I must say, “Thank God For The Internet”, we are all so fortunate that we live during this amazing time. Is this how people felt when the TV came into existance? I don’t know about everybody else, but I don’t think I could function without my computer and the internet. I’m not a big surfer, but I do alot of research and of course all of the businesses I am involved in rely heavily on the internet.
For Freestyle, the web came just in time. A time when basically, the last full fledged Freestyle label Metropolitan Records was ready to hang up it’s last compilation… Which so happened to be three that I produced “Stylin’ Free Presents Metropolitan’s Ladies Of Freestyle” Vols 1, 2, 3 The idea was great, the product … good. Hey, I was limited, what can I say. But it was something I was proud t be a part of.
Many labels either closed their doors, many went into other areas, but hey, that’s business. The smaller labels, artist and producers stayed around, simply because the sudden decrease in sales and shows had no affect on them whatsoever. They still sold the same 10 CDs a month and still “Toured” their neighborhood.
I shouldn’t say they, I was one of them, I was running little ol’ Stylin’ Free Records and had produced 2 compilations Stylin’ Free “The Alternative Dance Compilation” (obviously, I didn’t understand much about marketing with that title), then, Stylin’ Free “1999 Freestyle Finale” (Wow, did that not show my perception of where I thought the Freestyle market was going back then?)
I was one of the first independent Freestyle labels to have my own site… Some of you might remember Stylinfree.com, it was a very simple site with it’s most interesting feature being a “GuestBook”. What was funny was, I didn’t have an internet connection at home and the computer I had barely was fast enough to type up the “Stylin’ Free Network NewsLetter”. I had an associate from Chicago “Ivan” who was so far ahead with computers, I thought he was a genius. Ivan would check and print the guestbook each week and mail me (regular mail) the pages, where I would read and take their info so that I could put them on our Newletter mailing list. But since I myself wasn’t on-line, I really didn’t have a clue as to the power of the net.
While working at Metropolitan, I got to spend more time on-line and became more familiar with it’s power. I was still really green and with Dial-Up still pretty much the norm, I didn’t exactly find the experience that enjoyable.
Then one day, while at Metro, I got a call from a guy who called himself ”Jack G”. He had a great idea and wanted support from a reputable Freestyle label. He explained to me about a messageboard that he was about to launch, that will attract all the artist and fans of Freestyle around the world. He wanted for us to get involved with him, but I didn’t know this dude and I sure as hell didn’t know what a messageboard was let alone what it could do. How would this guy attract people to it anyway? He didn’t know anybody. I went about my business, and before long, Jack G launched the all new ClubFreestyle. I joined on, but just as member. I figured, if this guy is going to attract the Freestyle Market, then I had madd Metropolitan product to sell to them. The problem is, his numbers were soaring and was in the thousands in no time. I questioned him about this when he had approached me again about joining him. He explained that he had to hype the member numbers to make it look attractive. I didn’t see that working for too long. How are you going to have 4,000 members and just the same 6 people posting? Eventually people will wisen up to it.
Anyway, It was cool, I got to write a bit, as you can tell by my blogs, I do like to write. Jack organized an outting at Coney Island one night where all the members could finally meet in person. I called WebMasterDave (then he was just “Dave”). and we took a ride out to Coney Island. Their must’ve been about 15 people there and I met a handful. But when I met Jack, it all came to light. Have you ever seen Harry Potter? Okay then, that’s what Jack looked like! Have you even seen Nepolian Dynamite?… well that’s how he acted! Then when he yelled out “Last one to the Go-Carts is a rotten Egg”, I was like. “Oh Hell no!, WMDave nearly ran off with them to the Go-Carts, I had to grab him.
We ran into Jack at a couple of other parties at smaller clubs and I realized his true motivation behind CF. You see, Jack was a nerd! But not a cool nerd, I know cool nerds, some of my best friends are nerds Lol. He was a straight up obnoxious nerd who for once in his life was getting some sort of attention, sorry Jack, I couldn’t hold it in any longer! He used and abused CF for his own selfish benefit with no real interest in support of Freestyle. I told WMDave, that we need to put our site back up and this time add a board to it. It took WMDave about a month, but finally, it was up and running. I remember watching as the first few people came on, Melissa, Lisa Santana and Diamond32 R.I.P., WMDave and I would watch the board everyday and get excited with every new member.
We Vowed never to add any bogus members and to make sure and delete inactive members and spammers. We vowed also to never block or boot negative post, a practice that Jack mastered. When people got carried away and posted negative things about me, my wife or my crew, we didn’t boot them, we called them on the phone, or met up with them at a club. Those tactics seemed to work better. We may have had our board up for many years, and maybe our membership is still a bit under 3000, we do pride ourselves in knowing that we are in a small way contributing to the Freestyle Webolution.
I’m a huge reader, and a subscriber to a lot of Business Magazines. My library is pretty extensive and most of the things I know are through reading and just giving it a try. WMDave on the otherhand rather sit in front of the computer with the manual closed trying to figure it out. Hey, it works for him! I tell him all the time, with my brains and his fingertips, we could rule the world Lol!
Some of the other entities that we have created to enhance the visibility of Freestyle utilizing the web is of course La’ Radio Live, Freestyle Blast, and the latest, FreestyleBlogs.com
It’s alot of work, dedication and education. It’s takes a strong team that has the patients to go the distance and bare with technological bugs that invade us now and then. Believe it or not, glitches and bugs have a bit of a positive affect on me personally. They remind me that we are pioneers in this, involved in an historical time. Sort of like the times when you had to crank the engine of your car, then jump in and drive. Those people must’ve been really annoyed, but wow, what an experience and the stories they were able to tell.
Today, Freestyle has no excuse. We have in front of us, all the tools needed to catapult this market back on top. We have the power now, to produce, manufacture, distribute, promote, market and collect from Freestyle. So whats the problem? For one, techonology cannot replace talent, creativity or motivation, that has to come from within.
We are living in a great time. Freestyle relies on us right now and if you would like for it to be around for your children and grandchildren, then take advantage of technology and come on, join the Freestyle Webolution.
Freestyle 4 Life Baby!