Newspaper Page Text
-Business students turn class
project into music company
HHJi. Hip-Hop hosts debut concert tonight
By MARCUS CRAWFORD
Thk Rkd &.Black
Music Business student
Stephen Prevost, the
graphic designer and chief
financial officer for H.E.R.
Hip-Hop, LLC, wants to
set the record straight.
Hip-hop isn’t dead it’s
just not getting played on
the airwaves.
“You have to expand
beyond the radio if you
want to hear hip-hop,”
Prevost said.
The 2010 H.E.R.
Showcase at New Earth
Music Hall tonight will
allow University students
to do just that. Including
artists such as Dead Prez
and Donnis, the perform
ing acts in the upcoming
showcase are more likely
to rap about social ills
than ill rides.
Pounders Prevost,
Elizabeth Schenck and
Rebekah Baldwin were
inspired to organize an
Athens hip-hop event
when they attended the
A3C Festival in October
2009.
A3C, an acronym for “all
three coasts,” provides an
opportunity for up-and
coming hip-hop artists to
take the stage and gain a
larger fan base.
For Schenck, H.E.R.’s
CEO, A3C provided a valu
able opportunity to make
contacts with many of the
artists who would eventu
ally be featured in her
company's showcase.
“I met and befriended
Kidz In the Hall,
Written House and Stanza
at the A3C Hip-Hop
Festival in Atlanta this
past October while I was
getting coverage of the fes
tival for Digital College
Network,” Schenck said.
Indeed, academic
responsibility has played a
vital role in the develop
ment of H.E.R. All three of
H.E.R.’s founders are
enrolled in the University’s
music business program.
In January, when the trio
was assigned to create a
business plan, they decid
ed to form an actual com
pany.
“It’s really not that hard
to form a company in
Georgia." Baldwin noted.
“And [Schenck] figured
since we were doing all the
|""j Alps Rd ii Bat’.e r St pi
*—* = >-(.:• VJ'W Daily r. PV
1706' 545-IQl*, - 800 FANDANGO 2213#
•DAT* MIGHT (foil)
(htftw 12:45 1:41 100) 490 5 15
4:40 7JO rOC > 44
•letters to sod oo)
(M-Ook 1:10) 4:11 7:10 0:00
•THE BLACK MATERS OF
ECHO** PONDfX)
(FfSO4: 1:M) 4:10 7:10 MO
•CLASH OF THE TITANS 20 poll)
tfrtAan: 1:00 1:40 1:10) 4:10 4:M
7:10 100 10.00
•THE LAST SOM (FO|
(MOac 1:40) 4:10 7:10 0:00
•ma Muurrt why did i
orr MARRIED TOOT (foil)
(frtta- 1:00) 4:00 7:00 MO
•HOW TO TRAIN YOUR
DRAGON ID (FO)
(FAOun 1:00) 4:00 700 >lO
HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (X)
(FfWOw 1:20) 4:20 7:20 0:40
ALICE m WONDERLAND 20 (TO)
foam. 1:10 4:10 7:20 MO
■Ki.lta.nwr 4:10 7:20 OM
__ f 4 Aftarlctad
tan Off'f. Itawta
ENCORE ONOAOCAIT Xta) 4/14 0 4:lo|ta
j^^NEMAS^j
• 3710 Atlanta Mwy
U J 706) 548-3425 L J
M Show* $199
THE BOON OF SU (X)
(OxttaM: 12:40) 4:00 7SO 0.40
CRAZY HEART (X)
(OftOox: 1:00) 4:10 7:10 M 0
PERCY JACKSON A THB
OLYMPIANS; THB UOHTEMMQ
THIEF (fO)
IM4: 12:44) 4:10 7:10 PM
AVATAR poll)
(OK 0— 12:40) 4:10 M 0
OEAR JOHN (foil)
(M>> 4:04 PM
THE BU4IO MOB (foil)
NtaOnn IMP) T:M
i ufiorg.*'3 WweCompartycom
work to make a plan, we
might as well go for it.”
Baldwin, the H.E.R.’s
chief operating officer,
credited Prevost with
naming the company.
Despite frequent miscon
ceptions pertaining to gen
der, H.E.R. is actually an
acronym borrowed from
hip-hop artist Common
that stands for “hip-hop in
its essence real."
By naming the company
H.E.R., the trio makes an
allusion to Common's “I
Used to Love H.E.R.,” a
song which chronicles the
origin, commercialization
and subsequent corruption
of hip-hop via personifica
tion.
“A lot of people associ
ate hip-hop with no deeper
meaning, and it’s a
shame,” Baldwin said.
Prevost noted that the
terms “rap” and “hip-hop,"
while often used inter
changeably, are not the
same thing.
“Rap is something any
one can do it’s like
speaking over a beat. Hip
hop is more of a cohesive
art form that comes from
the heart and a way of life.
Take Lil’ Wayne he is a
great rapper, but he's not
hip-hop.”
H.E.R. also recognizes
that big names equal big
publicity. The company
used its music industry
contacts to secure Dead
Prez, a dynamic, socially
conscious hip-hop duo
Hi" l - ttle onxnry.w“with plenty of opUomJV In grort Saving money on rnt.. SB
[ PictureYour S e(f Hereli
|Hf yv'; 4 y • -sfyt'' 'j f > ’i ■.. r- .;*• , ■ * •L, 'r> ’ ’-‘. K .*• * ,> '•
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT FAIR
2010
Brought to you by The University of Georgia Career Center
DATE: Friday, April 9
TIME: 10 AM -2 PM
PLACE: Tate Center Grand Hall ( I I I J
■■■■■■■■ 2nd
that debuted in 1996 and
was featured in the film
“Dave Chappelle’s Block
Party”.
“Their music pretty
much epitomizes every
thing we’re trying to pro
mote,” Schenck said.
However, securing
Dead Prez and the other
artists turned out to be
one of the easier parts of
putting the showcase
together.
Although they’ve been
planning the showcase
since November 2009, nei
ther Schenck, Baldwin
nor Prevost had any expe
rience with building a
music event from the
ground up. The process
was arduous, to say the
least, they said.
“None of us thought it
would be this much work,”
Prevost said. “We’ve had to
learn how to draft con
tracts, negotiate rates,
work with the venue and
coordinate scheduling.”
For Baldwin, wooing
local sponsors such as
Which Wich? and Casa Mia
was particularly difficult.
"Sponsorship, for me,
has probably been the
hardest thing,” she stud.
“I’m not a bom salesper
son and no one has any
money right now.”
The trio reached out to
Keelan Knox, the director/
co-founder of BOOM
Foundry, LLC, for help set
ting up the event. Knox,
who performs under the
VARIETY
V Jr fl
fUL
ilpr Hi Bal
Hfau HSi --HSr lefld HI
■V- • ■ , ' ' ,iv
LAURA MCCR ANIE | Thk Rkd a Black
▲ H.E.R Hip-Hop became a reality when creators decided to take a
music business project to the next level by booking recording artists.
H.E.R. HIP HOP
When: 9 tonight
Where: New Earth Music Hall
in downtown Athens
More Information: www.her
hiphop.com
Price: S2O
stage name Fresh, said he
was delighted when
H.E.R.’s founders asked
him to perform at then
showcase.
“I’ve done quite a few
shows since last July and
they have been primarily
at New Earth,” Knox said.
The Red a Black | Friday, Afril 9,2010
“I look at it as though it’s
the NBA Finals and I have
home court advantage.”
Jamison Johnson, a
member of the Athens
based group WildKard,
also has a strong connec
tion to the venue where he
and his band mates will be
performing Friday.
“The owner, Adrian,
kind of took us in under
his wing. We’ve performed
most of our shows there,”
he said.
Schenck also sought
advice from her music
business professors and
enlisted the aid of other
classmates to run a street
team that helps with pro
motion.
Although this year’s
H.E.R. showcase will be a
one night event extend
ing the event to Saturday
would coincide with the
University's annual Pajama
Jam Schenck looks for
ward to making the H.E.R.
showcase a bigger event in
the coming years.
“This event has been a
great source of stress, but
it has a huge deal of mean
ing to me and has been
really rewarding all along. I
can’t wait to do it all again
and better next year, and
then each year after that.”
5