and donations from fans of my music.  When I first told my brother I’d be setting up a link for people to donate money, he thought it was a dumb idea – “Nobody’s gonna donate money without getting something in return” was his main thought.

But lo and behold: people have actually started to donate some money to help me out!

I have it set up so that people can donate whatever amount they want, be it a penny, one dollar, five dollars, ten-thousand dollars, whatever!  I’m not picky about how much a person donates, I’m just happy that they care enough to do so.  With that said, I have been receiving some donations, and I just want to say to those people, THANK YOU. 

For those of you who haven’t donated, perhaps you’d like to know where your donation money will go:

1. OBTAINING BETTER EQUIPMENT.  The current recording devices I use now aren’t the best in quality – I use an H2 Zoom microphone which is really better used for talk radio recording; a basic Fruitly Loops program (i.e. doesn’t contain all the bells and whisles a full program has to offer); and a Kodak 6.1 MegaPixel camera to record videos.  In short, I’d like to be able to upgrade ALL these items so I can provide better-sounding material and higher-quality videos.
2. STUDIO TIME.  There are several songs I’ve written that would require me to scream, shout, or use inflections with higher voice ranges… and I can’t record them.  Why? Because I record all this stuff in my apartment, and have neighbors that would complain.  Extra money would mean being able to record my songs in a sound-proof environment where I could yell ’til my heart was content!
3. TOURING/TRAVEL FUNDS.  People have been requesting me to do performances in different states – but I can’t get there because I have no (a) car, or (b) money set aside for travel expenses.  Even if I only stayed someplace for one night, I wouldn’t be able to afford the hotel – well, I would, if I had donation money set aside!
4. TITHING.  I grew up in the church, and believe whole-heartedly in giving back 10% to God and/or charitable causes.  And, being in Atlanta, there are certainly many churches I could give back to!

If you’d like to donate money, it’s very easy – click on the link at the top of the page that says “Donations and Charities,” and give whatever is in your heart, people!!

Okay, so onto this week’s video: it’s the second part of the video I debut last week, “Crank That (Yeah!),” a song that was a lil’ out of my lane, but necessary to set up for this week’s song.  I don’t want to say to much about it, except to say it’s kind of a diss at old-school rappers who are constantly complaining about how the current generation is “killing hip-hop.”  I hate when they say that because… dang – I’ll have to finish that thought on Sunday!

I’ll probably post the video up late because my 14-year old cousin is going to be visiting me, and I’m hoping I have time to give him a little cameo in the video.  He has friends that are fans of mine (geez, that’s weird to type), so I figured it might be a big thing for him to be in it.  Or it could be a small thing and he may not want to do it.  Either way, it’s a small enough part to where I can film and edit the rest of the video before he gets here, and add his part in last.

Okay, it’s officially Saturday (12:09 PM)!  Let’s see, is there anything else I need to type… oh, yeah:

THE O-BAMA MIXTAPE DROPS SUNDAY, JULY 27TH!!! Make sure you download your copy on that day!!

-A.P.T.

P.S. Oh, I almost forgot: here is another video someone did with my song, “Obama, Obama.”  I have people re-making videos for my songs now – how awesome is THAT?!?

E-mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: myspace.com/notoriousapt

“The O-Bama Mixtape” – Coming This Sunday, 7.27.2008!

Ladies and gentleman… “The O-bama Mixtape” is here!

Yes, after being asked over and over again, “Hey, are you going to release a mixtape??” for the past couple of weeks, the mixtape songs have been completed!

Putting together a mixtape was HARD.  Not because I didn’t have enough songs, but for the opposite reason: I had so many songs, and wanted to put all of them on this mixtape!  I was going to put dang near close to 20 songs on there, but then I remembered that mixtapes are really meant to be teasers, an appetizer, if you will, for the actual album.  Plus, I figured it would be nice to have more material to put out another mixtape should I decide to do so!

With that said, the mixtape will probably be 12 to 13 songs, most of which are songs I made using beats from popular songs.  Most of these are NOT parodies – they are real songs I just happen to make off other people’s beats using my own flow (i.e. not purposefully copying anyone).  With that said, there are 3 songs on there that are parodies: “Erectile Dysfunction” (a parody of Snoop Dogg’s “Sexual Seduction”); “I Get Honeys” (a parody of 50 Cent’s “I Get Honeys”), and – of course – “Obama, Obama” (a parody of Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli,” just in case you haven’t heard it by now!).

I also have a couple of songs on there that were produced by me that I was going to save for the album, but they use vocal samples from other recorded songs.  Since I don’t own the copyrights to those songs I can’t legally sell them – but I CAN release those songs for FREE and still get people rockin’ to them!  I will also probably record a few other songs this week – they may not make this mixtape, but they could always be used at a later date…

I still have some small parts to record, like the intro, the small interludes between songs, and the parts near the beginning and end of songs where I mention my upcoming album.  If you think the mixtape is hot, just wait until you hear the album! (Coming out in late August – to find out the name of the album and its release date, DOWNLOAD THE MIXTAPE!!  HA! Now you HAVE to get the mixtape!! But it’s free, so you might as well get it anyway!)

So, mark the date people: Sunday, July 27, 2008 – “The O-Bama Mixtape,” the hottest mixtape to be released this year!!!

-A.P.T.

E-mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/NotoriousAPT

One-Man Band Man

There seems to be a misconception that I have either a partner or a group of people helping me out with these songs and/or videos.

I think it started with the “Obama, Obama” video: I asked one of my close friends if I could use a couple of her pics in the video since she (a) is a huge Obama supporter, and (b) had taken pics at an Obama support rally she went to.  At the end of the video I thanked her for her “participation,” i.e. her allowing of me to use a few of her photos/images in the video.

In the video after that, “Back to the Future,” I had my friend Michele call/text me a rejection message so I could use them in the video.  The last bits of help I’ve gotten since then were for the “It’s Over” video where my brother called in, and “Crank That (Yeah!)” where Michele was nice enough to actually say three words for me on my track.

However, outside of these very few instances where I received small bits of help, I’ve done everything else on my own, from thinking up the concepts of the videos to filming them, writing the songs by myself, etc.

Therefore… it really, REALLY gets on my nerves when I go to my comments boards on YouTube and read something like: “Wow, THESE guys did a really good job!” or, “Man, how did you GUYS decide to do a song about Obama??”

Like, where the heck are these people getting the idea that I’m getting extra help for all this stuff???

I guess it should be a credit to the good work I put out.  Even though it’s just me, I try to make it look as professional as I can, so I guess I should be honored that the quality is high enough to where people are saying, “he can’t possibly be doing all this stuff on his own; surely he must be getting help!”

But it annoys me.  Why? Because I go around asking people for help, and it’s a rarity (at least right now) for people to say “yes.”  Therefore, when I end up having to think even harder about how to create a video by myself, and figure out how to film certain angles without someone else there to hold the camera, and then have to find creative ways to shoot different videos in the same apartment and have them look different because nobody else will let me use their place, and have to do voices where I sound like different people because everybody was just too busy to record a small part for my song…

…the LAST thing I want people to think is that I got a group of people helping me out!!

Of course, there is something to be said to being a “One-Man Band Man” right now.  I’m getting a heck of a lot of education, not only in being creative, but also in discovering how to build up a fan base and advertise sans any help.  To that end, I HAVE had a few people reaching out to help me (albeit in different states).  For my mixtape, there is actually a DJ that wants to host the thing, which is great news for me as he should be able to promote it on his site and other sites…

…at the same time, though, a part of me really wants to do the mixtape the way I see it being done.  As I said before, I don’t want someone yelling all over my tracks, or re-winding back to the start of the song after it’s been played halfway through.  On top of that, I’ve already got people ready to download it, so a part of me thinks that any outside help would not really be necessary.

But that’s the controlling part of my personality that likes to see things done his way.  I know in reality that no one can get far in the music biz without having a little outside help.  To that end, I’ll probably end up releasing two versions of the mixtape: one on my site where I have it made exactly the way I want it, and one with the DJ who will be able to record all over it (ugh) but also pass it around to more people than I currently know.  It’s a trade-off, but one that should prove to pay off great, especially when it comes to advertising for my album.

Oh, you didn’t know I was recording an album?  Yep!  The title of the album… will be revealed on the mixtape.  I’m currently making beats for it now – yes, all original beats made by ME, meaning I won’t have to pay anyone royalties for using their stuff.  The goal is to have it out by the end of August, but, at the very latest, no later than Election Day.  I figure after that the “Obama” movement will have died down, which gives me 4 months to really show off my skills to people and get this album sold!

Dang! That’s a lot to type – I have a mixtape to finish recording!!

-A.P.T.

E-mail: aptsongs@hotmail.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/notoriousapt