Underground Hip-Hop showed up and showed out for January! Back to back releases… but it’s not over yet. I figured, who better to hear from than the music artists themselves. Today, I’m sharing some gems from a conversation I had with Aaqil Ali from my hood, Money Earnin Mt. Vernon, NY. (We went to some decent public schools that put some respect on the arts!) The poetic artist and 1/2 of Dusty Souls (with Y.N.X.716) had this to say…
How do you maintain your independence as an independent artist?
AAQIL ALI: Each year, I try to be more prepared and pay for less things. When I first started, I was paying for studio time, engineering, and a lot of different things that can be tedious. Now I can engineer my own stuff. You start to get more resources and people who wanna help the movement. So each year has gotten a little bit easier. Paying for less things allows me to continue making music without the hiccups and things deterring me from moving forward.
What new skills are you learning?
AAQIL ALI: One of the biggest skills I had to learn naturally was strategy and trying to do your best job with marketing and promotion from the best knowledge that you have. Knowing how to roll your albums out properly, reaching out to different podcasts, blogs, and avenues to make sure your music and your story are getting out there. When you’re independent, those are things you have to be 100% in charge of because nobody else is really gonna do it. Just understanding the people skills and curating relationships.
What about your income streams?
AAQIL ALI: I studied the streams and I was taught that a million streams is about $4,500. I don’t stream a million. I stream decently enough to where my music travels. So I realized that my money had to come from direct to consumer. My sales come from Bandcamp and also by getting physicals and selling them in a timely manner. You want to get that first wave of revenue at your listening party when people are coming to support you. And you want to have your shows booked when you’re going to other places, and even doing showcases where you can go and sell your product. I always aim to sell 200 CDs in that first month at $20. If you do a light merch run with some hoodies and T-shirts, you can add that in, as well. From that first wave and people seeing you market it, people seeing people wear it, giving some of it out if you can, and just letting it circulate and create some motion. If all goes perfect, from a good merch, CD, and vinyl run, you can make somewhere around $9,500. If you do right with it, you can just rinse and repeat that. You can even get some of your older albums and create a store for yourself. Also getting paid for features and certain venues will actually pay for me and Y.N.X. to pull up. It’s all about creating that momentum.
What do you see for the future for independent artists?
AAQIL ALI: More investors are gonna start putting other independent artists in situations. If you grind and you can create something for yourself, there’s gonna be more people who get behind certain independent artists. Because some of the labels are starting to close up shop, people are gonna start getting behind artists creating something tangible. We’re gonna get to see who can rise to the top.
Listen to the latest from Dusty Souls. This one is called The Watchers.
