FROM SOCIAL MEDIA (spintamgt)

 

 

Okay, I've been extremely busy this season and due to extenuating circumstances, I haven't been able to blog so I got thinking, I need a system. I need to employ people who are smarter than me to run with my vision while I spend more time coming up with creative ideas on how to build the spinta brand and take the artistes under our management to the Zenith of their careers. It's quite difficult getting the best people as a start-up but I think I'm good with the hands I've got now and I can confidently say WE when I talk about Spinta Management. So, here's to the future and to employing the best hands possible so I can sleep well at night. -  Jesam.

 

#spinta #spintamgt #christianmusic #gospelmusic #naija #proudlyafrican #christianartistes #naijagospel #thefuture #talentmanagement

  

HOW TO HANDLE AND OVERCOME SELF-DOUBT AS AN ASPIRING CHRISTIAN MUSIC ARTISTE

 

 

Every Creative deals with self-doubt. It isn't unique to you. I have had to deal with self-doubt a lot. I still deal with it sometimes but I can say I handle it better now. I think God allows us to go through self-doubt so we can realise how powerless we are and trust/rely on him completely because if we could figure it out on our own we wouldn't need him, would we?

The music industry is one where people get famous before they start making money. It isn't everybody who looks like they're living the life that's actually living the life if you know what I mean. It can be really tough when you go on social media and see your contemporaries in other careers who seem to be making it faster than you are and you turn the other side and see most of your colleagues in the industry who have been in this career for over 10 years and can barely afford rent. You begin to wonder if you're going to end up like the latter. You begin to ask yourself if you haven't made a mistake in choosing this career.

It's particularly tough when you search in and out but still can't think of any alternative career you could venture into that would make you feel fulfilled. You feel stuck. If you feel stuck then it means you're on the right track. I encourage you to do the following. It has worked for me.

3 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN'T GIVE UP THAT MUSIC EXECUTIVE YOU WANT TO HELP YOUR CAREER

 

I started out telling you all how I got to work for Cobhams Asuquo in an earlier post. I actually wanted to be an artiste and was looking for somewhere to produce my demo so I could take it to him. I approached someone I've known for quite some time and told him of my plans and how much I was about to spend. He then told me to save my money that he knew someone who was like a brother to Cobhams and he'd introduced me to the man. I started chasing him. Mr Dee. My God, I chased him down for about a month before he eventually booked an appointment between me and Cobhams. He cancelled on me more that twice but I never got angry or frustrated. I wanted to meet with Cobhams and I was determined to go in the rain if required. Eventually an appointment was secured. This is just part one of the story. By the time I'm done with my story I'm sure some of you will be ready to pay me to teach you the art of determination, patience and tenacity.

SONG PICK: YOU CAN'T STOP ME - ANDY MINEO

Please take off your religious garment and listen to the lyrics of the song. It speaks to an audience that loves and enjoys hip hop. The same energy Andy Mineo exudes in this video is the same energy, if not more, that he exudes on stage. Amazing production and video direction. Enjoy!

ARTISTE OF THE WEEK - ANDY MINEO

So, I decided to start celebrating one artiste every week from now till further notice. Lol. This week I've decided to celebrate Andy Mineo and I'm going to give you some amazing fun facts about him. Since he's the first in the series, he gets to be celebrated till next week Saturday before another artiste succeeds him on Sunday. We're going to post one song of his alongside the post for the day everyday he's being celebrated. So, here we go.

INSPIRING ARTISTES ASPIRING CHRISTIAN MUSIC ARTISTES SHOULD UNDERSTUDY



 

I started out in the mainstream music industry, what we Christians like to call secular music industry. I've always loved unusual music. Even as a born again Christian I was listening to Florence + The machine, Daughter, Bjork, Lana Del Rey, name it. I used to watch iConcerts on DSTV a lot. I listened to lots of hip hop artistes like Blu &Exile, Kendrick Lamar before he got mainstream success. I'm still a huge fan of his. I'm still a huge fan of J. Cole. I can't even begin to mention all the artistes I've listened to in the past. Some songs I heard but never knew the artistes who made them. I still watch FTV just for the music.

So many people are going to ask me how I did it even as a Christian with all those deep and soul-

NEW MUSIC: MASTERPIECE - CRYSTAL NICOLE

I started writing a post today but couldn't go on because I'm a bit tired and couldn't pull my thoughts together so decided to look for new music and guess who I found?

SONG PICK: BEAUTIFUL - MALI MUSIC

I'm sure some of you are wondering why I post songs here when I should be writing posts that can help you succeed as Christian music artistes. Well, I share some of these songs with you because I believe these artistes are exceptional and worthy of being studied.

I'm one of those few people who believe Christian music doesn't have to sound like traditional gospel music. I like to encourage young Christian music artistes who have an unusual sound with strong

SONG PICK: ANDY MINEO FT MALI MUSIC

 

 

It's been quite a hectic weekend. Just got back from Bez's album listening party which was siiiiick! Make sure you all get a copy of #Gbagyichild when it comes out in November.

 

Over the weekend, I was going through Lecrae's instagram and discovered Andy Mineo. This guy is something else! Christian music on topnotch hip hop beats with exceptional lyrical flow/delivery. Amazing!

I personally love hip hop, like, I listen to J Cole, Kendrick Lamar and the likes so it feels amazing to listen to Andy Mineo and still get the same feeling in terms of the musicality and still get built up spiritually as well.

I'm really open to encouraging Nigerian gospel hip hop artistes. If you know any please tell them to share their music with me, if it's good enough I'll support it.

Meanwhile, enjoy  Desperados by Andy mineo Ft Mali music after the cut

HOW TO STAY FOCUSED AS AN ARTISTE

It's very easy for people to tell you you need to focus but what they don't seem to tell you is how difficult it can be  to focus. It can be very difficult especially when it seems like the entire universe is working against you. Just when it looked like you were about to start accomplishing your goals, your laptop crashed, your got a call from home about a bad news, your significant other left you for some other person who is everything you'd love to be but aren't. It can be really tough. It's at this point self-doubt creeps in and you begin to ask yourself if you didn't make a huge mistake in making your choice of career.

So, how do you focus when life seems to be on a mission to frustrate you? I'm simply going to share how I do it and it has worked extremely well for me.

HOW DO I DEAL WITH THE FEAR OF BEING BROKE AS I START MY CAREER?

Today's post is going to be a very short one.

HOW TO LISTEN TO MUSIC TO MAKE YOU A BETTER MUSICIAN

I apologize for not blogging the past 2 days. I've been having power issues plus my internet expired yesterday and I couldn't renew my subscription. But hey, your girl is back.

I've been listening and singing along to some songs to pass time. I'm a very big fan of Israel Houghton. I think he's an amazing musician and I like to think Bruno Mars is the secular version of Israel. Anyone who knows me knows I'm crazy about Israel Houghton.

There are several things I look out for when I listen to a song. I thought to share them with you hoping they might help someone enjoy and appreciate music better.

SONG PICK : WANNA BE HAPPY - KIRK FRANKLIN

Kirk Franklin never disappoints with his seamless song writing technique and he has managed to maintain his sound and also keep it fresh all these years. The song is currently topping the Billboard gospel songs chart. Enjoy!

HOW TO LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER WITH LITTLE OR NO MONEY

The number one problem of aspiring artistes is money or rather the lack thereof. I already wrote about How to start your career with little or no money in a previous post, you can read it here to help you have a better understanding of today's topic. I'm going to share with you the basic things you can do with little or no cash to lay your foundation. Amazingly, laying the right foundation for your career doesn't really require money but for some reason most aspiring artistes usually want to skip this phase and jump to the part where they need to spend money they don't have. Well, calm down, start small and do the needful. Everything I've written about how to start your career with little or no money and how to build relationships starting out as an aspiring musician will be achieved during this foundation phase. So, how do you lay the foundations for a successful career with little or no money?

HOW TO SURVIVE SEXUAL HARASSMENT AS AN ASPIRING FEMALE ARTISTE IN THE INDUSTRY

Christie ( a pseudonym) is a special artiste and by special I mean she has a unique sound, a very different sound. This makes her feel insecure because she doesn't sound like the average celebrated female vocalist out there. We've been working together, basically developing her talent. I recently introduced her to a guitarist in my church to brush up her guitar skills. Apparently this guy is one of the many people that's wrong with the industry. I say so because, just after her first class with him he started making suggestions. Telling her he was what he wasn't in the industry and telling how basically how she has to sell her body to make it in the industry and how if she was willing, he could be her manager. Next day I got a heart-breaking

HOW TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS STARTING OUT AS AN ASPIRING MUSICIAN

I moved into Lagos some years back and the only person I knew then was my sister. Today I know a loooot of people. Like, a lot. There's hardly any industry I don't know somebody in in Lagos. To think that I even struggled with building relationships due to my melancholy personality and yet I know this much people, it goes to show that anyone can build relationships if they really want to no matter their personalities.

For starts, I have two dominant personalities that aren't so lovable; Choleric and Melancholy. A lot of people find cholerics very annoying and melancholies very boring and annoying as well. When I'm tolerant of noisemakers, I'm very impatient with slow thinkers and when I'm patient with slow thinkers, I'm very intolerant of noise makers. So, you see, it's tough for your girl but hey, I survived. You can too. I'm going to share with you some of the things I consciously did and things I observed people with great relationship skills do.

HOW TO START YOUR MUSIC CAREER WITH LITTLE OR NO MONEY

I'm going to be really honest; This is going to be tough. It's going to be very difficult. You'll consider giving up an awful lot. You'll cry yourself to sleep a lot. But you can do it. I assure you.

Starting your music career with nothing is going to teach you a lot about budgeting and management. You're going to learn how to manage your time, money, resources, relationships, etc. You're going to learn an extra skill besides music. You're going to need to be focused. It'll make you a better person in the end and when your success eventually comes, you're going to stand a better chance at maintaining and growing your success.

So I'm going to share with you the little but effective things you can do to help grow your career no matter how broke you are.

HOW TO KICK-START YOUR MUSIC CAREER

So, you've decided that you are made for this, being a musician is your purpose, you can only find fulfilment doing music... Well, congratulations, you've taken your first step. Problem is, this is the easiest step, it's a mental baby step. You can take it sleeping in your bed all day. You can take it while watching a movie. You can take it while you're still at that white collar job you hate so much. So, you see, as much as it is a good step, it is worthless without the next step which in my books is the First step of first steps.

INTRODUCING THE 'HOW TO' SERIES

It's been a learning experience writing the Recipe For Success series. I basically tried to use cooking/food analogies to explain the basic factors required to succeed as a Christian music artiste. A little bit about me before we proceed.

VIDEO PICK : I LUH GOD - ERICA CAMPBELL FT BIG SHIZZ

I Luh God; do you luh God?... For those of you who don't know, "LUH" is a ghetto way of saying LOVE. I looooove the music. Now this is what I'm talking about. Who says you can't enjoy yourself while you listen to Christian music. I'm seeing a time when Christian music can compete favourably and overtake secular music in all genres; It will no longer be Christian music as a separate genre. A time when Christian music will go mainstream.

The song is number 7 on the billboard hot gospel songs chart. Nice job Erica! Oh, and by the way she's one of the MaryMary duo.



Best wishes
Jesam.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (HOW TO PREPARE POUNDED YAM)

It's amazing how these days when you order for pounded yam at any restaurant in Lagos, you have to be specific like; "Real pounded yam o. Iyan. Not the other type, emmmm, the yam flour... yes. poundo yam.. not that type. POUNDED yam. Thanks"

As far as I'm concerned, poundo yam is just a different version of semo-vita. Well, for those of you

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (THE STORY OF THE MOIMOI THAT COOKED ITSELF)

There was once a powerful, mad king in a land far far away. His subjects feared him; he could get whatever he wanted and if for whatever reason his subjects couldn't make it happen at the time he chose, they'd lose their head. One time he commanded a subject of his to 

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (UNDERSTANDING FLAVOURS)

Ever wondered what our ancestors used to season their food before the advent of

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GOSPEL ARTISTES WITH DISTINCTIVE SOUNDS

 

 

SONG OF THE WEEK - TRAVIS GREENE

INTENTIONAL - TRAVIS GREENE

For more about Travis Greene visit http://www.travisgreene.net/

I think he sounds like Mali Music though. I'm looking forward to his future materials.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (A LA CARTE)

Am I the only one who thought a la carte meant food cooked/prepared on order? Someone please tell me there are people who think a la carte means food cooked/prepared on order. I was going to write today's Recipe For Success using A la carte, the way I understood it, as an analogy. Then I searched for its meaning, so I could reference it in this post, and found out

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (THE HAND-DUSTING TRICK)

There's this story I heard back when I was a kid, I don't know how true it is. It's about a young girl who

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (THE STORY OF A BUTCHER)

One time I went to a market in Lagos to buy live chicken. A young boy (obviously a hustler) approached me that he could help me slaughter and butcher my chicken for N200, I obliged. Then the guy

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (POT OF BEANS)

Ever heard the saying "Life is a pot of beans"? Well, let me explain.

It takes an average of 45 minutes to cook a small pot of beans poridge (3-4 servings), and that depends on the type of beans and whether the beans is good, other wise it can take as much as 90minutes. Let's even assume it's the popular honeybeans (Olooyin) which cooks fast and has a sweet taste hence its name. Olooyin takes an average of 45 minutes to cook on a high temperature.

Some tips when you're cooking beans:

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (THE OVER-SALTED/BURNT JOLLOF RICE SOLUTION)

Jollof rice is loved by many Nigerians. I know Nigerians who eat jollof rice practically everyday. I know people who crash owambes just to eat jollof rice. I know men who have cheated on their wives just because

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (CALABAR CUISINES)

Calabar is a city in the southern part of Nigeria.

I happen to know a lot about Calabar cuisines as I have a lineage in that part of the country. I grew up being my mother's sous chef, naturally. It is said and proven in Africa that Calabar cuisines are the best. Is it our traditional soups (Afang, Edika-ikong, afia efere,etc.) or our pottage (ekpang nkuwko) or our unripe plantain porridge? I can't list all our traditional cuisines here but I can tell you this,

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (JOLLOF RICE ON ORDER)

Rita invited 5 of her childhood friends, Halimat, Alero, J-boy, Bisi and Amaka over to dinner at hers. They had been communicating via BBM for a while now and every time she put up a picture of her cooking jollof rice or the jollof rice itself they always told her how they'd love to taste her jollof rice because it looked like she must really know how to cook jollof rice. All five of them were based in Lagos but Rita was based in calabar. Fortunately she got

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (MAMA'S SOUS CHEF)

A sous chef is the second in command in a kitchen. In French, the term literally means “under chef,” and this individual is an important part of the restaurant he or she works in, ensuring that everything runs smoothly whether or not the head chef is present - thewisegeek.org

I'm going to take us down memory lane.

Remember one time you

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (THAT SPECIAL MEAL)

Above is a photo of a classic Southern Nigerian dish, Afang soup, which happens to be one of my mother's signature dishes, which also happens to be my signature dish. Buzz me in the comment section for recipes ;)

An average African, Nigerian especially, can relate to the scenarios I'm about to paint.

Remember that time you

SONG OF THE WEEK

 

COVERED - ISRAEL & NEW BREED.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (ACQUIRED TASTE)

I decided to take down an earlier post; WHY LESS/UNTALENTED ARTISTES SUCCEED MORE THAN THE TALENTED ONES (1); and rewrite it as the second post in my RECIPE FOR SUCCESS series.

Ever heard of acquired taste in food? well let me brief you.

One time Bez (The musician) had a gig at Alliance Francaise in Ikoyi (I think) and I

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (THE PERFECT GOLDEN-BROWN DODO)

To fry the perfect golden-brown dodo:

1. The dodo must be perfectly ripe. If you like those cheap overripe ones, good for you but I'm going to focus on the type of dodo you serve in Banana island, perfectly ripe fat dodo :)
2. The oil must not be

VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK.

Victor Olayeni is a worship leader from Nigeria. He's a client of Spinta Management. Please check him out:

YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/victorolayeni

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/victorolayeni

TWITTER: www.twitter.com/victorolayeni1

INSTAGRAM: @victorolayeni


Best wishes!
Jesam

DON'T WRITE IT THE WAY YOU RECEIVED IT!

I saw that photo on The Song Sphere's instagram page and immediately reposted on our instagram page. I couldn't agree with them more. Please follow us on instagram @spintamgt.

I recently had the honour to speak on how to succeed as a gospel artiste in today's music industry at a training organised by Tenstrings music institute and one of the things I told them was "You can only

WHY MUST I DO FREE JOBS?

I always tell gospel artistes that gospel music is a profession and that means it is done by professionals who have invested time and resources to develop their skills which in turn means they'll

ACT MORE, TALK LESS

I never understood why employers always considered age as a factor when giving jobs. You could know all you do, be as intelligent as possible, be right for the job yet lose your chance all because you are young. I never really understood it because I felt I had always been mature. It was quite unfair that I didn't stand a chance for certain opportunities because of my age. 

So, I made it a point of duty to prove to people that

CULTIVATE EXCELLENCE

I always have issues with mediocres. I can barely stand them. It's really difficult when you find yourself around people who think you're a "perfectionist" when all you're trying to do is to go the extra mile and be great. I got a broadcast from a friend from Sam Adeyemi (who happens to be my pastor)  and thought to share it with our readers. Please read after the cut.

YOU MUSTN'T SING

Most of the music executives I know are fantastic singers/musicians. Most of them are even better singers than some of the artistes out there in the industry. Question is; why didn't they pursue a career in singing?

I believe music executives are people who

MADE FOR THIS?

It's amazing how 8 out of 10 people I talk to, who are doing something they don't enjoy, believe their purpose is in the arts and entertainment. I'm usually not surprised by that discovery. Most young people believe entertainment, music precisely, is all fun and games. Who wouldn't want to be in a profession where