Blog Number 1!
Today is January 25, 2k16. Recently I have started an internship at youth on record !! It has been going great ! I had an amazing first week there. I started learning the basics of the producing program, Ableton Live, and I have to say I’m a natural. It is surprising to me how everyone there is so friendly and humble. I met the other interns and they are just as hungry for knowledge as I am. The other interns consist of Sly, Naimah, Isreal, Justa, and Diego. Diego is among one of the most astonishing interns, he is an Mc, he plays multiple instruments, and he is always willing to help out and share his knowledge. Seeing other interns like that really inspires me. A couple weeks ago I learned about “code switching”, and now I apply it to how I act and how I treat others while at Youth on Record. The best thing that has happened to me so far is just being able to witness all of these young people like me willing to learn. It makes me feel motivated to be the best that I can be. I am exited about how everything will play out for the rest of the semester.
Blog Number 2!!
Yo whats up?!? Well I have to say, the Second week of my internship was great! I’ve been learning the ropes at Youth On Record, and also becoming more comfortable with all of the other interns and partner artists. I love how we reflect our ideas off of eachother for the benefit of all of us. I love being at Youth On Record, it is so fulfilling. The best thing that happened to me this week at Youth On Record was receiving a simple, but yet sort of difficult and time consuming task. Tyler, my mentor, told me to organize all of the records in an alphabetical order. At first I didn’t feel like there was a point of doing it, but the more that I organized the records and working on it, the more I became astonished with what I found and the records that I came across. They had records made by Icons!! Records from Method Man, Red Man, and Mariah Carey all from Def Jam records. They also had records from artists I’ve never even heard of before so that was cool to be introduced to new artists that I can listen to, they even had old school records from legendary hip-hop artists such as Ice Cube, and Eazy-E. A lot of artists that I found were artists that I have been looking up to since childhood. Although organizing all of the records was a bit stressful and time consuming, it was also something that I was proud of doing at the end of the day, and also something that I can reflect off of. What really makes me exited about my internship is that I am finally going to be able to produce my own beats! For too long, I have been stripping beats off of Youtube, and scratching projects due to not being able to produce beats of my own, and now that I have an opportunity to produce my own music, I will definitely take advantage of it. So be prepared to hear good music made and produced exclusively by me !!!
Blog Number 3!!!
This blog is going to be short and sweet ! I am announcing that I will drop an EP!! This Ep will be called the overflow, and will be dropped at the end of the semester for my final project!
Blog Number 4!!!!
I know I’ve said this before in past blogs, but I honestly love being at Youth On Record! I take the highest pride in the responsibilities that I have there as not only an intern, but a student as well. Those responsibilities are usually somewhat simple, yet humble tasks. Tasks like sweeping the floors, taking out the trash, setting up for events, fetching chairs that Youth On Record needed to borrow from another local community business, documenting merchandise that is donated and/or bought, maintaining a clean and presentable work space, spreading positivity, providing aid to those who can use assistance, etc… As interns these are our priorities, and we all contribute to completing these tasks as a team. Andrea Viarrial Murphey (director of visibility and operations) and Jamie Duffy (Executive director) from Youth On Record came up with a great way to insure that everyone is assigned a task, and that everyone contributes to taking care of them. We constructed a board that has the name of every intern on it, and under our names it has a place where they can stick a task using a card with a task on the front, and Velcro on the back of it.I feel like my main contribution at Youth On Record would have to be the positive vibes that I spread throughout the building. I support anyone and everyone who has a passion for music like I do, so if there is someone who can use the assistance and knowledge that I offer, I would be honored to help them out in any way that I can. My daily duties are pretty simple tasks, and even though some might find them petty and annoying, I actually find that they help me work on the fundamentals of hard work and good because they always give me something to do.
Blog Number 5!!!!!
My internship has been going great!! I really loved this week especially. Not because the other weeks I’ve been there are bad, but because this week was just so good! The highlight of my week was being able to perform at an event that Youth On Record was hosting. The event was a national meeting with people who want to get involved with us and also bounce around and reflect ideas for Youth On Record and ideas that they can apply to their home businesses.The only thing that I would consider to be a “low-light” was that when we were preparing for the song we were gonna perform, the other interns kept switching up the guitar riffs/ beat so I had to write pointless versus. But its okay! We ended up dominating in our performance. Honestly it was the most fun I’ve had all year! Recently, I have been connecting well with the other all of the other interns. Especially with this one intern named Sly. Sly and I go all the way back to freshman year! I find it crazy and coincidental that we both ended up at Youth On Record as interns. We joke around say that its because of destiny, and I honestly believe that, that’s the exact reason we crossed pads again. We met at Lakewood High School during our freshman year, second semester. I moved from North, and I was sort of the new kid on the block. Right away Sly and I became friends. Sort of because we would goof off in class, but mostly because we were both artists that took rapping seriously at a young age. So ever since we linked back up at Youth On Record we have been making as much music on our free time as possible! I feel like a great way to improve my experience at Youth On Record would be to learn an instrument. Everyone is always jamming out in the tracking room, and if I can learn and instrument then it would definitely boost the experience that I am getting there.
Blog Number 6!!!!!!
Everyone at Youth On Record brings healthy and positive vibes! Everyone is supportive of everyone, and everyone is respectful of everyone. I know, i’m saying “everyone” a lot. But that’s because everyone is having their own great and unique experience at Youth On Record! It makes me feel exited about all of the young people that come in and out of Youth On Record. If people remain hungry for knowledge and if they continue bettering themselves in their art/field as much as possible, then the future of not only Youth On Record, but also the culture of local Hip Hop in Denver will be greatly impacted (in a good way of course). If I ever become “the boss” one day and end up having an intern of my own (I most likely will be), I would treat him/her the same way that I am treated as an intern at Youth On Record. They hook me up with food, knowledge, practice, performances, concert ticket, and the list can go on!! Whats not to love? I have learned a lot so far from all of my “co-workers”! I have learned how to produce beats which has been one of my long-term goals for awhile now, I learned how to play the bass which is honestly the coolest instrument to “rock out” with, and I also am learning how to work the sound board, so hopefully soon I will be able to engineer and possibly other peoples sessions soon! I have also been learning a lot from my sponsor Tyler. He taught me how to play records, fold cords correctly, and he’s even been giving me pointers when I play the base, helping my understanding of how the bass’s sound can go along with the sound of the other instruments.
Blog Number 7!!!!!!!
Hi! Everything has been pretty good with my internship, aside from a few obstacles in our way. The other interns and I had a lot on our shoulders at Youth On Record this week. The other interns and I were assigned a task to write and compose a song. So we ended up making an AMAZING song that came a long way and called it “On Our Way”. Working with the other interns like that was an experience like no other! It really astonishes me that I am now a member of a band! That’s honestly something that I’ve always wish I had.There is a huge difference between working on my own personal projects, and working on a project with multiple people. Whenever I’m making a song that’s exclusively mine, the only ideas that are put into the song are my own, and in a way it limits the potential of the final product because there is less thinking being done. But when I work with other people, and work as a group, it feels there’s almost just an overwhelming amount of ideas, and its hard to pick something that everyone agrees on. When working in a creative business and working as a team, I learned that one of the most important rules, if not THE most important rule is that everyone who is involved in the project, or with the business needs to be on the same page. If not everyone is on the same page, then it becomes easy for progress to decay/collapse. Another thing that I have learned from working in a creative business is that it should almost be considered as a necessity for you to have creative ideas. Thinking outside the box is what sets the bar for non-profit organizations such as Youth On Record. The more critical thinking put into this organization, the better.
Blog Number 8!!!!!!!!
My internship inspired project is sounding great so far! I have a good pretty amount of songs that I’ve started so far, and I enjoy making every single one of them! Now its just a matter of finishing them, and hopefully mastering them along the way (I have no idea who can master them for me). It’s a little bit of a challenge for me to get a good amount of my music done at a time. Before, it was because I would get “writers block” because I wanted to make sure that all of my songs are good sounding and have meaning. On top of that, it is sometimes hard to get a recording session because of all the other people that are trying to get studio time during open labs. But that’s okay. I am confident that when I drop my EP it will be the absolute most “FIRE” EP/album dropped in 2016. When I talked to my sponsor, Tyler, about it he said that making an EP would be a great project if I can pull it off, and that he is exited to see what the final outcome will look like, and sound like. This project bridges what I do as an artist and as an intern as well. As an intern, it is a display of all of how I spend my time at Youth On Record. As an artist, it is a big step up from where I was when I started this internship. Now I produce more frequently and have a better ear for what sounds good and what doesn’t. There are some challenges in my way of me on my journey to completing my EP, but I know without a doubt that it will get done, and when it gets done I am confident that it will be a great kick-off to my career. Also a good “buzz-builder”.
Blog # 9 !!!!!!!!!
The life of an intern at Youth On Record has been great. Youth On Record really provides me with some vital tools, knowledge, and experience that are necessary for me to continue on with my journey as an upcoming artist. As I’ve stated in previous blogs, the Youth On Record interns and I, are together, a band! Recently, we had the opportunity to perform our song “On our way” at the performing arts center downtown. It was for a black tie, invite only event/fund-raiser with The Denver Foundation! The majority of the people that attended were wealthy investors in non-profit organizations such as Youth On Record. This experience really inspired me. It was really an out of this world feeling to perform in front of that many successful people, who all support what Youth On Record does as a company, and also what we do as interns. In a way, this has changed my artistic ambitions and views. Not only because this was my first paid performance, but also because I want to be successful as well. I want to make enough money to be able to live a happy, and fulfilling life. I want to know what it’s like to get an exclusive invitation to an event life that, and also have enough money to give back to the community of Denver. So from this semester forward, I will do whatever I can and learn as much as possible to better myself as an artist, and also to better my approach to the business side of this career that I intend to successful pursue.
Blog 10 !!!!!!!!!!
This experience has undoubtedly been one of the most beneficial experiences I’ve ever encountered. Youth On Record has provided me with a lot of knowledge that is truly beyond my years. If it wasn’t for this internship, I don’t think I would have realized how unprepared to take on this career I was to take on a professional career as an artist, compared to how prepared I feel that I am now. It’s still hard for me to comprehend what I have been a part of for the past couple of months. The reality of this internship, exponentially surpassed my expectations of what I initially thought it was going to be like. I’ve learned a lot because of Youth On Record, I learned how to produce and make beats, I improved my stage presence, I learned how to better run engineer a recording session, I’ve picked up some networking skills, and I’m starting to learn how to professionally mix my own beats and vocals. But overall, I feel that the most important thing I’ve learned is that, success is inevitable when progression and hard work is consistent.