I think the music industry is better now than it’s ever been. It’s structured where you can be self-reliant and make things happen for yourself without a major label investing in you. These days you don’t have to wait for an agent to discover you, and the only investor you need is the consumer.
Live Interview
Episode #400 http://tobtr.com/9653639
GETTING TO KNOW MANISTYLEZ (pronounced Many Styles)
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio
I think the music industry is better now than it’s ever been.
It’s structured where you can be self-reliant and make things happen for yourself without a major label investing in you. These days you don’t have to wait for an agent to discover you, and the only investor you need is the consumer. For someone in my position, being an entrepreneur and having a DIY mindset, the climate of the industry couldn’t be better. The technology of today has leveled the playing field for both major and indie label artists. I think the good thing about the technology today is it puts the power back in the artists hands, where it should be. The negative side to the technology is anyone can create a home studio and upload music to the internet whether they have talent or not, so it over saturates the internet with a bunch of stuff that probably shouldn’t be out there and the listeners often have to weed through a lot of garbage before they can discover great artists.
A year ago if asked this question I would’ve said that Prince
would be the person I would love to sit down and chop it up with. But since he’s no longer with us, I would have to select Timbaland. He has been a big inspiration to me musically. He’s no doubt my favorite producer. I’m always looking out for what projects he’s working on. He’s one of the biggest trendsetters in the game when it comes to production and he’s not afraid to incorporate different sounds into the music or work with artists that are outside the Hip hop/ R&B genre. I am the same way with my music. I like to push the envelope and stay on the cusp of what’s new. Rather than create and rap over a typical boom bap or 808 beats using hip hop sounds, I like to infuse melodic sounds from other genres with hip hop drums and then rap to it. To me, hip-hop music is like bread, it goes with anything.
The song ‘F.R.E.S.H.’ is one of my recent singles off the new album ‘People in High Places’
The abbreviation stands for ” Finding a Reason Everyday to Stunt on Haters” Stunting is slang for having a good time or showing off. I just wanted a fun song for those who enjoy having nice things and those who take pride in being self-sufficient. There’s a line in the chorus that goes ” Don’t worry what it costs, just know that I’m a boss…” it’s Available at all online retailers.
F.R.E.S.H.
Support Artist:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2bMf41blfUk1PUQCsaB6sc
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/manistylez/id461806281
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=manistylez
https://www.deezer.com/us/
http://us.napster.com/artist/manistylez
My album ‘People in High Places’ was released Nov 29, 2016.
It took me over 10 years to finish this album due to financial set-backs, and a lack of resources. And serving 3 years in federal prison kinda put a delay on things as well. In 2011 I was charged with robbing about a dozen banks in San Diegoo county. They could’ve given me 30 years but my lawyer worked up a plea deal and I got sentenced to 3 years instead. I know I dodged a bullet in that situation and consider myself extremely fortunate. While I was locked up I vowed to never take anything for granted upon my release and put my all into getting my album out. Going to prison really gives you a new appreciation for the small things and it made me understand just how precious time is. Now each and every day I make sure to make moves that will ultimately get me closer to achieving my goals. One of the things that makes this album different from other hip hop albums that are out there is the fact that I produced, wrote, and arranged every song on the project. Usually when you see the credits on an album there are tons of people involved from the production to the engineers. Everything you hear on the album was produced, and written by me. It was engineered and mastered by my friend Richard Lorenzo aka Rich at his recording studio in Rancho Bernardo, California. He gave me the monicker “One-man Symphony” because I basically create everything by myself, yet it sounds like I have a team of producers, composers and writers behind my songs. I used to rely on producers years ago but it became time consuming waiting around for them to send me beats. Plus I got tired of having to listen to hundreds of beats just to find that one track that matched the song I would have in my head. I feel I’ve been blessed with the talent to do it all, and do it well. And nobody knows what sound I am looking for musically like I do. I am still open to working with producers though. ‘People in High Places’ is about my experiences and the experiences of people i’ve known throughout the years. I wanted it to feel like a movie. I wanted it to feel cinematic. The theme of the album is supposed to sound like a series of snap shots taken from a biopic. The album starts off with words of encouragement from Obama, and ends with me playing golf with an older wealthy friend. The idea was to basically document and re-enact moments that I’ve shared with affluent people. I structured the songs and the tracklist to play like one scene after another. I wanted to stay true to my name, allowing the listener to pick up on my versatility. But I also wanted to display my story telling ability.
I am originally from Long Beach, California
but grew up mostly in San Diego where I live currently. San Diego has a large Rock music scene. Artists such as Jewel, Blink 182, P.O.D. , and Michael Buble all started out here. But I feel like the hip-hop scene here hasn’t been tapped into yet. There have been a few rappers that have gotten some brief buzz with a single but there haven’t been any rappers from this city that have become household names on a countrywide or global level. I personally have met some incredibly talented rappers here in SD who just haven’t gotten much exposure. On my song ‘Keyz to The City’ I express some San Diego pride. There’s a line where I say “Where divas lay out on the beach shirtless, they crowned this the finest city that’s ’cause we earned it…” that line refers to a secluded nude beach in La Jolla called Black’s beach where going nude is legal. San Diego is a beach town so everything happens at the beach. I like hitting up the less populated beaches in Carlsbad or Torrey Pines for bbq’s and bonfires. I’m a food and movie guy. I like to try all kinds of food, so wherever the newest hip restaurants are in town, that’s where you’re likely to find me. Downtown, Fashion Valley, and Coronado all have good food joints. For movies, I prefer the luxury cinemas so I usually hit up the Cineopolis in Del Mar for a flick.
Social Media Links:
Website: http://www.manistylezmusic.com
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/manistyle