A1: Professional identities within the music industry

 

Developing a professional identity

I have had a huge passion for music since I was a young child and have actively followed the charts since spring 2014 (at the time, I was 10 years old). Growing up, pop and rock was played around the house, as well as 70s and 80s classics my dad introduced me to. My first introduction to rap music was listening to artists like Eminem and Lil Wayne when I was a kid, but at 12 years old I became a full-time hip-hop fan after listening to “Panda” by Desiigner in the summer of 2016, as the song’s beat and Desiigner’s flow blew me away. Artists who influence me include rappers Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Dave, A$AP Rocky, Kid Cudi, Juice WRLD and Polo G, as well as R&B singer SZA.

At around 15 or 16 years old I started to write rap songs and wanted to create beats for it – I have experimented with software such as Soundtrap and watched a few FL Studio videos on YouTube in case I wanted to install it. Right now, I am currently at college to learn about becoming big in the music industry, be it a recording artist or producer, though I have no plans to go to university.

 Your professional identity is your job profile, your online presence, your public persona and how you market yourself and present yourself to other professionals.

The professional practitioner I have identified is Kendrick Lamar, an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer.

Kendrick started rapping as a teenager under the stage name K. Dot. He released a mixtape, which garnered local attention and got him signed to record label Top Dawg Entertainment and started gaining popularity in 2010 following the release of Overly Dedicated. He was creating professional standard music when he started due to being signed as a professional rapper. 

The professional practitioner I aspire to be like is Dr Dre, as he has influenced so many rappers nowadays, including Eminem, who is one of Kendrick Lamar’s influences. Dre started out as a hip-hop DJ at clubs in Los Angeles before founding NWA with Eazy E and Ice Cube. Although he was primarily a rapper in the group, Dre was also responsible for being a producer and crafting beats. NWA had a big break in 1988 with their album “Straight Outta Compton”, which spawned hits such as the album’s titular track and “Express Yourself”.

Dre left NWA in 1992 and co-founded Death Row Records with Suge Knight. In the same year, he released his debut solo studio album “The Chronic,” which became one of the biggest and most well-known rap albums of all-time. The album introduced the “G-funk” production style – the style is characterized by plodding tempos, synthesizers, and samples of 70s funk classics. The Chronic’s immense success made the sound became dominant in hip-hop in the mid-90s. Dre left Death Row in 1996 to form Aftermath Records. Three years later he released a second successful solo album, “2001”, which spawned the Grammy-winning hit “Forgot About Dre”.

Dre discovered Eminem in the late 90s and helped propel him to stardom; Dre became Eminem’s producer throughout his career. His work with him, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent earned him considerable respect. In the early 2000s, Dre was expected to release a third studio album (which was believed to be titled “Detox”), but it was scrapped. In 2015, he finally released a third studio album, “Compton”, which was inspired by the NWA biopic “Straight Outta Compton” released the same year.

Skills analysis

A skills analysis gives you the opportunity to assess your current skillset and your evidence of that skill. It also helps you map out what skills you need to develop and how you will achieve this.

I am using a SWOT report to analyse my skills. SWOT reports are analysis reports used to analyse your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. They can be used to help you pursue your goals and improve. They are needed as a form of self-evaluation:

 

Strengths I have a passion for music; therefore, I should know already know most things Creativity allows me to come up with new ideas for beats or lyrics I am dedicated to what I do, which further emphasises on my passion for music I am full of respect, which makes me liked among my peers	Weaknesses I procrastinate often – if I continue to do so, I’m not going to get my work done on time which causes pressure Don’t like criticism depending on the day I am distracted easily, which is a red flag for getting work done on time
Opportunities Learning to use Cubase and other software is essential for my work	Threats Procrastinating to the point I am not prepared for notable events

My personal qualities that make me good at song writing are taking inspiration from personal stories of myself and others, different perspectives, and other rappers. An example of a rap song that influences my writing is Polo G’s Billboard #1 hit “RAPSTAR”, which contrasts everything Polo G has achieved and brags about, such as his success bringing him money (“Do it sound like I’m kidding? I’ve been making like $2000 a minute”) with his insecurities and anxieties he faces on a daily basis (“Anxiety killing me, I just want to leave Earth, / When they ask if I'm okay, it just make everything seem worse / Try and explain your feelings, sound like something you rehearsed”).

You will need to be motivated, confident and perseverant, confidence in performing in front of an audience, stamina, and dedication to continue practicing every day, reliability, and flexibility (you will need to work long and irregular hours), good teamwork, and creativity.

Professional etiquette

You must not: publicly insult other musicians, complain when you cannot play a show, expect to borrow gear, be a sore loser in a competition, or ask to be someone else’s band.

Understanding expectations

You must work hard to be successful in music, but keep in mind you will not always have time to focus on music

Your digital footprint is your online presence. You should be consistent in what, when and how you post, stick to platforms you know, schedule your posts, and allocate time.

Creating your own opportunities: You need to go to gigs and build your network, act straight away on opportunities, and be ready to go all the time.

Teamwork is important for many things. Collaboration with a group involves solving different problems, bringing new ideas from team members to make businesses thrive, and building morale. Teamwork is supportive overall – when one member falls behind, another can pick up the pieces.

Requirements of style and genre can affect your identity significantly. There is a major difference working in the metal industry compared to the pop industry; a clear difference is how these types of songs sound – metal sounds rougher and has heavier instrumentation, whereas pop music aims to sound more commercial and radio-friendly. Artists working in either styles of music are mostly driven by what their record label wants them to create, so it can appeal to a certain audience and therefore make said labels money.