Wendy Day breaks down why live performance is the biggest money maker for new hip-hop artists. She uses Lil Yachty's SXSW heckler incident and early performances by Nas, Busta Rhymes, and David Banner to show how stage presence separates rappers who draw crowds from those who don't. Energy, audience interaction, and a visual hook matter more than budget.
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Hi guys, Wendy Day here. So right now we're gonna talk about getting your show tight, and the reason we're going to talk about that is because as a new artist, the number one way that the money starts to come in for you is through paid shows. So I want to make sure that you get your shows tight. Um, I want to shout out, um, Tamara Bubble because she sent me an email, um, today, and she was talking about South by Southwest, which was just this past week, um, in Austin, Texas. And apparently, um, Lil Yachty had performed at South by Southwest, and the audience wasn't very respectful towards him. And, um, she linked to a video on XXLMag.com that showed his performance and showed how he handled some hecklers in the crowd. And I guess he didn't handle them, um, very well. So she asked me to speak about it on one of my live events but I found it such an important topic because this is how you guys are gonna make money, is from your shows. So I decided to put together an entire video episode about preparing for your shows. So, you know, when I was coming up, Nas did not have a great show. Nas was kind of known for pacing back and forth on stage and rapping, and while he's incredible incredibly proficient as a lyricist, just watching somebody pace back and forth on the stage is not very interesting. You know, he's gotten a lot better with his shows. In fact, he's— he gives a great show now. Um, but I do remember in the '90s that when he was performing, my friends and I wouldn't get excited about going to see him perform. Um, he also was not often tagged to perform at mainstream events because his show just wasn't great. It wasn't known for being energetic and different and lively the way like Busta Rhymes' show was, or even in the 2000s, David Banner's show. David Banner used to, you know, climb all over the speakers on stage and breathe fire and jump into the audience, and he was just very engaging and interactive on stage. And if you can tighten your show, and if you can have a show that draws in people more than just your fans, if you're known for having a great show, people will come and they will spend money to see you because it's out of the ordinary. The question is, how are you going to stand out? How are you going to have a show that's out of the ordinary? Especially as a rapper. You know, a lot of rappers don't want to dance. They don't want to put money into choreography. They don't have money to put into choreography. A lot of new artists can't even afford to pay a DJ to spin for them while they are performing. So as a— as an artist, what are you going to do to have a show that's worthy of attracting attention. And, um, my best advice to you is to go to a lot of shows, see what other people are doing, see what stands out, see what impresses you as a fan. Because if you're an artist, you're also a fan of this art form of hip-hop. So go to different shows, see who's doing what, and, you know, design your show accordingly. If you're someone that isn't very creative and you don't have the ability to design a show that you feel is worthy of your talent, then seek advice in that, in that space. I remember working with a group called TMI Boys, and the TMI Boys performed at TJ's DJ's event. This is back in around 2007, 2008. Somewhere in there, and they performed right after Rock City. And Rock City have a great stage show. TMI Boys had a, had a decent show, but because they followed a great performance by another act, it made their show look very bland. And after the show was over, we invited Rock City and um, the man— their management team out to dinner. This is at like midnight so that we could garner some pointers from them so that TMI Boys could have a better show. And they were kind enough to spend like 3 hours with the guys, like, just tossing out ideas of how to have a great show. The number one way to have a great show is to have energy on stage. That doesn't mean that you're like this stage. This doesn't mean that you just do the basics and you just perform and, you know, you get all the lyrics right.
It means that you have a dynamite show and you jump around on stage and you have energy and you show your passion and your energy and you show the audience that you want to be here. They're paying to see you, so you want them to know that you love them and you want them here and you're so excited. Yay!
You see the difference between that and this, you know? And, and you can't be energetic all the time. I certainly can't keep up that energy all the time. But you want your fans to know that you appreciate them and that you're excited to be there and that you want to do this.
You could be working at fucking Burger King and you're not— celebrate that!
Get excited on stage, put on a great show. If you've got the energy of like an MGK or Busta Rhymes or David Banner or any other artist that jumps around on stage and climbs speakers and, you know, jumps into the audience and interacts with the fans on a one-on-one basis, that would be awesome. Whatever you can do to stand out from everybody else out there would be awesome. Please make sure you have a great stage show. And again, if you're not somebody who is creative, and if you don't have the ability to put together a really great stage show, seek help from those who do. Find folks that have put together great shows and pay them if you have to to help you. It's the difference of you making a lot of money in the music industry or you just eking by on a living, you know. Um, do the best you can. Get a great show. Go see other people perform, even outside of rap. Go see some rock acts. Go see some Latino artists perform Latin music, country music. Go see what other people are doing and incorporate the great stuff into your show. So that when people leave your show, they feel like they got their money's worth. And even more importantly, they will go and tell all of their friends what a great show you put on, so that their friends will feel like they missed something. And then the next time you come to town, they'll be there. Okay guys, it's the number one way you're gonna make money at the beginning of your career. It's the number one way you're gonna make money as a superstar. Get it together. Do it right. Thanks for watching. See you soon.
