SO many great things I discovered in SXSW,” writes indie rapper and self-promoter extraordinaire Kosha Dillz. “Here are 10 things that I discovered that I didn’t know existed and I need in my life for longer periods of time besides SXSW.”
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SXSW was great this year. It was my 10th year. This year I didn’t end up with any diseases (sexual transmitted or regular) hives, broken feet and / or financial problems. So Far So good. LOL. Haha. Yeah right. I hopped backstage at a Wu Tang concert, filmed a 9 minute freestyle with Rza and Cappadonna, went to a hackathon with Hash from Thievery Corporation, got press in BBC, NPR (big up to Rhymeo for the plug) and Billboard, and fell asleep in my car…twice. (and I didn’t drink at all or do any drugs).
On a funnier note, I saw a young kid ask Raekwon if he had instagram, and then he asked Raekwon how to spell his name. (Raekwon said…”you don’t know how to spell raekwon?”)
Now that this article is off to a good start…here are are ten great things that happened at SXSW.
- I discovered how a great event works (FLOOD FEST)– – I ended up getting so much free gear, clothing, behind the scenes, gifting, etc. FloodFest was like my event, times 10-20. in case I ever want to learn how to really make money at SXSW, modeling if off them wouldn’t be a bad idea with OY VEY, since I am continuing to do it every year. It is important to go to big events to see how much they activate. They activate everything.
- Hustle isn’t PR but it helps – I wasn’t in everything, but OY VEY SXSW got some press. I met someone in the street and interviewed for BBC. I ended up rapping for NPR’s snapchat. One of my OY VEY! performers Instagram, was stopped at the border, so we got lots of press for the show in Billboard. My BBC interview came as i stopped Steve Lamacq in the street.
- LED screen – I need to invest in one. I can literally have one and pay for it in sponsors. If not that a screen! It was probably the coolest thing I had in addition to my show. It made every act look amazing. Big up to Jessi from Scratchouse for making me look amazing.
- South American Music – I met two amazing singers Yael Mayer and Paula from Feralucia. I have never spent so much time at SXSW with south american singers. I also met a guy who books 5 festivals in central to south america. Moral of the story, I am investing in a flight to South America for a bit. Where should I go first? Do you live in south america and throw festivals? Hurry up and tell me because I am buying my flight (rapperfriends@gmail.com)
- I made friends with the locals who make SXSW happen – next year I have already been given a showcase again. It is amazing that I have already been invited back. Not only that, but instead of paying $5000 for a rental venue in the day, I was offered one for free! I like saving $5000. You can also get a venue that needs someone to fill it with awesome space, so you should try doing that all year. It might not always be worth renting if you can wait, but if you find the right person, you can make some cool stuff happen. Just be a good person.
- I found some good books. – I am not the most avid reader. I prefer easy reads. I was at Empire Auto watching this chick Madame Ghandi that and ended up finding these two books at a table that someone left behind. One is “OH SNAP” by Kate Talbot. The other is “A Headache from Crying” by LIna Abascal I guess the person was in a break up with the music industry or someone and was snap chatting about it and had the both books. Regardless if you like relationships and snap chat you should check those books out. Also Madame Ghandi is dope and she is like the future leader of all women in life so you should check her out.
- Fragile Rock is a band – I couldn’t imagine to tell you what you thought of the muppets before, but this was probably the best thing I could ever walk into and I did. I was thrilled. I wrote my name on their email list and want to book them for the future, so if you know them please tell them to find me! Check out their NPR write up.
- Jak Prints – I always look to find the plug on printing and posters sna stickers and stuff. I literally was putting up posters and someone asked me who I use and I’m like I’m always about DIY local companies. The small the better. he said I was the first one now there 300 of us. I’m like “Ok that is dope.” Now i am gonna get some free printing and Jak Prints is epic. Check em out.
- PXP Festival and DOUR Festival – Everyone in SXSW is obsessed with playing the festival that is probably unattainable. (coachella) Now we have something that will be perfect for it all. The homies came thru from Germany and watched all the OY VEY SXSW showcase. I met them outside and they all happen to be like German Superstars. The guy from DOUR festival was like have you ever heard of it and I’m like “YEAH OFCOURSE” and now I have something that I want to do in Europe. Check out PXP and DOUR.
- Oklahoma has amazing music : I didn’t know much about oklahoma, but I found two amazing groups of artists. One is Eric and Happie, who are a couple that recently moved to Tulsa. Also Jabee is like the Tupac of Oklahoma, and he is one of my favorite rappers out with an album called Black Future. They both played the OY VEY showcase, but I felt a strong desire to come to Oklahoma after they played. Of course, they travel all over the world playing music, and both have sweet albums. There was a lot of other cool things I discovered. One is that the Vans Warped Tour was announced today. Soundset is gonna be great there too. Did you also know that Nardwuar interviewed Yesjulz? I met the owner of Bandsintown and convinced him to do an experiment on me where I go up 10,000 followers. (I hope he follows through) I had a meeting with the head of LIVE NATION digital , and he mentioned to me that Facebook ads is where they spend lots of money. Sidewinder has the best outside stage of SXSW and it isn’t impossible to get paid at SXSW. I had 4 paid shows. I met a crew called “ILL MUSLIMS” which has an epic instagram and I saw one of the gals from B-52’s perform at the Aerobic International showcase on monday. Did I miss anything except a lot?
Kosha Dillz is a rapper currently on the OY VEY USA tour. It is his first headlining tour. He makes user friendly rap tunes and has a stellar youtube channel. Check him out on tour, including March 30th in San Fran and April 9 in Chicago and April 18 in brooklyn. He has created songs and videos with everyone from Rza and Matisyahu to ASAP Rocky, Macklemore and Flynt Flossy of Turquoise Jeep. Follow him on twitter , grab some merch, and email him for life and music consultation at rapperfriends@gmail.com. He has VIP packages for his tour on Roadnation.