Alchemist On Turning Beats Into A Business, Cutting Out The Music Industry | IDEA GENERATION, Ep. 8

Video Description

Alchemist got his start as the teenaged sidekick to Cypress Hill and the Soul Assassins. Though his rap group, The Whooliganz, would be dumped by their label before they could even release their first album, Al did not let the setback stop him. In fact, by the time he dropped out of NYU the MC-turned-beat-maker already had a catalog with a couple classics, and more on the way. In the 25 years since Al has continued to develop as a musician, embracing new generations and new styles, while also reinventing his business model from the typical front half advance + pub and writing backend to a more Direct-To-Consumer model. And as a result of this conscious shift in economics, he has more latitude than ever with his craft. Turn your ideas into a reality with Shopify: https://bit.ly/3EXX4wn 00:00 - 01:19 - Intro 01:20 - 03:30: Discovering Music + Childhood 03:30 - 04:42: Meeting Evidence and Will.I.Am 04:42 - 05:20: The Hooligans and Signing to Tommy Boy 05:20 - 07:40: The First Tour 07:40 - 08:05: Beat Making Process 08:05 - 10:37 After the Tour and Working on Cypress III 10:37 - 10:55: Act II 10:55 - 11:57: Attending NYU 11:57 - 12:45: Dropping out of College 12:45 - 13:44: Cypress Hill Remix + Developing A Sound 13:44 - 14:23: Beatmaking Basics 14:23 - 16:30: Working with Mobb Deep 16:30 - 18:47: Making A Name 18:47 - :19:28 Negotiating Deal Structures for Beats 19:28 - 21:20: Solo Debut - 1st Infantry 21:20 - 22:40: The Story Behind “Got It Twisted” 22:40 - 23:58: “We Gon Make It” 23:58 - 24:51: Collaborations + Return of the Mac 24:51 - 26:00: Philosophy of Making Great Albums 26:00 - 27:38: Major Industry Shifts + Chemical Warfare 27:38 - 28:07: Act III 28:07 - 29:37: Alchemist’s Studio + Rap Camp 29:37 - 31:37: Covert Coup 31:37 - 32:10: Day in the Life 32:10 - 34:16: A New Generation of Collaborators + 10,000 hours 34:16 - 36:46: Discovering Bandcamp + Cutting Out The Middle Man 36:46 - 39:00: Making A Label + Building an Ecosystem 39:01 - 39:17: Credits Subscribe to IDEA GENERATION: https://bit.ly/3lvY3wn Check out more from IDEA GENERATION here: IG: https://www.instagram.com/ideageneration/ TW: https://twitter.com/ideageneration FB: https://bit.ly/3FMfbpM Sign up for our IDEA GENERATION newsletter: https://www.ideageneration.com/community Special thanks to our partners at Shopify for bringing this experience to life. More about Shopify: https://bit.ly/3EXX4wn Learn how to start your own brand with Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/learn Check out more from Shopify here: https://twitter.com/Shopify https://www.instagram.com/shopify/ https://www.facebook.com/shopify/