Sunday, May 20, 2007

More Work! Cyworld...

Cyworld
More and more work keeps being required as I get set to release my new EP 'Make Way' on June 1st. Now I am getting into the whole Social Networking Site thing, adding friends and introducing people to my music.

Right now, I am having a lot of positive feedback on Cyworld. This is originally a Korean site that ended up creating pages in the US, China, Japan and Taiwan. The concept in sort of similar to Myspace with a few cool differences. The core of Cyworld is the 'Minihome' a pop-up window that contains a room you get to customize with all sorts of different furniture, animals and characters. I find that people on Cyworld are way more receptive to being approached to check out new music than Myspace. This, in my opinion, is because Cyworld is not oversaturated with advertising like Myspace is. People are friendlier and there is way more of a community spirit.

I also updated the look of my Myspace page so be sure to have a look. Until next time...

XYL Official Website
XYL Myspace

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Working Like Crazy

XYL going insane!
There is never enough time! I have had the past 3 days off of my 'real' job and have been working full-tilt on my music career. Studying marketing and promotion, working on my Myspace page, organizing my Street Team, recording new songs and the list goes on to infinity. It gets stressful but I love it, as each day I make a little bit of progress towards my ultimate goal and that feels great.

The two new tracks I've recorded were the last ones for my upcoming 'Make Way' EP. I am very excited about them, you'll hear them on June 1st when Make Way becomes available as a free download. For now, it's more work... LOTS more work. If I don't go completely insane I might just make it.

XYL Official Website
XYL Myspace

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Freestyling

I think freestyling is an integral part of hip hop and all MCs should make an effort to build their improvisational skills. Not only is it extremely fun to have a freestyle sessions with buddies but it also helps develop overall lyrical ability. The more you practice freestyling, the more ideas you get for writing song lyrics so I really believe that you can become a better lyricist through freestyling.

Battling is another element where freestyle ryhmes come to the forefront. Two MCs stand toe-to-toe and do their best to insult their opponent and win the crowd. There is much more than just good punchlines to winning a battle however. An MCs ability to flow and to make relevant rhymes is integral. And of course, the crowd plays a big role usually acting as the judge.

I personally don't battle but I love freestyling. And I love watching battles, it's hella entertaining. The next Wordz From Tha Underground I put on will have a rap battle in between sets to shake things up a bit. When the contestants are announced, I'll post it here. Keep up them freestyling skills, they're an essential part of hip hop.

XYL Official Website
XYL Myspace