THIS IS YOUR FREESTYLE BLAST #10
THIS IS YOUR FREESTYLE BLAST #10
In this issue of The Blast, we commemorate a very important heritage, tell a story about a Vampire, then check out some Freestyle club and concert events heading your way!
What’s up folks! Well, it’s the fourth quarter and the beginning of the Holiday season. And though the Freestyle market does NOT come to a complete stop, it does however slow down a bit.
At a time when a few extra shows for the artists would be appreciated, many promoters just don’t see the value.
Any activities outside of tradition these days, usually can’t stand against the Holiday Spirit that most of us grew up possessing, and aside from a Halloween show or two, and maybe even one for News Years, there isn’t much more happening in regards to Freestyle club or concert events.
I remember back in the day when a Holiday show, particularly New Years’ eve would command at the very least double the fee for an artist, and if it was out of state, accommodating the artist’s immediate family was usually part of the deal.
September through January for many acts can be trying, but does it still have to be that way? Most artists and fans alike should now have grown kids, maybe even with their own families, and therefore those Holiday routines should start loosening up a bit.
But is that enough to get fans out of the house and to the clubs or other events during the Holidays?
I’m not talking about replacing our traditions with these Freestyle festivities, but rather adding to them. I’m talking about making the Season to be Jolly… just a bit more Jollier!
Could it be that Holiday Freestyle events are missing that Holiday vibe?
Yes, as corny as it may seem, maybe adding to shows, a Holiday theme, might just be that all too obvious fix that most are looking past.
Why should a Christmas show be no different than a show put on a few months prior? What could be done differently to give Holiday events more of that Holiday feel? Because if we can figure that out, I believe that we can change the entire trajectory of Freestyle during the Holidays.
Attending Freestyle events during the Holidays can become just as much a tradition as Trunk or Treating has become, volunteering at the shelters, or that midnight madness that happens on Black Friday.
While others are at Walmart fighting over the last Xbox, the rest of us could be at the club having the time of our lives, with the ones that we love.
The Holiday season, starting with Halloween, in fact, should be our busiest time of the year, and also the most profitable for our promoters.
If you know a club promoter who you think should consider putting something together for the Holidays, do me a favor and Share this article with them, and let me know if it helped!
Also, I placed a link down at the bottom of this Newsletter with a FREE download to some cool Freestyle Festivities that Angel and I came up with, to help add a little more of that Holiday spirit to your Freestyle event… Hey, you never know, huh?
Anyway, I’m glad you’re here, and I hope you enjoy this month’s issues of The Freestyle Blast Newsletter. Now let’s get into it!
National Hispanic Heritage Month is an annual celebration observed from September 15th to October 15th in recognition of the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States.
And how could I recognize such a celebration without acknowledging our very own Freestyle community? Derived from a genre of music created by the Urban Latino Youth of New York City, that has not only sustained itself for over 30 years but also the many families, including my own. Now if that isn’t a contribution to our history, then what is?
We celebrate those of our past who have become icons in our community, way too many to list. From politicians, activists, actors, artists, and musicians, we seem to forget the icons that live with us today.
Our Freestyle community is filled with living legends. Artists, writers, and producers, who, not having been given the opportunity to share with the world their God-given talents, instead paved their own way, as well as the way for others, through the thorny weeds of the music industry.
A path that has since found its way to the masses, to people of other races and nationalities, who have now embraced Freestyle as their own, and from them, even more talent has been born.
Others from outside of our community who had at one point no faith in what this genre could do were quick to come aboard once it was proven. And though they may claim to be the reason that Freestyle has been so successful, my gratitude will always be to the creators themselves, while the others I will only credit its flaws.
Though every day you deserve to be celebrated, on National Hispanic Heritage Month, Freestyle, its culture, and its community shall also be celebrated!
Well, it’s October, it’s cooling down, and the leaves are starting to fall, and as children start making their way through the isles of department stores, undecided on what they wanna be this Halloween, I again dive deeper into the promotion of my second novel, Feastyle, a story of an incredible famous Freestyle artist who just so happens to be a vampire.
Five novels in, and I have to say, Feastyle was definitely the most difficult to write, and probably for no other reason than the fact that growing up, I just wasn’t into anything horror.
Not movies, not books, and though, Halloween was indeed my favorite holiday, (if I could call it that) my costumes were usually one of the more popular superheroes.
Ghosts, Zombies, Frankenstein, and even Vampires I never considered dressing up as, and as I sit here dwelling on it even more, I wonder, could it have been because I was raised like an only child, with older siblings already out of the house, and a bedroom I had to sleep in all by myself? Or could it have been that traumatic movie experience I had when big sister Cindy took me to the movies to watch The Exorcist?
The story of Feastyle came to me over several years, while on the road with Lil’ Suzy. I remember joking about our lives on the road, living like Vampires, where we traveled and slept during the day, but at night we’d come alive!
The idea, marinated over many years, until one day I felt compelled to put it into writing, not knowing that my true disconnection from the world of horror would bring my entire project to a complete halt after just a couple of chapters.
I’ve always laughed at the claim of writer’s block as I myself seemed to possess an unlimited source of ideas, so many in fact that most will probably never be told.
So what happened? Was my block due to a lack of knowledge or inexperience within the horror universe? Or was I subconsciously just too afraid to go in that deep?
I had openly committed to writing this book, publishing my proposed release dates on all of my Social Media platforms, a release date that was approaching fast, so fast in fact that I knew that making the deadline would be impossible.
Though I’m sure that people cared less than I thought, I still had to renege, but when I did, this time no date would be announced, not until the book was completed and ready for the presses.
For the next year and a half, I devoted myself to the one thing that back in the day I would never have even given any thought. Horror, particularly that of Vampires, submerging myself deep into their dark and dreadful world.
Every book, movie, and website I could get to, I did, not to mention several phone conversations with my long-time friend and the artist behind a couple of my book covers, Pete Hernandez (RIP) who blew me away with his in-depth knowledge of Vampires, and not only did I learn more than I even thought existed, also I developed a ton of respect for this incredibly bizarre world.
Finally, I was done, proud that I had obeyed all the rules, and created a story that Vampire enthusiasts themselves would be good with.
Feastyle is the first horror novel ever written based on the Freestyle music genre, and with Lil’ Suzy as the cover model, I hope this book also lives on for eternity.
Alex Ramos, J Anthony Poin Dexter, Caroline Esposito, A Juanie Legacy Rodriguezz, Rebekka Rolon, Abytka Cruz, Nancy Jimenez Jimenez, Hector M Pola, Corlyn Jacobsen, Herb Jackson, Valerie Padilla, Noah Roper, Joseph Puig, Angela Gozzi, George Vences, Pamela Distefano, Pete Zavala, MarLa Ivette Melendez, Guadalupe Ortiz, Cristina CeCe Gomez, Lewis Martinee, Defne Faria, Donovan Santos, Lynn Susan, Gio M Torres, Sharon Surette Nelson, Jonathan Karis, Priscilla Laboricua Ortiz, Manny Man, Brenda K Starr, Abimael DjWiz Arlequin, Blanca Fernandez, Carlos Ramos, and me… Latif Mercado.
To all our Subscribers, Readers, Subjects, and of course our SPONSOR for Sponsoring this month’s issue of the Freestyle Blast Newsletter, Thank you all so much!
and until next month…
This was your Freestyle Blast!
National Hispanic Heritage Month
Just a Few Influential Hispanic Americans Who Made History
Free Holiday Ideas for your Freestyle Event
I Always thought of freestyle as Latin Hip hop.....meaning.....Latinos making the music....mostly Puerto Ricans. IT was My Music.....Relatable to me, as a Young Puerto rican....I felt represented by a specific music genre!.....That was exciting to me!....Knowing that Safire, Tka, Angel, the girls from Sweet Sensation, Noel, Coro, and so many more WERE Puerto Ricans made me proud!...When Spin Magazine did an issue focusing on Latin hip hop, with Safire on the cover....I knew we were a Force to be wreckoned with!....There were other Latin artists....but on the whole.......it proved that we could sing!....
When talking about music with regard to Hispanic Heritage Month, freestyle has to be part of the conversation for sure. I'm one-fourth Cuban on my mom's side, so I can appreciate the shout-out to all of those who are part of the freestyle community.