Starting out in the music business is tough for most, but for some the dream of becoming successful creating music can be downright impossible without help. Thankfully there are places to turn to.
I've heard it said many times and have read it in more than a few articles, that using or leasing hip-hop beats from royalty-free websites is a bad idea, but I for one must disagree - at least in part. Sure, if you're on the cusp of "making it" in the music business as a rap artist then yes, I would agree with most of the naysayers (and I really hate to agree) that leasing probably isn't in your best interest. But what about the uncounted millions in the rap world whom are still babes-in-the-woods when it comes to spittin' lyrics? Who is going to spring for a professional producer to create a completely unique piece that they can call their own? Probably isn't going to happen.
I suppose if you are one of the uncounted or underprivileged you can always have one of your homies beat box while you practice your rap the way so many of us did back in the day when rap was still for fun - when it wasn't so much the rappers who were spitting but rather their beat making buddies. Or worse yet, you could rap along to your illegally downloaded recording of fifty-cent while your girlfriend sits quietly by wishing in her head that she had gone to the mall instead. But why in this modern age of technology should you have to?
My point is, many aspiring rap artists do not have access to the kinds of expensive equipment needed to produce their own beats, and even when they do, not all of them have the ability to use it properly in order to create the kinds of fresh beats that they're looking for. For a kid from an impoverished neighborhood, companies that lease-out beats for little-to-nothing are like a god-send. Even if they don't own a computer, they can use one from their local library to download the beats, then take them home and practice with them until they their "flowcabulary" is polished smooth like a river stone.
And so what if they aren't able to sell whatever they've created using the leased beat? The fact is that they have had an equal chance to practice whatever talent they may or may not have while using a professional beat. And if at some point this kid - the one from the impoverished neighborhood - becomes truly good at his or her trade, maybe - just maybe - somebody out there with the means to pay for ownership of a quality beat will take notice of them and then who's to say where they'll go, and all because of websites that lease beats.
So the next time you hear someone ripping on the royalty-free websites that so many in the business have come to demonize, just remember that it may not be right for everyone... but it's just fine for some.
