Certain people understand what it takes to make it in the music business. As a would be rap star many starving artists simply rely on what they believe to be true. The over saturated tails of lot's of money raining from the sky to the unlimited amounts of cars and women often replaces the hard grind and work that it takes to make it. Many different people in the city of Akron are lovers of music. These are the same people that have spent their hard earned money to purchase music from their favorite local record store or online site. When it comes to the city supporting the local music movement or " the local rap artists" people usually look the other way.Now don't get me wrong I know some local artists get some support when it comes to the legitimate sell of their music but this is nothing in comparisons to what national artist gets in this same demographic. In-short super star acts like 2 Chainz, T.I. and Lil Wayne can come here at any giving time and get instant support from our local community. The sad part is an artist that's not as big as the before mentioned super star acts can even come to or promote in this city and can reap positive benefits from the average rap fan here. The real question is, why is that? For that answer all you have to do is talk to one of our own local rappers and see how he is doing in other parts of the country. So that's what we did. We sat down with Akron's own Extra Grams to see how things been going since the release of his debut solo CD titled Got Grams?.
The Cd hit the streets last month on the independent label Space Age Music Group. For those that's not in the know about Space age Music Group and their label of artists the word Trappy defines the labels movement and swagg. Trappy is defined as flashy and loud. Meaning,If you work-hard grind-hard in order to shine hard then you're trappy. Simply put, you don't have to be a drug dealer or a hustler to have nice things. So if you like the current music trends that dominate the airwaves daily then you'll love the labels other releases titled Trap Swag Music. Also a compilation from the label's stable of artists titled:Raining Bricks. And countless singles that can be found on the streets as well as the net via Amazon.com and iTunes.
Extra Grams a.k.a Marlow Hill said that he feels blessed to be able to put out his music in the fashion that he did. Meaning that the label's CEO. Priest Mr. One Williams believed in him when know one else did and for that Grams says he will always remain loyal to the label and it's CEO. As far as the success of his first release, he said that it makes him feel good when people comment about the songs and sing his lyrics. He also noted that most of his fan base and interest is coming from other places like Canada, New York and the south. Thanks to things like internet radio, music lovers can catch a lot of so-called underground artists and in the case of Extra Grams this is what's happening. He said all the positive comments that he gets via all of the social /music sites are proof that the movement is slowly but surely blowing up. He also said that people are ordering the Trappy T-shirts as well.
One of the things we touched on is the amount of competition between local artists. He said he's more in tune with national acts. Meaning he is trying to make the music that artists like 2-Pac, Biggie, Lil Wayne, Drake and others can relate to. He also said that people like different songs from his CD. Which kind of shocked him because he thought other songs people would enjoy more. All in all, this is his first solo project and the sky's are the limit for this weeks spot-light independent artist.So if you like the song Captin Sav'em by E40 and enjoy rocking out to people like Juicy J and the 3-6 Mafia then you'll love his new CD titled Got Grams? To get in touch with Extra Grams hit him up on facebook @ Marlow Hill or tweeter @ Extra grams. Also you can check him out performing live downtown Akron at Primo's night club with national artist Yo Gotti Nov.23rd. So here's the answer to the original question. One of the main reasons why a local artist doesn't get the local love and support that they deserve..simply put... hate. Until the next time have some fun and get something done.
