2. THEMUSICMAGAZINE
Table Of Contents
On The Cover
Def Jam’s Legacy: What’s next for the legendary hip hop label?.................p.11
The Grammy’s Relevance?: We evaulate the real weight of award shows..........p.9
Whose Song is it Anyway: Robin Thicke v. Marvin Gaye Estate. Were there any blurred
lines in this court case..........p.5
How to make it in NYC?: We ask NYC talent booker how bands can succeed in the
Empire State..........p.7
You Oughta Know
2014 Industry Numbers: The data has been release and we will explain it to you..........p.13
“If You’re Reading This it’s too Late”: Drake’s suprise album..........p.14
“To Pimp A Butterfly”: Kendrick sophmore album breaks records..........p. 14
Tha Gutta Magazine
ISSN 43199315
McDaniel Publication
Volume I Mar- Apr Issue
Office: 127 Tompkins Ave. Brooklyn NY
3. Table Of Contents
In Tha Gutta
Letter from the Editor..........p.3
That New New: Chicago rap duo Death by Icon are on the come up..........p.4
Look At The Lyrics: We’re going to translate Keith Ape’s “It G Ma” for you..........p. 23
Profiles
Sia: The Faceless Pop Star..........p. 15
Sean Pecas: The man you see everywhere makes a career change..........p. 19
Features
5 Soundcloud Superstars: Accounts you need to follow immediately...........p.17
Empire’s Representation of the Industry: Don’t take this show too seriously, it’s
nothing like the real world..........p. 21
THEMUSICMAGAZINE
4. Editor’s Letter
Welcome To Tha Gutta
This whole magazine concept started while I was interning at Def Jam. I had to sit at a 5 foot
by 3 foot plastic table with five other interns. Can you say cramped?The table had two computers,
but only one of them worked. Being that 95% of the table was occupied, the other interns and I
grew close considering we had no choice. Did I mention we were in the copy room? Basically it
was a gutter and that’s where the term “Tha Gutta” came from.
The term “tha gutta” doesn’t only apply to this cramped copy room. It means a not ideal
situation or position but you make the best of it. Everyone when they are entering a new field, ie.
interns and new musicians, are starting at the bottom,“Tha Gutta”.
I want this magazine to the information and entertainment source for all new musicians and
anyone looking to enter the music industry. I’ll give you the inside scoop on all the jobs you never
heard of and all the companies you want to work for. I will provide you with tips on how to make it
from slummy NewYork City basement venues to get toTerminal 5. I will also highlight new artists
to check out in the column “That New New” and update you all the new things happening in the
industry with blurbs from the “You Oughta Know” department.
I want to be your go to source for advice because I’ve interned at record labels, recording
studios, booking agencies, music magazines, and more. I have tips on how to handle getting cursed
out (it will happen, its the music industry). I want you to share your stories, whether they be hor-
ror or success stories, and I’ll share mine.
Tha Gutta started as a podcast with my fellow Def Jam interns Heidi and Howard, now I’m bring-
ing it to you in print.As the wise Drake once said,“Started from the bottom now we here”. Be
apart ofTha Gutta Movement.
Follow us onTwitter @ThaGutta and listen on Soundcloud,Tha Gutta Podcast.
Founder & Editor,
Bria McDaniel
Bria McDaniel, Editor
5. THAT NEW NEW
“That New New” artist of this issue is Chicago rap group Death by
Icon made up of rappersAnt,Vic, and producer Dook.They are hitting the
scene with their new single “Wake Up” off their upcoming album Hassah,
scheduled to be released this summer.
The group draws you into their music with their powerful beats,
memorable hooks, and relatable lyrics.The group has been making noise
on blogs such as PigeonsandPlanes.com, and MishkaNYC.com.They re-
cently released their video for their single “Wake Up” on Complex.com.
Death by Icon is making their imprint on the industry with their new
single “Wake Up”.We are excepting some more great music to come from
their new album, Hassah, this summer.
Connect With Death By Icon
SoundCloud: Death by Icon
Website: www.deathbyicon.com
Twitter: @deathbyicon
Facebook: Death By Icon
Death By Icon
By: Bria McDaniel
Photography: The Internet
Ant & Vic from Death by Icon
6. T
he courts have come to a deci-
sion and Robin Thicke and Phar-
rell have been required to pay
the family of late Marvin Gaye
7.3 millions dollars for copyright infringement.
The 2013 hit single “Blurred Lines” featuring
Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and T.I. was the
cause of many controversy over its close relation
to Marvin Gaye’s “Got to give it up”.
In August of 2013, Robin Thicke, Pharrell
Williams an T.I. filed a preemptive lawsuit against
the Gaye family, in which the family retaliated
by filing a countersuit claiming copy infringe-
ment for “Blurred Lines” and “Got to Give it Up”
and Robin Thicke’s song “ Love after War” and
Gaye’s “After the Dance”. Robin Thicke claimed
to be drunk and high during the production and
promotion of the song. In a GQ interview in
May 2013, he said Gaye’s song “Got to give it up”
was the inspiration for the song. During court
testimonies he denies his involvement with the
production of the song, saying “none of it was my
idea”.
On March 10, 2015 the jury ruled in
favor of the Gaye family stating “Blurred lines” is
a direct copy of “Got to give up” Besides the 7.2
Robin Thicke v.
Marvin Gaye Estate
What will be the impact on the future of music
and copyright infringement?
By: Bria McDaniel
Photography: The Internet
Robin Thicke Marvin Gaye
7. payout from the courts, the sales of Marvin Gaye’s
“Got to give it up” have increased by over 200%
since the Blurred lines court ruling, selling over
10,000 digital copies.
This isn’t the first time a musician has been
sued for copy infringement. Some of the most
memorable and popular songs have been sued, such
as Ray Parker Jr.’s was sued over his Oscar winning
Ghost Busters’ theme song “Ghostbuster” by Huey
Lewis over its similarity to his song “ I want a drug”.
Vanilla Ice was sued by Queen and David Bowie
over Ice’s song “Ice
ice baby” similarity to
their 1981 song “Un-
der Pressure”.
Some of the
musicians may not be
too concerned with
the financial loss, but
Pharrell is seeking to
appeal the jury’s rul-
ing. In an interview on March 20th Pharrell stated
“I feel like the verdict was based on emotion and
not the real true issue, which was copyright in-
fringement. There’s no copyright infringement.” He
continued, “If that verdict stands, people can’t be
inspired by anything, companies can’t be inspired
by anything, or else they’re liable for suit.”
Pharrell poses an important question, will
the “Blurred Lines” verdict set the precedence for
copyright infringement guidelines across the music
industry? How so? Several new allegations have
sprouted as a result of the jury decision, including
Tom Petty accusing Sam Smith of infringement
regarding Petty’s 1989 hit “ I won’t back down” and
Smith’s 2014 hit “Stay with me”. The two decide to
settle out of court awarded 12.5% writing credit to
Petty and Jeff Lynne on the song. Jermaine Dupri
also recently spoke out saying Ciara’s recent single
“I Bet” sounds extremely similar to Usher’s “U Got
it Bad” he produced in 2001.
Within evey industry inspiration has been
pulled from legendary predecessors. There has
been cases of infringement in all industries. Ideas,
melodies, fabrics, chords, and so much more has
been recycled over and over again. It may be hard
for artists to come up with something that is truly
original. “There is only so many cords you can play
on a guitar and you’ll be able to find similarities
with tons of songs soon you’re going to have to
start copy
infringing
drum beats.”
Said Dan-
ielle Grubb,
musician.
So, will this
be the new
trend, musi-
cians filing
lawsuits against each other for making music too
similar to their own. “All songs are the exact same
shit and they did it with Hammer, Prince and Rick
James”- Will, music producer. Is music becoming
the same cookie cutter instrumental with dull lyrics
or is that just an excuse mediocre artists are making
for not putting effort into their songwriting and
production. Artists such as FKA Twigs, who have
found inspiration from Marvin Gaye, Louis Jor-
dan, and X-Ray Spex, have created a new path for
their music within the traditional genres without
stepping on toes or stealing beats. So, she and other
artists like her are evidence that it is possible to be
both inspired and original. However, we will surely
see more cases of copyright infringement cases in
the future. Who will be the next victim?
“If that verdict stands, people
can’t be inspired by anything,
companies can’t be inspired by
anything, or else they’re liable
for suit.”
- Pharrel Williams
8. How To Make It In NYC
5 Steps Every Band Should Follow To Become Successful
In NYC And Anywhere Else
We spoke with Dan Melnick, Founder and Director of Operations at Turnstyle Music
group, a booking agency in Brooklyn, NY. The company has over 4,000 musicians on its roster
and books acts for over a dozen venues in New York City, Boston, Long Island, Philadelphia,
and San Francisco. We enlisted the help of Dan Melnick to provide us with 5 simple steps to help
musicians move up in the competitive and highly saturated music scene of New York City.
1 “Networking is essential in every business you work in, but it is especially
important as a new musician. Every time you meet someone new make sure
you are promoting your upcoming show or new record. It also is helps if you
have merchandise. Even if it is a simple business card or flyer, this will help
them remember your name. Communicate with the other bands on the set list
that night. Try to cross promote. Try performing with bands with a wider fan
base and a similar sound, this will help spread your name and music amongst
another group of friends.” - Melnick
2 “Try not to play the same venue over and over. You aren’t expanding
your network and audience that way. Spreading out your shows helps
drives your audience to your show because they know they won’t get
another chance to see you for a while. I’d suggest playing shows at
least 6-8 weeks between each other. It also helps you to concentrate
on promoting and preparing for one event, therefore making it that
much better for your fans.”- Melnick
Network
Plan Out Your Performances
9. 3
4
5 “As a musician you hold your craft as precious piece of art you don’t want
to get negatively influenced. However, it is possible to be successful in the
business without letting your art/music suffer. Once you get to a certain
point of success you can enjoy and focus on your craft.”- Melnick
“You may have a great performance and tons of new
people may be praising your name, but what’s going
to help you stay in their minds is merchandise. Invest
in merchandise with your social media so they can
follow you and keep up with any future shows you
may have.” - Melnick
“Promotion is important, but you don’t want to over
saturate your fans with social media post. I suggest
posting a message to your fans every couple of weeks
before the show. Not everyday. Not 5 times a day. Too
many social media posts then your fans will start to
tune out completely.”- Melnick
Interview by: Bria McDaniel
Photographer: The Internet
Don’t Flood Your Social Media
Have Merchandise
Music is an Art and a Business
These tips along with hard work, and practice will help you make great strides in the hard knock
New York City music scene. As they say if you can make it here you can make it anywhere.
10. The Grammy’s Who Cares?
Which artist has sold over 135 million
albums worldwide, but never won an Album
of the Year Grammy Award?
For generations families and friends have
crowded around the TV to watch which mov-
ie would get the Oscar, which actor would get
the Emmy, which musician would get a Gram-
my. However over the past 5 years award show
viewership has been declining. But does that the
significance and the value behind the awards
have declined as well?
Many artists have been known to boy-
cott award shows from time to time for several
different reasons. Many genre, especially Hip
hop, has been underrated and under-represented
in award shows. As we venture away from the
award seasons we see the after effects of the win-
ners. There is also the sore loser effect. No one
dislikes losing as much as Kanye West. No one
likes losing but especially after dedicating and
pouring your heart and soul in an award. Lets
take a look back to 2009 Grammy’s when Kanye
West crashed Taylor Swift on stage at the Gram-
my’s because Beyonce didn’t win the Album of
Year Award.
Although the ratings have been declining
over the years, people still tune in. Why? It’s the
one event we get once a year to celebrated good
artistry and musicians. But is the music really
being celebrated. Some musicians might say “no”.
“The Grammy’s has a commercial component to
it they want to sell commercials. they have these
big superstars advertising”, said Kanye West on
Power 105.1 The Breakfast Club. There has been
several in Grammy’s history specifically where
artists haven’t felt properly represented at these
award shows. Back in 2009 Kanye West infa-
mously crashed the Grammy stage while Taylor
11. Swift was accepting the album of the year award
over Beyonce. More recently, in 2014, Macklemore
won best rap album over Kendrick Lamar. There
was a lot of controversy that followed this event
both from the artist and the fans. Hip hop and
rap fans were devastated the Grammy committee’s
decision. In February 2015, at The 57th Annual
Grammy Awards Beck won Album of the Year
over Beyonce’s self titled album. Kanye, Beyonce’s
biggest defender, crashed the Grammy stage again,
but stop short of repeat the 2009 Grammy inci-
dent.
These incidents
makes you think, “who is
behind all the Grammy
decisions?”. There are tons
of memes on social media
mocking the apparent 90
year olds that are on the
Grammy committee, but
what is the actual process.
The Grammy com-
mittee is made up of more
than 150 experts in var-
ious fields thats conduct
reviewing session making sure records and artists
are placed in their proper category such as Rock,
R&B, Jazz, Category, New Age and others. The first
round ballots are then sent to the voting commit-
tee members, where they vote in up to 20 catego-
ries in their field of expertise. They also vote in
the general field which includes the nominations
for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of
the Year, and Best New Artist. After the members
have voted, their ballots are sent to an independent
accounting firm. The final round of ballots are sent
out to members of the committee and the process
is repeated. (The Grammy’s website). “I don’t have
the answers on how to change the voting system, I
don’t got the answers on where everyone is hon-
ored in the proper way. maybe it should a case
where two artists should win”, said Kanye West
on Power 105.1 The Breakfast Club. It is not clear,
through the website, what are the members’ qual-
ifications as an expert or if they are required to
listen to all the albums and artists in their category
prior to voting. That could be the determining
factor to whether the process should be altered to
make the voting as fair as possible.
Since the voting process seems bias, why
does it matter if you win one or not? “It’s a class
thing it carries more weight if you win a Grammy
versus a BET award.”, said Kanye West on Power
105.1 The Breakfast Club. It has been the goal of
many artists to win
a Grammy award
and perform on the
Grammy stage. It
signifies the level of
your musical career
much like an Oscar
for an actor. Although
the voting system may
be flawed at times,
there will always be a
Grammy’s award. Is it
a true celebration for
all musicians, possibly.
The rise of Soundcloud artists and the creation of
new genres may inspire new genres to be added to
the ballots, so more artists can be represented.
The awards show still carries weight and
they will continue to be a goal for many musicians.
However, considering that the voting is solely
opinion based by a bunch of experts no one’s heard
of, maybe they shouldn’t matter as much as they
do.
Beyonce doesn’t seem to be both-
ered about never winning an Album of
the Year Grammy award despite being
the most awarded artist in history and
the most nominated woman in Grammy
history.
Kanye West (foreground) and Beck (background) at 2015
Grammy Awards
Written By: Bria McDaniel
Photograpghy: The Internet
12. D
ef Jam is one of the first and
most notable hip hop labels
in the music industry. The
name Def Jam is synonymous with its
founders, Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin,
who remain idols within the music industry.
Through several iconic label presidents and
CEOs like Jay Z, Def Jam has continued to
be a leading force in the industry bringing
you artists like Kanye West, Common, Rick
Ross, Rihanna, and many more. This label
has continued to landmark itself in the
industry by venturing into new and expand-
ing genres such as EDM.
I took a visit to the Def Jam office
in New York City to have a discussion with
Shawnae Corbett, Senior Director of Artist
Development and Albert Cooke, Manager
of Artist Development. The artist devel-
opment department is the “middle-man”
between the artists and the label. We dis-
cussed the past, present, and future of the
legendary label, Def Jam.
In November 2014, Def Jam cele-
brated the 30 years of success in the music
industry with a concert at Barclays center
in Brooklyn, NY. The stage was filled with
some of our favorite Def Jam artists such as
Redman and Method Man, DMX, Ashanti,
Ja-Rule, Big Sean, 2 Chainz.
Not many labels if any can gather
this many notable acts and put them all
on one stage for a night of celebration, but
Def Jam did it. How did this label that was
started in a NYU dorm room result in one
of the most iconic labels in the country.
Many labels don’t share the same unique
By: Bria McDaniel
Photography: The Internet
Def Jam’s
Decades of Success
13.
14. origin story or the same success story Def
Jam does. The label was built by musicians
and music lovers, they brought some of
the still most influential hip hop artists to
the masses such as LL Cool J and Kanye
West. Def Jam has always had a good
balance between relating to the artists and
remaining a profitable business. The have
had brilliant
musicians and
producers as the
face of their la-
bel such as Jay
Z and now Dion
“No I.D” Wilson
as the Executive
Vice President
of Def Jam.
However, a problem that continues
to face the entire music industry is the
movement from physical sales to digital
sales along with the increasing popu-
larity of streaming services like Spotify.
“We have a situation where we’re trying
to understand the buyer more so we can
market to them properly.” said Shawnae
Corbett. With the music industry and the
technology constantly changing and ad-
vancing labels and tech companies need to
work together to create the ideal situation
for all, especially consumers. “It’s about
embracing technology and learning how
this technology will impact the way music
is delivered or the
business of music”
said Albert Cooke.
Along with these
changes Def Jam is
also expanding out-
side of the Hip Hop
genre into the grow-
ing trend of EDM.
They have recently
signed new international artist such like
AxwellxIngrosso and Alesso. They have re-
leased music from new R&B artists Teyana
Taylor and Elijah Blake. “Being here when
the Justin Bieber and Iggy Azalea came in
and just became big international names,
and watching these artists start young and
LL Cool J Jhene Aiko DMX
“We have a situation
where we’re trying to
understand the buyer
more so we can market
to them properly.” said
Shawnae Corbett.
15. grow into these worldwide superstars is one of the highlights of being here during these
transitions.” said Shawnae Corbett.
What is next for Def Jam? This year we can expect projects for Kanye West, Ri-
hanna on the Home Soundtrack, Elijah Blake’s debut album and many more. I think
we can expect several more years of celebration from Def Jam as along as it continues
to progress with the ever- changing music industry. All the employees in record labels
need to recognize all the up and coming technology , hows it being used, whos the tar-
get, how can we make this technology useful for years to come”. said Albert Cooke.
Common Teyana Taylor Lil Durk
“It’s about embracing tech-
nology and learning how this
technology will impact the
way music is delivered or
the business of music” said
Albert Cooke.
