FREE DOWNLOAD NOW – A.P.T. & Kaptain Kutta Album, “Manifest Destiny: The Takeover Mixtape”

Ladies and gentleman, I am proud to announce the release of my first ever collaboration mixtape…

12 Hot songs (plus some bonuses) from me, A.P.T., and my partner in rhyme (and beats) Kaptain Kutta!!

FREE DOWNLOAD – CLICK ON ANY OF THE FOLLOWING LINKS TO PREVIEW/DOWNLOAD:

DATPIFF.COM

MIXTAPEPASS.COM

YOUSENDIT.COM

Track Listing:

1. The Takeover
2. I Don’t Mean to Brag
3. V.I.P.
4. Wade in the Water
5. No Tomorrow
6. The Break Up Song
7. When The Doves Cry
8. Heads Will Roll
9. Take a Look (So Fly)
10. All Thanks to the Dope Man
11. Choose One
12. About to Blow (plus 2 bonus songs!)

INSIGHT INTO A MIXTAPE:

This is my first collaboration mixtape, and it came about for one very simple reason: I wanted to put new music out but didn’t feel like writing full songs.

No, really – most rap songs are 2 to 3 verses, 16 bars or more each, and it can be hard to have to come up with all those words yourself and keep the song interesting. So, I figured it would be a good idea to do a collaboration album.

Why Kaptain Kutta? Well, for those of you who don’t know, this dude is a beat-making GENIUS!! Some of my biggest youtube hits (like “I’mma Let You Finish”) he actually made the beats for, and he’s had quite a few beats on each of my albums. He also raps and puts out a slew of mixtapes each year – way more than me, like every other month or something. He’s got the work ethic and drive for this game, and figured he’d be someone that would actually finish a project with me, as well as make me want to finish a project.

We started making songs in April 2013, with him cooking up beats himself (or with Chris Wayne, his beat-making partner) and me coming up with song concepts and lyrics. It wasn’t until May that I actually had the name for the album. I wanted a title that would symbolize how me and Kutta planned on using this album to take over the industry, if force by necessary. And so, I came up with the idea of calling the album (and later, our group) “Manifest Destiny: The Takeover Mixtape!” (And if you don’t know what “Manifest Destiny” is, I suggest you repeat your 9th grade history class or google it.)

This is a very fun album, but it also gets deep as well. I’ve never been an artist that was good with just creating filler songs or party songs – at some point, it’s always good to have songs with social commentary, or ones that reflect on life, etc. There’s a good mix of songs on here – you have your party songs like “V.I.P.” and “No Tomorrow;” songs about relationships like “The Break Up Song” and “Choose One;” songs about things like the effects of drugs on family (“All Thanks to the Dopeman”) or being tempted by the wrong things (“Wade in the Water”); and some tracks that are about displaying our skills like “The Takeover” and “About to Blow!”

All in all, this album came together real well, and we really want people to hear it. That’s why we’re providing it as a FREE download! You download the album at the following link(s):

DATPIFF.COM

MIXTAPEPASS.COM

YOUSENDIT.COM

That’s all for now – enjoy the mixtape, everybody!! (And yes, videos for songs off the mixtape are coming soon!!)

-A.P.T.

Now on iTunes – The O-Bama Mixtape II: Vote Obama Style!

Well, it’s finally here…

Introducing my NEW A.P.T. album, “The O-Bama Mixtape II: Vote Obama Style!” Click the picture above or HERE to preview/order the album on iTunes!

Track listing:

1. The Next Black President
2. Vote Obama Style (Gangnam Style Parody)
3. I Wanna Do Nicki Minaj
4. Imma Fool Wit It feat. Kaptain Kutta
5. I’m Never Ever Gonna Vote for Romney (We’re Never Ever Getting Back Together Parody)
6. Words With Friends
7. Pick Up Your Face feat. Johney Capo and DJ-T
8. Christmas in Paris (Ni**as in Paris Parody)
9. Zone Out
10. Your Mama Is So Ugly
11. Obama Milli Remix 2012 (A Milli Parody)
12. Rich Man’s World
13. Ooh, I’m a Model feat. Genellyn
14. Black President (Rack City Parody)

Insights into the album:

In 2008 when I released the first “The O-Bama Mixtape,” I had NO idea what I was doing in terms of how to market myself. I had a hot song out at the time with “Obama Milli Remix” but didn’t really know how to capitalize on it or the wave of momentum it had. I released the album as a free mixtape, thinking only a few people would download it and that nobody would want to pay for it.

Fast-forward to the day of the election, and I wake up to find that the mixtape got downloaded over 8000 times… in ONE day.  doing the math, had I decided to charge for the mixtape and only 10% of those people – 800 – had decided to purchase the album, I would have made close to $5,000 in ONE day.

Ever since then, I’ve always wished I could (a) have another out that would hit as hard as “Obama Milli Remix” did, and (b) have another shot at marketing and promoting the album in a way where it would make an impact AND bring in some money.

Fast-forward 4 years later…

I knew I wanted to make a sequel to “The O-bama Mixtape,” but didn’t want to do it if it was going to be a waste of my time. I released a few songs earlier this year about Obama, but none of them were getting the views I felt would be needed to put the album together.

Then, in August, I heard about this song called “Gangnam Style” by a Korean pop artist named Psy.  After seeing the video – which had over 100 million views at the time (and has over 200 million now) – I KNEW I wanted to make a parody of it. I go into further detail in one of my earlier blogs, but in short: I came up with the idea to make a song about Obama using this song, then went and made an EPIC video for it that closely mimicked the original source material.

Well, after I put it up on YouTube, it started to get views. A LOT of views. In the first week alone, the video garnered well over 50,000 views. As of this writing it’s up to 95,000…

More importantly, though, the speed at which the views racked up have been FASTER than they were for “Obama Milli Remix.”  I already had “Vote Obama Style” up on iTunes (which, thus far, has been getting a LOT of purchases, but I won’t know how many until November), but wanted some of my other Obama songs to get attention as well.

I hadn’t really recorded enough songs lately for a new album (except for “Imma Fool Wit It,” originally released by Kaptain Kutta earlier this year – I just jumped on the beat ’cause I liked it and the song was siiiiick!). However, I HAD released a mixtape last year – “Justin Beeber Must Die!” – that had a lot of good songs on it but didn’t get the attention I wanted. I also had recorded songs earlier this year for the “Rapping My Life” project that fizzled out.

Since not many people had heard these songs, I figured “Hey, why not take some of those songs, mix them together with your Obama parody songs, and put the album up on iTunes?”

Okay, great idea – but what would I call the album?

This is where having a knowledge of the marketplace comes in. The original title was going to be “The O-Bama Mixtape II: Back in the White House.” However, with Psy’s “Gangnam Style” becoming a bigger hit by the day, I knew I wanted my songs to pop up in the iTunes search engine when people went there to find his song. In order to do that, my songs also had to have the same wording in it. Of course, I couldn’t name every song “Gangnam Style” parody…

BUT… I COULD place that title in MY album title so it would be attached to all the songs!

And thus, the OFFICIAL album title is… “A.P.T. Presents – The O-bama Mixtape II: Vote Obama Style (Gangnam Style Parody)!”

Now, some of you may be familiar with my previous works, including the songs that reappear on this album. For those not familiar, though, here’s a brief synopsis of all the songs:

1. NEXT BLACK PRESIDENT – First appeared on the “The Next Black President” mixtape. It talks about how Blacks now have a better shot at being President thanks to Obama.

2. VOTE OBAMA STYLE – A parody of “Gangnam Style” talking about Obama’s reelection campaign, as well as my disdain for Romney.

3. I WANNA DO NICKI MINAJ – First appeared on the “Justin Beeber Must Die” mixtape. Discusses my desire for wanting the hottest rap female in the game!

4. IMMA FOOL WIT IT – First appeared on Kaptain Kutta’s “Red Dream 3” mixtape (I think). Just a track where we’re slick-talking about how good/crazy we are!

5. I’M NEVER EVER GONNA VOTE FOR ROMNEY – A parody of Taylor Swift’s “We’re Never Ever Getting Back Together.” Talks about Romney’s habit of flip-flopping his views.

6. WORDS WITH FRIENDS – First appeared on the “Rapping My Life” album. The beat was made using sounds from the actual game, and talks about how good I am at beating people in it.

7. PICK UP YOUR FACE – Features Johney Capo and my bro DJ-T. First appeared on the “Justin Beeber Must Die” mixtape. A track for all the haters out there that didn’t believe we’d make it!

8. CHRISTMAS IN PARIS – A parody of Jay-Z and Kanye’s “Ni**as in Paris.” Features me as Santa Claus talking to kids about why they’re not getting gifts this year.

9. ZONE OUT – First appeared on the “Justin Beeber Must Die” mixtape. A song about having the worst day possible and trying to relax afterward.

10. YOUR MAMA IS SO UGLY – First appeared on the “Justin Beeber Must Die” mixtape. There’s a joke that says you can tell how fine a girl will be when she’s older by looking at her mom. This song talks about that…

11. OBAMA MILLI REMIX 2012 – A parody of Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli.” Ever since I made the first “Obama Milli Remix” people have been asking me to make a sequel FOREVER. And so, here it is, with basically the same words plus some changes to talk about Romney instead of John McCain.

12. RICH MAN’S WORLD – First appeared on the “Justin Beeber Must Die” mixtape. Talks about the ups and downs of making it.

13. OOH, I’M A MODEL – Featuring Genellyn.  I wanted to make a minimalistic track that didn’t have many words to it, that girls could also dance to.

14. BLACK PRESIDENT – A parody of Tyga’s “Rack City.” That bastard stole my “Obama Milli Remix” song from me back in 2008, so this is light revenge for that. LoL. But really, it’s a GREAT track talking about re-electing Obama for President.

And that’s it! You can download the songs individually, or get the album – either way, I appreciate your support, and hope you enjoy the songs!

-A.P.T.

Get the album NOW – click HERE!

Look At Me Now: A.P.T. Rapping Like Busta

Be on the look out for my NEW album, “Organized Chaos,” available July 19, 2011!

So check it out: I made a video of myself rapping Busta Rhymes’ part from “Look at Me Now” to prove to people that it’s not all that hard to do.  Check out the video below:

-A.P.T.

Help Me Get “NO U AINT” to #1 on Billboard!!

Now available for download at http://tinyurl.com/aptstrikesback

Featuring “The Betty White Song (I’m Makin’ Moves),” “No Memories”
and the soon-to-be #1 summer anthem, “NO U AINT!”

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I’m a guy who likes to dream big dreams.

When I moved to Atlanta almost 3 years ago, I had a dream of getting my song played on radio.  1.5 years later, my “Obama Milli Remix” song got real popular, and played on radio stations worldwide.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to get my song to iTunes at the time, so it didn’t quite register on the charts.

Now that I DO know how to do all that, I have one mission for the summer: to get one of my songs to the top of the Billboard and iTunes charts.

Right now, my song “No U Aint” is getting the most favorable reaction – everyone I’ve played it for/every person who’s seen me perform it loves the song.  The beat (produced by ATL’s own K.K.O.F.) is infectious, the lyrics are sing-songy, and it’s a sentiment everyone can relate to.

I WANT THIS SONG TO GET TO #1, PEOPLE!

As I have found, when you speak things into the universe, they tend to happen.  Therefore, I’m saying it right now: “NO U AINT” WILL be a #1 song on the charts this year.

I don’t know how I’m going to get it done, but it’s going to happen.  I’m going to push the heck out of the song and send it to every radio station I can, and perform it at every venue I perform at until DJs start spinning it regularly and it starts to catch on.  But mark my words, it WILL be a hit.

So, how can you help? Easy:

1. Listen to the song or watch the video.
2. If you like the song, download it from iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, or a plethora of other stores (yes, it’s already been sent)
3. REQUEST THE SONG AT RADIO AND IN THE CLUBS.  Yes, call your local station and pester them until they play it; go to the club and hand the DJ a copy of the song.

This is going to happen.  It has to – it’s been typed out for the whole world to see.  Let’s do it, people!

-A.P.T.

Album Review: Drake’s “Thank Me Later”

Drake’s upcoming album, “Thank Me Later,” leaked.  I’ve heard the album, and decided to review it.  So, what did I think? Watch the video and find out!

You can also order your very own “No U Ain’t” t-shirts for $20 (available in all sizes, in 5 different colors including Gold & Purple for all you LAKERS fans!!) – write me at Aaron@APTsongs.com and I’ll send you the order link! Get it today, and help spread the “No U Ain’t” movement!

Oh yeah – Take a listen to A.P.T.’s NEWEST hit song, “No U Ain’t,” from the upcoming album, “The Obama Milli Remix Guy Strikes Back!” (Out June 8, 2010)
To get your copy for .99 cents, click HERE (iTunes Link) or HERE (Amazon.com Link)! (Works on ALL MP3 players including iPods)

Vodpod videos no longer available.

-A.P.T.

BTW: My album, “The Obama Milli Remix Guy Strikes Back,” comes out June 8!

Starting A New Blog (i.e. Making a Positive Impact on the World)

Now that the creating of my album is winding down, I’m starting to think of other ways I can make money.

A wise man once said, “The best way to become rich is to figure out a way you can help a large group of people, then charge them for it.”  In other words, the more people you can help out, the more money you are apt to make.

Why, you ask?

Eh, who really knows.  I think it has something to do with the fact that as you help more people, they start asking for more ways you can help them, and are usually willing to GIVE you money for doing so.

I’ve experienced this myself before.  Most recently, I agreed to help some colleges of mine advertise their “No U Aint” t-shirts by making a song/anthem to the slogan so that they could make some money.  Granted, by making the song I figured I’d be able to make money off the sales of it, but I wasn’t in any way looking to profit off the shirt sales. Despite this fact, they said I’d receive a profit off every shirt I helped sell.

Ultimately, it all goes back to the law of reciprocity: if you do something good for someone, they will usually want to do good to you so things will be balanced.

With all that said, I’ve been thinking about what kind of blog I could create that would (a) give people a positive outlook for their day, and (b) become popular enough to get me internet attention from publishers so I could make some money selling books.  I’ve seen a couple of people become successful doing this (i.e. “Stuff White People Like” and “1000 Awesome Things”), so I know it’s possible.  I actually had a blog a couple years ago that I did this with called “Why I’m NEVER Having Kids,” but it’s kinda hard to think of reasons I don’t like kids on a daily basis, especially seeing as I do my best to stay away from them.

So, I’ll have to think of some other idea that I can blog about and get rich off of.  I know I definitely want it to be beneficial to people, but it also has to be something that has a catchy title, will make people want to pass it on to others, and is not so “me” focused like this blog is (which, of course, it has to be since it’s all about self-promotion).

In the meantime, though, the album – “The Obama Milli Remix Guy Strikes Back!” – comes out June 8th!

-A.P.T.

Radio Play, Performing and More

Only 2 more weeks until the album drops!

In the meantime, I’m doing all I can to get the word out.  Right now, that means focusing on two very important things: radio play and performances.

Of those two things, the “radio play” aspect is usually the trickiest.  There are people who will say things like, “Oh, you can’t get radio play because (insert one of the following reasons here: ‘you’re not signed to a label that can submit it;’ ‘radio stations don’t play songs solicited by the artist himself;’ ‘they only play the same 20 songs, so getting your song played is going to be hard’).”

Of course, when people say this to me, they forget they’re talking to someone who had their song played globally without even TRYING to submit it to a radio station. And as the old saying goes, “I did it before, and I can do it again!”

The song I’m pushing for radio play right now is “No U Ain’t.”  In my mind, radio stations SHOULD play my song because it’s a no-brainer.  It’s a hot song, one that people can chant along to; lyrically, it’s not so difficult that people can’t memorize the words; people can relate to the sentiment of the song (namely, that someone who’s lying to them about how successful they are should be told the truth to their face – i.e. “No U Ain’t!”); the beat, courtesy of K.K.O.F., is a straight BANGER; and – most importantly – it’s got a T-shirt to go with it! With all of those elements, ANY radio station should be more than willing to play it.

All it takes it just ONE station to play it just ONE time.  It’s like that first domino – once it gets pushed down, all the other ones tend to follow suit.

In the meantime, though, I’m well into the second aspect, performing.  I performed some of my new two Saturdays ago and got a GREAT response.  My next performance will be Sunday night at one of my friends’ birthday parties. Whereas the last performance was more of a “get back out there and start performing” show, THIS one is going to be even better.  More people in the audience = more people being exposed to me and the song.  I’m making CD copies of the single to pass out (the single will have a mini-sample of some of the other songs I have on iTunes as well), and my ultimate hope is that I’m able to get requests for more performances after this one.  Plus, people will get to see me wearing the shirt, which will mean more people will want to buy it.

Beyond that, the rest of it is just recording and getting my stuff ready for the release date on June 8th!

-A.P.T.

A.P.T. Song – “No U Aint” (From the NEW album!)

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Check out this EXCLUSIVE preview of a NEW A.P.T. song, “No U Ain’t,” from the upcoming album, “The Obama Milli Remix Guy Strikes Back!” (Out June 8, 2010)

You can also get your very own “No U Ain’t” t-shirts (available in all sizes, in 5 different colors) for $20 – to  inquire,  write me at Aaron@APTsongs.com.  Order yours today, and help spread the “No U Ain’t” movement!

-A.P.T.

A.P.T. LIVE Stream – Info about the NEW album, “The Obama Milli Remix Guy Strikes Back!”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Greetings!

For those of you who weren’t able to catch me on uStream yesterday, here is the full 24:35 video of that session.  In the video, I talk about the inspiration for the NEW album, “The Obama Milli Remix Guy Strikes Back” (out June 8), plus I give you a sneak peak into some of the beats used for the album, as well as an EXCLUSIVE preview of a never-before-heard track.

Oh yeah – in case you’re wondering how I was able to post up a uStream video into a wordpress blog… well, I’ll save that for another blog.  Enjoy the video!

-A.P.T.

I Performed! People Came! Food Was Eaten!

JOIN ME ON USTREAM TUESDAY, MAY 18TH 2010 AT 4:30 PM PACIFIC (7:30 PM EASTERN), FOR A LIVE DISCUSSION ABOUT MY NEW ALBUM,
“THE OBAMA MILLI REMIX GUY STRIKES BACK!” Follow me at http://www.ustream.tv/aptsongs

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I performed on Saturday!  It was great!

Yep, after 4 long months, I finally emerged from my cocoon to perform at the Zabumba Bar and Restaurant in Culver City.  I invited some of my friend to come see me a few days before…

…and then it dawned on me that I needed to actually practice before going on stage!

So, I spent two days practicing with T. Whistle (a.k.a. my performing partner-in-crime) to make sure we had the songs and stage movements down.  By the time Saturday evening came, my voice was starting to go a bit, so I drank a LOT of tea and saved my voice for the performance.

But I digress! It was great!  About 13 of my friends showed up – most of whom had gone to Hampton with me, so it was like a mini-reunion – and I was the opening act. I got up on stage and RIPPED through a couple of songs from my already released album, “Attack of the Obama Milli Remix Guy!” – “What Had Happen Was” and “Obama Milli Remix” – before getting into two songs off the NEW album, “The Obama Milli Remix Guy Strikes Back!” – “I Knock Your Lights Out” and “No U Ain’t.”

The crowd was energetic, the ladies were pretty hot, and by the end of each song they were all chanting the choruses – a good sign that I’m on the right path in terms of song creation.

Now that I’ve performed, though, I’m actually eager to do it in some more places.  It’s definitely good promo for the album – coming out June 8 – and it’s just fun to be able to get on stage and rock out!

That’s all for now – be sure to join me tomorrow on uStream, where I’ll be discussing particulars of the album.  I’m OUT!

-A.P.T.