Vessel is officially here! Y'all have no idea how excited I am for this project to finally be out. Have y'all heard it yet? If so, hit me with your initial thoughts below! WORD!!
LISTEN https://bit.ly/vesselspot
ON TOUR:
8/01/25 - Dayton, OH @ Levitt Pavillion
8/02/25 - Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
8/13/25 - Chicago, IL @ Gman Tavern
8/14/25 - Green Bay, WI @ Mad World Art Collective
8/15/25 - Minneapolis, MN @ Squirrel Haus Arts
8/16/25 - Superior, WI @ Havana's
8/17/25 - Moorhead, MN @ Harolds on Main
8/19/25 - Bismarck, ND @ Rhythm Records and Cafe
8/23/25 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Pizza & Atlantis Lounge
8/24/25 - Seattle, WA @ Substation
8/25/25 - Hood River, OR @ ADHD Music
8/26/25 - Corvallis, OR @ Bombs Away Cafe
8/27/25 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux
8/28/25 - Eugene, OR @ John Henry's
8/29/25 - Arcata, CA @ Outerspace Arcata
8/30/25 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Shanty Shack Brewing
8/31/25 - Sacramento, CA @ Golden Bear
9/03/25 - Costa Mesa, CA @ The Wayfarer
9/04/25 - Los Angeles, CA @ Rxockwell Lounge
9/05/25 - Las Vegas, NV @ Taverna Costera
9/06/25 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The DLC (Quarters Arcade Bar)
9/10/25 - Tucson, AZ @ Brickbox Brewery
9/11/25 - Flagstaff, AZ @ Flagstaff Brewing Company
9/12/25 - Phoenix, AZ @ Trill Hip-Hop Shop
9/13/25 - Albuquerque, NM @ Black Wall Art & Production
9/14/25 - Colorado Springs, CO @ What's Left Fest
9/17/25 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Hubbly Bubbly Lounge
9/18/25 - Lincoln, NE @ The Bourbon Theatre
9/19/25 - Omaha, NE @ The Sydney
9/20/25 - Madison, WI @ Play Circle Theater
9/26/25 - Cape Coral, FL @ Rack 'Em Spirit and Times
9/28/25 - Dunedin, FL @ Dunedin Brewery
9/29/25 - Orlando, FL @ Will's Pub
10/04/25 - Cincinnati, OH @ Oddfellows Liquor Bar
10/17/25 - Brooklyn, NY @ Secret Pour
TICKETS: weightless.net/tourdates
Ladies and gentlemen, the second official single “Black Plates” from my upcoming album Vessel is here! Vessel drops July 29th and you can preorder at the LINKTREE on my profle.
ON TOUR:
8/1/25 – Dayton, OH
8/2/25 – Columbus, OH
8/13/25 – Chicago, IL
8/14/25 – Green Bay, WI
8/15/25 – Minneapolis, MN
8/16/25 – Superior, WI
8/23/25 – Portland, OR
8/24/25 – Seattle, WA
8/28/25 – Eugene, OR
8/29/25 – Arcata, CA
9/03/25 – Costa Mesa, CA
9/06/25 – Salt Lake City, UT
9/10/25 – Tucson, AZ
9/13/25 – Albuquerque, NM
9/14/25 – Colorado Springs, CO
9/20/25 – Madison, WI
Get tickets at weightless.net/tourdates
Shot by @visionaire_4d and edited by me.
Shot at @richstreetrecords
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#undergroundhiphop #oldschoolhiphop #boombaphiphop #beatmaker #ableton #realhiphop #vinyllove #realrapper
On vacation in Hawaii with my girl right now, but had to hit up a book store down the street from our hotel once I saw they had some records in there as well. They actually had a much better selection in there than I would’ve thought, so I picked up a few joints. If I find something dope, I might make some beats today!
WORD!
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#boombaphiphop #vinyl #akaimpcsample #vinyllove #undergroundhiphop
Just as a heads up, there are now less than 100 copies remaining of the 20-year anniversary vinyl reissue of my debut album "1988" on weightless.net. If you've been thinking about picking up a copy of this classic album on vinyl, now is the time! Here are the details:
- Blue or Black colored vinyl
- Double vinyl
- Gate fold jacket
Get your copy now on weightless.net/shop
p.s. put a note in the special instructions box if you would like your copy signed.
"Is the MPC Sample hard to learn for an absolute beginner?" Here are my thoughts...
However, I would welcome my fellow producers who also have one to weigh in with their opinion below. Curious what y'all think and if you would recommend it to a beginner.
WORD!
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#independentartist #akaimpcsample #boombap #beatmaker
As an older artist myself, one of the biggest things I try to instill in some of my peers is to allow music to be fun again. So many of us came up in hyper competitive environments, battling, fighting gatekeepers, trying to get validation from our peers, or signed by a label. That makes many of us become bitter or lose sight of the most important thing, which is how much joy we get from making music.
And sometimes the best way to feel that joy is to stop thinking about what we can get out of a music career and start thinking about what music already gives us that helps us mentally, physically, and spiritually in everything we do. It's a priceless gift.
To all my fellow artists, don't forget to have fun. I was having fun when I made this beat on the MPC Sample. Let me know if y'all dig it.
WORD
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#akaimpcsample #beatmaker #independentartist #musicindustry
Due to the amount of traveling I will be doing this year, I decided to give this Sound Burger portable turntable a try. One of the reasons I tend to stick to the dollar bin when I'm digging on tour is because so many shops don't have listening stations anymore and I'm not crazy about paying big money for a wack record with no samples on it. So I'm hoping this helps me listen more before buying or even be able to listen to/sample records in the hotel room.
As you can see this thing is pretty damn small. I also got the travel case for it and upgraded the stylus on it. It's bluetooth and has a regular 1/8th in output. The only problem is the output is low if you use it for headphones, so I will have to use a headphone amp to get it loud enough to hear if I'm in an actual record store with it.
On vacation this week, so I'll let y'all know what I think about it. Anybody else got one of these?
WORD!
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#beatmaker #vinyllove #vinyl #akaimpcsample #beatmakerlife
Every beat-maker has a genre of music that helped them come into their own. For me, that would be rock records. I love listening to jazz records, but for whatever reason I've always had a hard time finding dope samples on them. But rock is different for me. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if 35%-40% of my record collection is rock!
So it's only right I get back to sampling some of them using this MPC Sample. I pulled a few from the crates and came up with this. Let me know what y'all think!
WORD
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#beatmaker #boombaphiphop #akaimpcsample #musicindustry
I just realized that there are now only FIVE COPIES LEFT of my latest album Vessel on vinyl (available exclusively on weightless.net). This might be the fastest I've sold out of 500 copies of vinyl and the best part is it was all sold directly to fans with no middle-man and no stores. So I wanna thank everybody who supported and picked up already. It means a lot!
For any of you interested in owning this album on vinyl, you should get it now because I'm not sure if/when it will be pressed again. Head over to weightless.net/shop to pick up your copy today before they're all gone.
Have a great weekend!
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#musicindustry #independentartist #vinyllove #vinyl #indieartist
The tip of the day is to ignore the negativity! Hope this helps someone.
p.s. If you need any help on your journey, head over to superdutytoughwork.net and book a coaching call with me.
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#independentartist #musicindustry #indieartist #boombap #akaimpcsample
One of the things I sometimes struggle with is setting artistic goals. I think it's because making music is so inherently fun and challenging to me that it's sometimes easy to forget that I need to attach my work to something bigger.
If you've been watching my posts lately, then you know I'm having a lot of fun with this MPC Sample. But I decided that I want to set an artistic goal for myself using it. And that goal is to make 100 beats on it by the end of the year, then choose the best of them and start writing an album to them. They say your goals should be challenging enough to inspire you, but not so challenging that you're discouraged about even starting them. So I think this goal fits that requirement for me.
To all of my producers out there, feel free to join me in this artistic challenge. You can use any machine or software you want. Let's get busy.
WORD
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#boombaphiphop #beatmaker #musicbusiness #akaimpcsample
A couple months ago, I strained my wrist due to holding the mouse in bad positions for too long in my studio, so one of the ways I've decided to address it is by trying out a stand up desk for my bedroom production setup. After a couple of days using it, my initial thought is "why didn't somebody tell me about this sooner?!" This thing is great.
The ability to raise and lower the height of the desk is not only good for my legs and mobility, it's also good for making sure the desk is the proper height to give my wrist/forearm the support it needs so I don't strain it again. Now I want to put one in my real studio, but I'm concerned about the weight of the studio monitors. Has anyone else tried a standing desk in their studio? If so, did you have any issues with it being able to support the weight of your reference monitors?
Let me know your thoughts.
WORD!
p.s. my wrist is much better now, but I still wanna take precautions to avoid any future problems.
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