We caught up with the brilliant and insightful $hadow a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
$hadow, appreciate you joining us today. What can you share with us about the story behind how you found your key vendors?
My line of work is different but I can relate. Being a rapper there must be key personnel in the camp. I never inked any major deals but I do have some key people on my side. Knowing what I know I would never allow myself to do music at mediocre studios. It’s best to find an audio engineer or studio by finding the studio/audio engineer that all the major local artists go to. The way I found my audio engineer (Holla Fame) was through another local artist. My boy Tenkay invited me to his studio session. We made some dope music together and Holla fame and I just kept it going. Also, I feel like we have good business relationships because we all have good punctuality, drive, and timely pay.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Well, I’m $hadow. Im a rapper from Miami, Fl. I love my city like a patriot love their country. I put the money sign instead of the “S” because money is connected to everything. So I wanted to make sure money was connected to my name. I was always musically inclined and the biggest rap fan. I started rapping in middle school and started to take it more seriously in my twenties. I’m very passionate about hip-hop/rap and I feel like that’s what sets me apart. A lot of rappers just rap for clout. I’m rapping to make hip hop great again.
My proudest moment is when I released my first project “Foreshadow”. I was very vulnerable throughout the project. Everything about the album is about me. My music are for the hustlers that’s trying to make it out.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Greatest lesson I learned in the music industry is hits aren’t made their marketed. At first I believed you just make great music put it out and through word of mouth the whole world will gravitate to your music. I was completely wrong. I had to unlearn that and understand the marketing/promoting side of the business. Every project has to have a marketing plan or what we call a rollout. If not only you and your friends will enjoy the songs you made.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
The way I built my audience on social media was through FB/IG ads. I honestly believe that is the way to monetize your music on the internet. The internet gives small business the power of ads to promote your product. Back in the day you could only show ads through television. The internet is leveling the playing fields. Ads are a way to communicate with the buyers show them what they like and they buy. So I pretty much did that with my content and people started to buy into me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Shadow.tw