Youth And Hip-Hop: How Youth Today Are Making Their Own Albums
Young. Strapped for cash. Musically inclined. With all of these combined, the question is raised: how can you put out an album? Eli Kronovet, senior at Elon University, breaks down the inspiration, process, and struggles of making your own music.
Kronovet explained his music process with the following Q&A.
VR: How would you describe your sound?
Eli Kronovet: “Over the past year or so I’ve been experimenting with different genres within hip-hop. But I also don’t worry about trying to make my music sound a certain way; my goal is to create a sound that is the most authentic and organic sound possible.
“I spent all summer making turn-up, party music with [senior] Jonathan Glover out in L.A. Now that I’m back here [at Elon] I’m working on songs that are more substantive and also more groovy than they are hard-hitting party music.”
Who are some of your influences?
“I grew up listening to Southern hip-hop. Outkast, Lil Wayne, T.I. and Ludacris were all major influences to me when I was younger and were the reason I fell in love with hip-hop." Since I’ve started taking my music seriously, I use every hip-hop song and artist that I vibe with as my inspiration. And that list is way too long to type out.”
How did you get into making your own hip-hop music?
“I went to a very diverse middle school and that’s where I got into rap. I remember me and my friend Antonio writing songs in class and then going to the bathroom to record them on his old flip phone back in sixth grade."
“I knew that I had the ability and skill to make good music, but it wasn’t the until the summer before my junior year that I decided I had wasted enough time and it was finally time to start pursuing what I really want to do with my life, making music.”
What has been the hardest part of being an independent artist?
“The hardest part about doing this whole thing independently would probably be having to make all of my contacts myself. With a label you get an instant network of people who share the same goals and want the same thing accomplished. It has taken me up to my senior year to meet all these people that I need to meet in order to produce the quality of music we are hoping for. I now finally feel as though we have all the right people doing the right things to really succeed.”
“I remember the first time I recorded a song at Elon my freshman year. I literally just plugged in a crappy mic into my computer, put on some headphones, and recorded. Everything by myself. If I would have had a label behind me from the beginning I would have been able to hit the ground running at a much faster pace, and could have potentially be where I’m at now a year or two ago.”
“Aside from that it really is worthwhile not being apart of an organization that tries in any way to control you. Yeah - while it would have been nice to have that established network and potential financial backing, it would in no way shape or form be worth it if in turn I had to censor myself in any way, or put out something that I in no way fuck with. Which unfortunately, I’m sure happens all the time in the industry.”
What’s the biggest personal struggle you’ve faced as a musician?
“Definitely the overall skepticism and lack of open-mindedness I’ve encountered. The majority of people either laugh or roll their eyes when I tell them what I want to do with my life. Which is fine, its gives me an opportunity to prove them wrong, it’s just an uphill battle going into it. On top of that people also don’t seem to understand that I am continuing to grow and learn as a lyricist. People like to decide whether they think someone is either good or bad strictly based off first a first impression. I’ll show someone a song I’m working on and they’ll just decide if I’m good or terrible right there on the spot. If they don’t vibe with the song, it’s fucking near impossible to get them to listen to the next one with an open mind.”
You mentioned before you had an album coming up. Can you talk a little bit about your recording process?
“Not sure if I can release that precious information [laughs]. But first I have to get inspired, and I can be inspired by anything. Then I gotta make sure I write it down on my phone so that it doesn’t escape my mind in the future. Once I have the time in my schedule to put my mind to writing a song I look at this list of song ideas that I have already written down and use, that as the basis for the [new] song.”
“The recording time honestly varies song to song. I will say that now I am spending much more time editing, reworking, and refining my verses than I did when I was working on the ‘Kronicle,’ my first project.”
But how long does that whole process take?
“I usually will write a few drafts of a song, record it in the studio and then listen to the song for at least a few days to a week to see if there is anything else I need to change before I am completely comfortable with releasing it to the public.”
Whose in your team/crew? How did you meet them?
“Ah the squad. First it wouldn’t be right/fair to describe them as “my” team. It’s everybody’s team because everyone is working not only to better themselves, but to better each other. My main engineers are Jonathan Glover and Kevin McCarthy. Glover also makes beats for me along with James Hare and Marc Spano. Allison Srour is helping manage my social media. Every one of these people wants music to be in their future and by working together and getting on the same page when one of us succeeds all of us succeed.”
Finally, why don’t you tell me about “Unethical,” your upcoming EP?
“I am currently working on a handful of projects, but the one that will be released first is the project I alluded to earlier that Jon and I were working on in LA. It’s an EP titled Unethical that will consist of five to six dope ass songs that we hope people will be able to party to and vibe with.”
“As of now, the plan is to start releasing singles towards the end of October, leading up to the release of the full project by early to mid-November.”
written by Valerie Reich
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