We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sixman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sixman , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Big risk I took was at the beginning of this year. I planned and booked a 3 day cultural experience in the city of Grand Rapids, Mi called Return of the BoomBap. A major saying used for a lot of overseas hiphop shows and festivals. I coordinated the “Industry Mixer” held at “Wasted Clothing headquarters” where we had two live Djs playing music, industry influencers, Artist and business types networking in the room. Which is not always the easiest thing in a city filled with a lot of hate for others.

The next day I planned out a pop up shop at Vertigo Music to sell merch. It wasn’t full but we did capture sales that day and implemented our selfs in the record store with product.

The last day was closed out by the “Grand Finalie “ concert a sort of homecoming featuring Sixman and some other amazing artist.

The risk of all this was we where doing all this right in the last leg of COVID.
We dealt with ticket refunds. People not wanting to attend because of protocol. 20 people were turned away at the door because they didn’t have proper papers.

All in all the 3 day cultural events were a success.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Every fabric of Sixman’s being is quilted in Hip Hop. It’s visible in his eyes. It streams from his pores and propels his movements forward. The thread of the culture is sown into his rhymes. He speaks hip hop. He lives hip hop. Right now, Sixman’s life is all about his album The Fix, released December 11, 2020 on his imprint FAM ENT. Noted as “the new boom bap sound”, the 12-track set is produced entirely by acclaimed producer Tommy Vamoz. Its quality is equivalent to 10,000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. His second album with Vamoz, it comes 9 years after their classic 2011 LP The Greenhouse.
Featuring his most influential and thought-provoking lyrics to date, Sixman was personally and professionally inspired by the pain of the Covid-19 pandemic, the widespread social conflict against systemic racism, and the drug-addiction crisis in America.
Scoring early hits with “Black Sinatra” featuring General Steele (of Smiff-N-Wessun), “Bad Mutha”, and “Snake Shit” featuring El Da Sensei, The Fix was preceded by The Fix: Short Documentary with Sixman. The well-received film led to him signing a deal with Lee Pro Films to further distribute the art piece.
Originally from Grand Rapids, MI and now residing in Atlanta, GA, Sixman’s childhood diet consisted of equal parts Sesame Street, social awareness and history, and Hip Hop culture. He digested everything.
Growing up to become a skilled, respected Hip Hop artist, graphic designer, film director and editor, Sixman served his first recorded single “Who Am I” in 1999. It was one of the first Hip Hop songs to stream online and it received positive feedback from around the world.
Before long Sixman began touring internationally, blazing such stages as Amsterdam Summer Festival. He also found himself regularly on tickets with top acts like Parish Smith, Redman, and The Alkaholiks among others. Eventually Sixman started headlining his own shows while he meticulously built loyal fan support in Europe. Back in the states he followed The Green House with God Bless with DJ Game Ova in 2013, I Love Dilla in 2014, and both the EP Re-Connect and DVD film Already Famous in 2015.
In 2018 Sixman released The Grand, his love letter to his native Grand Rapids. Praised for its lyricism and beat selection, the mixtape/album scored big with singles “Authentic”, “Breathe”, and “Maybach Dreams” (featuring JC). Sixman made a ceremonious return to Grand Rapids that same year for the release of Last King which is produced entirely by DJ Supa Dave. It was his most successful and acclaimed LP before The Fix.
From ’18 through 2019 Sixman toured heavily in the states and internationally, with marquee dates at SXSW and A3C. These were followed by a headlining European tour that including the legendary de Rauwe School in Amsterdam. On the strength of singles “Great Escape” featuring PaceWon, “Aprendi” featuring Flame Killer, “Pray for My Enemies”, and “Meditation”, Sixman’s relentless efforts and critical praise would lead him to receive face-to-face compliments from the legendary Hip Hop icon DJ Premier.

2022 he then released a Ep “The LuX” where sixman got a honorable mention for “Capitalistic” music video from the Grand Rapids film festival. Sixman also tour with hiphop pioneer “El da Sensei “ from Artifacts 2022. Sixman then came back to his hometown and held The culture of hiphop work shop for the kids of Wedgewood. All leading up to his rooftop mixer with the new liquor brand out of Michigan Stock da bar vodka Sixman now works with, to being the key note speaker this year at 2022 62nd anniversary for wedgewood.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

Well we sale on our site. But more so off of social media platforms. We do pop up shops a lot inbetween that. I feel it’s best to put merch in front of people. You also gain new supporters that way.

These are all pros.

Cons would be not having enough followers to actually maximize in the market.
Sometimes you might have inventory you need to get rid of before stocking more.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

We keep in touch with clients through social media. Our music and fashion kind of belongs in boutiques so following us and us having your email always keeps fans up to date on new product drops. Special events, pop up shops and concerts. The music has such respect in the market place that it draws you to the merchandise.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.Therealsixman.com
• Instagram: HTTPS://Instagram.com/Therealsixman
• Facebook: HTTPS://Facebook.com/therealsixman
• Linkedin: HTTPS://LinkedIn.com/Therealsixman
• Twitter: HTTPS://twitter.com/Therealsixman
• Youtube: HTTPS://YouTube.com/theforallmusic

Image Credits
No credits. I own them