A Day at Berklee College of Music

Last Monday I had the opportunity to spend the day and part of the night at Berklee College of Music. No, I wasn't taking piano lessons, but I was giving lessons on how I use hip hop as a tool of empowerment for young adults (students and professionals).   My day there began as a panelist on what they called a "Dine and Discuss."  The main focus was on hip hop and it's role in different parts of society such as education, social justice, etc.  I had a great time with my co-panelist, Mike Trammel who runs a great program for high school students called High School Jamz. I must give a shout out to my girl Darcie Wicknick for making all this happen.

From L to R: Ed Woods, Joi Pitts, Leonard "L.B." Brooks, and Sharon Heyward

Later that evening I had a chance to take in powerful information on the business of hip hop and urban music from executives in the music business. The panelist on hand included the following: Ryan Leslie, Ed Woods, Joi Pitts, Francesca Spero, Leonard “L.B.” Brooks, and Sharon Heyward.

Below are my notes and key takeaways that are applicable to more than just folks interested in Hip Hop and music in general.

We will start off with Ryan Leslie who is a recording artist, composer, producer, etc.  He has done an excellent job of staying connected to the people through social media and his videos, which can be found on his website.  For those who don't know Ryan Leslie or "R-Les" as he is known in the music biz, he is a Harvard Grad.  An interesting piece of information is that he was admitted into Harvard at the age of 15 and graduated at 19.  Did I mention he delivered the Harvard oration at the commencement ceremony?  I could go on but I'll let you read this article in New York Magazine for more on his background.  Before we jump into what he had to share, let's put it into context as R-Les did.  He reminded us that he was in Boston when he was first starting his career and he remembered going to tons of conferences and listening to a lot of people, but he rarely walked away with something he could go and use right away.  He wanted to make sure things were different for this crowd.  Here are some of what he had to share with us:

• Have a tireless work ethic
• Keep creating and releasing
• Ask yourself the question: What are you providing that is valuable?
• You have to have a desire to create something that is real and tangible
• Think about how you spend your day.  How much of it is in creation and how much is on evaluation and connecting
• You have to put out content, but then you have to evaluate it.  It is evaluated by the number of hits, comments, etc. you get.

This last point stands on it's own and it gets all the things that you wouldn't usually see--that's right I'm going all CAPS and BOLD, I'M EVEN GOING TO CENTER IT  that is how serious I am about this point and I just don't want you to miss it:

"DON'T HOLD IT! IF YOU ARE A CREATOR YOU CAN CREATE MORE. WORRY LESS ABOUT PEOPLE TRYING TO STEAL YOUR IDEAS AND MORE ABOUT GETTING YOUR CONTENT OUT THERE." -- Powerful!

Professor Kellogg (Moderator) and Ryan Leslie aka "R-Les"

Ryan Leslie had to head out so he was on the panel for a short time, but he dropped a message that goes a long way. "Thanks R-Les."

He wasn't the only one with us; the overall night was just filled with wisdom and words worth sharing with my readers.  Some of the other great points from the night:

• Think of yourself as a brand
• Ask yourself the question: What will make me an icon?
• Know that record companies go after those who already know who they are (packaging is important).
• Artist development is being placed more on the artist.  A couple of suggested things to do:
• Go out and perform
• Engage your consumers
• Protect your brand
• experiment and see what works
• Performing is how you eat and make money.  Focus on booking dates.
• Get good management as it can be difficult to do both: manage your art and manage the business.
• You can't build a brand if you don't know who you are. --Need help? Reach out: www.runthepoint.com

That was my day, filled with giving and receiving.  If you are in the Boston area make sure you come out next year.  I walked away with more ammo for my own business and moves I'm making with my book, Move the Crowd: 30 Days of Hip Hop Affirmations to Change Your Life.  You can definitely expect to see more of what I have been holding back in fear that someone might "steal" it.  I've been reminded that I am a creator so i'm going to do what I do, create.

Keep Running the Point from where you, are with what you have.

Your Ambassador,
Mike Bruny
Let's stay connected and make things happen:
website: www.runthepoint.com
blog: www.hiphopaffirmations.com
video: www.youtube.com/ambassadorbruny
facebook: www.facebook.com/ambassadorbruny
twitter: @runthepoint , @hiphopaffirms