 Sometimes opportunity knocks at your door but and if you’re lucky enough you’ll be able to capitalize off it. Now when I say “lucky” I not thinking of the magical mythical thing you see in movies. Naw I mean are you prepared? Like the saying goes. Luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Sometimes that preparation means having access to capital. Which can mean. Can you take out a loan or have a line of credit you can access at any given moment? With SoLo Funds artists now have the ability to get access to the capital they need and be prepared for any opportunity.  SoLo Funds was created is a Los Angelos based fintech company, created by Rodney Williams and Travis Holoway, who are black entrepreneurs that created Solo Funds for people who were needed just below the $1,000 cash threshold that banks and other traditional lending institutions usually set as their minimums. Solo Funds was also created to keep customers away from predatory payday loans that charge astronomically high interest that can reach upwards of 400%. This is where SoLo Lends comes in. It created a platform for peer-to-peer micro loans that range from as low as $20 up to $565. Also, it has a 15% max interest that a lender can ask of a borrower. The most important thing about the app is that it also gives a community of people who wouldn’t qualify for banks to be able to have access to capital. There’s even an option to not charge interest. On the lending side, a lender can choose a loan to fund and then agree to the terms of interest rate or negotiate the terms so that the borrower has to then accept. So what does this mean for artists? Imagine if you were able to get a feature from an artist that has a buzz but you were only $300 short. You could ask your inner circle of family and friends. But what if still no one would let you borrow the money? And in this day and age of internet, the prices of artists when they're about to blow can go up overnight. Just ask the promoters who booked Ice Spice right before she blew up. They were surprised when she upped her price even if it meant cancelling an already agreed upon performance. SoLo Funds could bridge you that $300 til your next payday. Another scenario is if you're recording your album and you need $275 to finish the mixing and mastering. SoLo Funds could bridge that gap. For an artist SoLo Funds could be the access to capital that could help you get your “lucky” break. What about for those wanting to be label execs? If you want to be an exec than SoLo loans is the perfect place to get your feet wet. You can find an artist looking to fund a project and then put up the capital. Your return is then tracked in the app. You get exposure to what lending means and how to find a good deal. This could eliminate the handshake deals that people do in business because SoLo Funds actually draws up the contract for you. So, a person could say I’ll loan you $200 for your project. Just go on SoLo Funds and I’ll approve your loan request. Another scenario. An artist approaches you about needing money to go to buy merch, but they don’t have the cash right now. You as an exec sees this as an opportunity to make some money and it’s actually going towards something that will make money for the artist and help pay the loan back faster. SoLo Funds can help facilitate this transaction seamlessly. I’ve personally tried the SoLo Funds on the lending side and have tested out what it means to find a good deal. WARNING: I am not a financial advisor nor am I a fiduciary, and information given is purely for entertainment purposes. Please do your own independent research and contact a financial advisor for you investing needs. Here is the formula that worked for me. 1) Never loan out to a person that has a score below 60. 2) Never loan out to first time borrower. 3) Never loan out to a person whose last payment was late. Here are my personal wins and losses. As you can see I even went a little astray from my own rules.  The risks. With anything there are risks. Especially on the lending side. If a borrower doesn’t payback a loan, then you’re obviously out of your investment. But now there’s also a Loan Protection feature that allows for lenders to get some of their principal back if the lender misses their payment due date. But if you don’t take out the Loan Protection then after 35 days the loan will go into collections where a collection agency will attempt to collect the loan amount, with the only catch being you only get 30% of your principal back. So, for a $100 loan that’s only $30 you’ll ever see. There’s also a Missed Payment feature that sometimes SoLo Funds gives the option to lenders to get 50% of their investment back. That’s it! It goes without saying be careful out there. Risks do apply.
So, to wrap it. SoLo Funds is a place where artists can have access to capital using a peer-to-peer app that does not charge predatory interest rates or need good credit to apply for. On the flipside, people looking to help fund projects and make a little money can now get exposure to making deals while helping artists. It’s a win-win-win in my book. The only thing SoLo Funds can’t help you do at this moment is to help you build your credit. Nor will it help you become an accredited lender. But hopefully this will change in the future. Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think.
0 Comments
The evolution of music is undeniable. Just look at this past Grammy’s and the fierce competition for Best Dance/Electronic Album. This can be attributed in a huge part to the Pandemic that kept us all inside, so it’s no wonder that now genres like Techno, Electronic, and House music have made a had a huge impact on pop culture. From Beyonce’s new album "Rennaissance" to Drake’s album “Honestly Nevermind”. This category of music is feeling the effects of a market being saturated due to a high demand. But the great thing about music is that the true fans can see through the bandwagoneers, and the real music, from the real artists, is usually the only thing that lasts. AP=Chem is one of the real bands that is looking to take their music all across the world and show why their true creators in this space and not just another band looking to ride the wave. Their looking to shock the world with new album Imed=2. AP=Chem is a collective of two collaborating songwriters from Oklahoma City. Anthony Mahon, who also was in the band "The Gentle Art of Floating". And Eric Gorman, who also was a band member of "The Gentle Art of Floating" and also the band "Trap Queen". They describe their music as Inexplicable Modern Existential Dread. They have released multiple singles as well as the 2021 EP "Imed=1 Inexplicable Modern Existential Dread" and their now follow "EP Imed=2". The first track off the album is called "Please Don’t Make A Dance Song (Out of My Plane Crash)", which is really ironic. This 70s infused high energy track just takes over. It’s like looking thru a TV cycling through 70s themed shows and commercials. Back when you could take drugs on a plane and be a part of the mile high club. The clashing of the sounds dance unapologetically in the listener's mind. How can you not dance to this? Throughout the you hear a voice that is seems to be a flight stewardess. Her fragmented voice layers on top of the beat. But near the end another voice comes, this time a male voice that seems to be an air traffic controller that guides the listener through the freeform nosedive of synthesizers and piano chords and crashes right into track 2.
Track 2 is called "Forensic Homicide". The track starts with an ominous bass guitar that blares through the speaker followed by the resting piano keys. But it’s the eclectic guitar that then pulling you as if cupid himself were playing. And it's the drums that let you know that your heart is still beating. It really gives off this forbidden love type of feel. Just listening to the track your mind elopes with the beat not caring of time nor space. This feeling grows as the infactuated crooner sings, “Disappear tonight, we’re never coming back here". The listener then rides the guitar cruising through the rest of the track. Forensic Homicide is a highpoint of the album.
By the time we get to track 3 "House Not Home" we are at the mid-point of the album. The track has this dark inviting feel to it. It plays out like the part right before the killer is about to make his move. The vocals tuck tightly behind the beat as support rather than the main ingredient. They go in and out leaving enough room and suspense that you have question will it return? This track highlights their songwriting abilities with a more lyric song structure. There’s a lot of ironic bars in this track for instance; “It’s a big house, off the interstate, a nice neighborhood, with an iron gate”. I just think there’s a lot of irony in having a big house that no one can see because it’s in this secluded area and neighborhoods are usually inviting but an iron gate suggests this one isn’t. But maybe that's also meant by House Not Home.
The 4th track on the album is "Tyrel Slide". The track brings the energy of the album back up. It’s pounding bass and synthesizers draw you in. The beat is beautifully layered which creates these special moments in the track. The elongated piano notes create these paths that the synthesizers can then go and roam, while the drums are like the barriers that keeps everything inbounds. The track takes you on a quest. I can imagine a montage of a hero training or the long journey the hero has to take before he gets to the boss at the end of the story. The track is short but that is also the beauty in it. Knowing it’s short means you appreciate it that much more.
The last track on the album is "Penny Dreadful". This is the finale, with that comes a combination of where we’ve come and also how far we still have to go. Maybe a Imed=3…? Penny Dreadful has this diabolical feeling to it. There’s a voice that layers on top of the instruments that sounds like an archeologist journaling his most recent discovery. Which would be this EP. Again a montage of a scientist doing calculations and writing down theories comes to mind. The hard-hitting drums keep the thoughts organized as the synthesizer's loop around the harmonized organs. This is how you want to end an album.
There you have it. AP=Chem's latest EP Imed=2. Here are some facts about the EP. There are 5 songs with a total playback time of 23 minutes and 49 seconds. The shortest song on the album Tyrel Slide comes in at 2 minutes and 42 seconds. My favorite track on the EP is Forensic Homicide, it’s just a vibe and kind of tugs at the heart strings, also Valentine’s Day is around the corner so this would be a good theme song. What I liked most about the EP is that it took you through highs and lows. That’s what a great album does. It’s able to be played through the highs and lows of life. All-in-all I think AP=Chem did what they set out to do create inexplicable music in these modern times of existential dread. And who knows. Hopefully there will be a Imed=3.
Make sure you stream the EP Imed=2 from AP=Chem and let us know what you think. Make sure you follow AP=Chem on their social media: Instagram: @apchemband Facebook: AP=Chem Spotify: AP=Chem YouTube: AP=Chem BandCamp: AP=Chem SoundCloud: AP=Chem 
Coming off the high of being a part of the historic album that was F.I.L.A. (Fire in Little Africa). What else would an artist have to prove? For Creo Cash it would be nothing. But at the same time that high can only last for so long before fans start to wonder what’s next. The gap between new music seems to get larger and larger especially when an artist is uninspired and also second-guessing his moves. Sometimes an artist has to just get out of their own heads. This is exactly what Creo Cash is doing with the release of his new EP called “More Than an Artist”. We supposed to be rich. It’s more than just a dope line or lyric from track 1 “Born Rich”. It’s actually something Creo Cash spoke about at his EP release party, and the fact that this line was was more that just a hot line, it was true. That's because he is actually a descendant of business owners who had their businesses burned down by the 1921 Black Wall Street Massacre. He wasn’t just rapping on F.I.L.A. He was actually going for what was stolen from his family. But back to the track “Born Rich”. The first thing you hear is that flute. It sets the stage for Creo Cash to talk his shit. It’s a high energy track where Creo Cash showcases his talent with melodic flows and some dope bars like this one, “Bye, bye, bye, I’m N’Sync with the cheeses.” It’s one of the best tracks on the project.
Track 2 is called Havanna and features the one-two punch that was Blaxcdanna Mafia whose members were Creo Cash alongside Foolie Foolie. The two are still tight as ever and still frequently collab including on Havanna. The track starts out with a skit from Next Friday where Uncle Elroy brags about being able to roll blunts tighter than Havanna women. Anyone familiar with the duo’s music knows that stoner rap is an easy lane for the two rap in. It’s a fun track that feels like you chillin with the homie and ya’ll reminiscing about all the hoes and weed and drank, just shootin the shit. Foolie Foolie is a great talent that has some dope lines on here and has lots of versatility as shown when he switches flows multiple times. Here’s one example; “Medicinal smoke overlookin' the mountains, she drivin’ the boat, she gonna fuck around and drown it”. You can tell the two have collabed before and each are comfortable being on the track together they seem to almost balance each other out.
Track 3 is Sticky. Cause you know how sticky it get. Or in Creo Cash’s version “Sticky situation, yea bitch we gotta problem.”. Creo Cash is in his bag on this track. He jumps from sticky situation to sticky situation. whether that’s how to deal with your woman or a side piece, to how to deal with haters. You can get lost in the melodic flow without even realizing that the track is filled with so many quotables, “keep a 10 and 42 like Jackie Robinson”. In the words of the late Virgil Abloh “Like, we weren't supposed to come up with something this clean. Like something happened”. Sticky is so clean of a track that it seems too easy for Creo Cash to crank this one out. But then again looking closer there’s so many technical bars and the way that they are perfectly structured to set up the next bar is something you gotta appreciate. Cause again he’s good. And being good makes everything you do seem easy.
Wishy Washy is the next track on the album. The beat seems to pay homage to Lil Wayne’s the Block is Hot with some of the same notable sounds in the beat and that up-tempo New Orleans bounce. Creo Cash is adamant about people picking a side and standing on it. The track drills the point home that there is no room for people playing both sides. I gotta shout out this line that pays homage to 2Pac and at the same time Creo Cash puts his own spin on the line. "No killa but don’t push me cause ur dead homies gonna have company." It sounds like rapping in the trenches.
The 2nd to last track on the project is “No Jewelry”. The track features Fr3sh who uses auto-tune heavily throughout his verse. Fr3sh has some highlights on the track and shows his versatility as he switches up his flow numerous times. His influence on the track is so heavy that it almost feels like his. I feel like there are parts of the song that are a little too laid back. On Creo Cash’s verse it feels like he turns it on and turns it off. It’s like seeing an artist jogging down the court and not getting back on defense. There are times where his flow seems lackadaisical. Then there’s these dope bars that seem like a slam dunk. Like this bar. “Got it out the mud without a mugshot. Wat!!” I just wanted to see him turn it on and keep it on.
The last track on the EP is Time Goes By. The track is more of a slower reflective track where Creo Cash pulls from all his talents, singing, rapping, and songwriting. He effortlessly is able go into singing and then switch to rapping, multiple times throughout the track you hear him doing this balancing act without ever stumbling. Again, this track has so many quotable bars like this one, “To add to my pockets, I'm subtractin’ from yo digits.”. Time Goes By is a high point to end the project on.
So there you have it. The EP “More Than an Artist” by Creo Cash. It’s important to go thru some of the facts about the album. The album is 6 songs with a total playtime of 15 mins and 33 seconds, which is just long enough to listen to on any ride through Tulsa. All the tracks on the EP were produced by 2Peece who was able to blend different sounds that contributed to the cohesiveness of the project. There are 3 featured artists on the project Foolie Foolie, CoWhan, and Fr3sh. My favorite track on the album is “Born Rich”, it’s a high energy track with all the ingredients of a hit. My least favorite track is “No Jewelry”, not to say this can’t catch on and be a hit, it just wasn’t for me. But overall, I think “More Than an Artist” is a dope project with great songwriting and quotable bars. It’s great to hear Creo Cash back in the studio making music, and I look forward to hearing more.
Make sure you go stream Creo Cash's new project More Than an Artist now streaming everywhere! Also make sure you follow Creo Cash on all social media: Instagram: @callmecreo Twitter: @CashCreo Apple Music: Creo Cash Spotify:Creo Cash YouTube: Creo Cash |
About Author
|
RSS Feed