Ruger’s Reality Check … Vol 20

Ruger's Reality Check | 01. Mar, 2011 by Ed E Ruger | 3 Comments

Quantity, Quality Or Both?, 10 NC Albums You Need, Rapper Face Tats & New CD Reviews/Features

NEW CD REVIEWS/FEATURES

Ok let’s get the shameless promo started…

*NEW FEATURE in YES! WEEKLY* Workingman’s grind: Ed E. Ruger’s new album is a slice of blue-collar hip-hop life http://t.co/giok0oR

Ziplocked & Loaded Album Review on th UK’s own RagoMagazine.com

http://bit.ly/eY6p8I

Ziplocked & Loaded CD Review on HypeNC.com

http://j.mp/hFH5op

Ziplocked & Loaded CD Review on GhaniGautama.com

http://www.ghanigautama.com/blog/?p=326

Click here to get the 1st glimpse of “Ziplocked & Loaded” -> http://t.co/aPoYQIt <-

YOU can NOW buy “Ziplocked & Loaded” for $9.99 or download your favorite singles for $.99 on iTunes http://bit.ly/hXBV30

Amazon link …go buy the new album “Ziplocked & Loaded” for $8.99 on Amazon.com! http://t.co/jApXjms

For a physical copy of “Ziplocked & Loaded” send $5 through Paypal to Sales@ederuger.com & get a bonus cd & sticker…while supplies last

*NEW HEAT* “In My Own Zone” http://t.co/WfQ5KwZ NEW MUSIC from “Ziplocked & Loaded” …CRAZY!

QUANTITY OR QUALITY

We’ve all seen cats put out what seems like 100 mixtapes a year. We’ve also seen mc’s only release 1 album every couple of years & seem like double because of the anticipation. Over the years both have been successful but which is the best way to release your music?

In my opinion, releasing a ridiculous amount of free music that you could be selling, on beats to songs that are already familiar to the masses is kind of defeating the purpose. In order to brand yourself as an artist & build a fan base you have to develop a signature sound. That’s hard to do rhyming over industry beats as opposed to original beats. Plus I’ve always felt like I was just wasting material doing mixtapes,which is why I’ve never done one. Although,It is good to give some of your music away for free to get your name out there and keep people wanting more, you don’t want to over do it. Releasing a mixtape a month only works IF and only IF you have already have an established fan base who will consistently download them on a monthly basis. If that’s the case wouldn’t you just release all original albums so that those dedicated fans will buy your album? I’m not saying releasing mixtapes doesn’t work because I’ve heard plenty of mixtapes that made me go out & buy the artist’s studio cd. What I’m saying is that unless your a major artist,such as Lil Wayne or Gucci Mane, who are famous for their ridiculous amount of mixtapes they’ve released (most of which are garbage) you are wasting your time & talent.

Not releasing material can be just as bad as releasing too much material. Once again unless you are a certified star staying out of the public eye for too long will bury your career fast. People have short attention spans and the only way they will remember you year to year if you are constantly in their faces promoting,doing shows & releasing music. Here’s the catch …it has to be QUALITY music! People don’t care about horrible music whether they remember you or not. Classic albums with timeless music will always earn you a space in the hearts & collection of any true music fan no matter how long its been since your last release. They will be able to tell other people more about YOUR style & YOUR music instead of how dope you were for 1 verse on “that one little wayne beat” every other rapper in your hood has spit a verse over AND YOU OWN THE RIGHTS!! On top of that, most of the beats you choose for your mixtape will be played out in 3 months, the beats on your album will always be new to people who have never heard it and in the memory of those who have heard it. Just don’t stay quiet too long because they will forget and at the least just stop spreading the word because they think you quit rapping. Consistency creates credibility people!

So is it quality, quantity or both? I say both. You can use free mixtapes to promote your albums & stay fresh in the minds of your fans while you are working on your next project. You can also release an album a year and push 1 song at a time in order to keep your name out there. What you don’t wanna do is drop 6 mixtapes a year that are complete trash. Or take years to drop 1 trash album for that matter. Take your time to perfect the project and make sure its something people can relate to & will want more of. If the album is keeping you out of the public eye too long then by all means leak a few tracks or drop a mixtape. Bottom line is people will always choose 15 great tracks over 60 mediocre tracks. Its pretty simple, leaving the fans wanting more is always better than them wishing they heard you less when your cd goes off. You gotta kill them with consistency. Quality + Consistency = Longevity

10 NC CD’s YOU NEED

This idea came to me when I dropped “Ziplocked & Loaded”. I got tons of great feedback including being named 1 of NC’s 10 best albums by numerous people. After thinking about what great company that put me in I decided to come up with a list of albums from NC I think yall NEED to hear. I could’ve kept goin for 50+ albums so I just put together a list of some of my personal favorites. This isn’t a “top 10″ & isn’t ranked in any certain order. I don’t feel I have the right to come up w/ a top 10 bc I know there are tons of NC artists, that have cd’s, I haven’t heard. So once again these are just 10 of my favorites that you need to hear.

(If you’re wondering why I didn’t list any of my own cd’s, its because that would be totally lame)