Tuesday, March 1, 2005
At Monday's Sage Francis show in Phoenix, Arizona, 50 lucky people will experience "The Independent Success Story."
The hip-hop entity bold enough to make such a statement won't be Francis, however - it'll be Lawrence's Datura Records, which will infiltrate the show to hand out copies of Datura's ambitiously titled mix CD.
"We're just letting people know right off the bat," said Jeremy Willis, Datura's new marketing director and "full-time hustler."
"It's all of our hot cuts, basically : Instead of buying an ad in Elemental Magazine, we made 2,000 mix CDs and we're giving them away for free."
The move is one of many guerilla marketing tactics Datura has adopted to make a name for itself and its artists - local acts like Deep Thinkers and Approach - among a crowded independent hip-hop scene. From internet networking to cold-calling radio and retail outlets, Datura hopes to follow the grass-roots models of successful independent hip-hop labels like Rawkus and Rhymesayers.
In short, Datura is betting that the best way to sell records is to not "sell" them at all.
"It's more an awareness campaign," Willis continued. "We're not pushing anything on anybody : We're just trying to make them aware that this is here."
Datura Records' movers and shakers (from left to right) Brother of Moses, Approach, Brent Lippincott, Ben the Scratch Rat, DJ Sku, Jeremy Willis, Leonard DStroy (top right). Click photo for larger view.
Loud and proud
To anyone with a passing interest in local hip-hop, the music is indeed "here."
Exceptional releases from Approach, Deep Thinkers, SoundsGood, Nezbeat, Mac Lethal, Mad Awkward and a host of up-and-comings have proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Now it's up to movers and shakers like Datura founder Brent Lippincott to prove it to the rest of the country.
"There's a sense of urgency, really," Lippincott said. "There's so many people really not paying attention to what's going on on the hip-hop tip around here, and it's like, people are making moves."
Indeed, the recent signings of Mac Lethal to Rhymesayers Records (best known for hip-hop heavyweights Atmosphere) and The Sleeper (a.k.a. Mad Awkward) and I.D. (Isaac Diehl) to Mush Records provide evidence to that end.
And for Datura, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the upcoming year. On March 7th, Deep Thinkers' "Necks Move" will be re-released to a national audience with help from Caroline Distribution (the album was first independently released in 2003). A joint venture with the New York-based label Coup de Grace is doubling the label's resources, and a growing internet fan base is already following the label's every move.
Appropriately, spirits were high when Approach and Deep Thinkers traveled to NYC last weekend to perform a showcase at the renowned Knitting Factory.
"There's big things coming this summer," promised Sean Hunt, a.k.a. Approach, who does an equal amount of work on the business end of the label.
"We're going to sell thousands of records by word-of-mouth."
Taking it to the street
To make Hunt's wishful thinking a reality, Datura will have to surpass the first "Necks Move" campaign, which moved about 300 CDs.
Then again, 300 CDs isn't bad for having zero distribution. This time around, Caroline will get the record in stores across the country, and Deep Thinkers - an adventurous hip-hop duo composed of MC Aaron Sutton (a.k.a. Brother of Moses) and producer Kyle Dykes (a.k.a. Leonard D. Story) - will look to play some "weekend warrior" dates in support.
For Lippincott and Hunt, the opportunity to reach a larger audience with "Necks Move" superceded the desire to put out totally new Deep Thinkers record.
"It's too damn good, in my opinion, to not get this kind of attention," Lippincott said.
Video
Deep Thinkers, "Community Roots" (live at The Pool Room)
The effort will benefit from Datura's 20-person street team, which includes college radio DJs, freelance journalists, MCs, graphic designers and other people spread across the country from NYC to LA.
"The mainstream really killed the street team," Willis said. "After the whole street team idea blew up about six years ago, Warner Brothers had a street team; Sony had a street team - everybody had a street team. They didn't have contact with the street team members; they were just sending them stickers."
Datura will also utilize its MySpace.com page to alert more than 14,000 Deep Thinkers "fans" of the new record (as a point of reference, Sage Francis has only 6,000). The website - an online community similar to Friendster that has caught on with bands and music fans thanks to its mp3-posting capabilities - has been a huge resource for Datura. Deep Thinkers now claims four "most played hip-hop" spots in the site's Top 30.
"It's part of the job every day - a couple hours to go in (to MySpace) and get the word out and answer e-mails," Willis said. "At a click of a button I can tell 9,000 people information about Approach."
Audio interviews
- Approach talks about his upcoming album with producer OhNo.
- Approach talks about why Datura is re-releasing Deep Thinkers' "Necks Move."
- Approach, Willis and Lippincott talk about strategies for independent record labels.
- Brent Lippincott and Jeremy Willis talk about Datura's "Independent Success Story" mix CD.
- Jeremy Willis, Brent Lippincott and Approach talk about "taking it back to the way things used to be" with Datura's street team.
- Jeremy Willis talks about being "cool with people."
All hands aboard
With only three members on staff (and wives and kids to boot), Datura must diligently divvy up responsibilities that richer labels would likely outsource.
Instead of paying an independent promotion company to work "Necks Move" to college radio, Lippincott fields the responsibility himself. His plan of attack is simple yet effective: contact select DJs and music directors and ask them if they are interested in receiving an "exclusively serviced" copy of the record.
"I'm not just going to send out 350 pieces and hope I get CMJ airplay," Lippincott said, referring to the industry magazine which prints the college radio charts.
"I want people who want these records : I garnered up 14 DJs today just because I got to spend a day at home."
Hunt, meanwhile, handles most of the retail business - an exceptional commitment that's rarely handled by the artists themselves. Even more exceptional, perhaps, are his methods: spending hours a day calling up retail stores and talking to owners, clerks and just about anybody who'll listen.
"Tons of little guys are working their retail jobs, unenthused about anything, and then they get a call from me and we talk a little bit about a record," he said. "It makes a difference in their day : they're curious about it."
"People have skipped steps," Hunt continued. "People don't sit and talk with people about the music that's being made : We physically take ourselves to that place and say 'thank you.' That's the part that's missing."
Upcoming show
- Tuesday, March 8, 2005, 10 p.m. at Riot Room
Next move
If "Necks Move" achieves even half of what Datura aspires for it, the label should have no problem following it up with a slew of new releases. Approach has four entire albums nearly completed - including full-length collaborations with Mac Lethal, Nezbeat, Brother of Moses and producer OhNo - and Deep Thinkers are working on their follow-up to "Necks Move."
For Deep Thinkers producer Dykes, the "Necks Move" re-release is a mixed blessing.
"We need to stay on this album and push it," Dykes said. "At the same time, you're kind of fighting a battle within yourself. As an artist, you're like, 'I want to move on : I want to show what else I've got.'"
But for the rest of the Datura team, there are more than enough people who still need to hear what Dykes has already done.
"Outside of here nobody knows this (scene) exists, so there is such a pool of people to pick from and just blow people away," Willis said. "I got a kid at decoymusic.com who's doing reviews for Deep Thinkers : he's convinced that Kansas City and Lawrence are going to be the next hotbed of music."
"I was laughing, and he was like, 'No, I'm serious.'"
