Indie Artist Music Hustle
Indie Artist Music Hustle Podcast with Blonde Intelligence is where you will experience exquisite cranial repertoire. The podcast (Available on your favorite podcasting platform) provides entertainment news, thoughts on celebrity gossip, independent music artists, as well as businesses that contributor to the music and entertainment industries. The purpose is to provide exquisite cranial repertoire. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button!!!! follow me @BlondeIntelligence @RRoneice. Also the channel name is That Blonde Broad.
Indie Artist Music Hustle
Cooking Up Tracks: Maxx Osama's Recipe for Independent Success
Welcome to this week’s Indie Artist Music Hustle with Blonde Intelligence. I am your host, Ms. Roni, and I always seek to give you exquisite cranial repertoire. Maxx Osama takes us behind the curtain of his dual life as both a culinary creator and musical artist in this captivating episode of Indie Artist Music Hustle. The Tennessee-based independent musician opens up about how his early passion for poetry evolved into hip-hop artistry, creating a foundation for authentic storytelling that defines his sound today.
"I cook on beats and I cook in restaurants," Maxx shares with refreshing candor, explaining how he balances his day job at a buffet-style restaurant with his true calling as a musician. With over 100 professional releases under his belt, his prolific output comes from a place of genuine creative urgency – often recording two to three tracks daily when inspiration strikes.
The conversation dives deep into the evolving landscape of hip-hop, where Maxx navigates the delicate balance between lyrical complexity and mainstream appeal. He thoughtfully addresses how today's music industry often feels "more like a popularity contest than a talent contest," yet remains committed to versatility without compromising his artistic integrity. His recent singles "Third Degree" and "My Story" showcase this adaptability, with the latter evolving into an ongoing series born from personal loss and emotional expression.
What stands out most is Maxx's global perspective on artistic collaboration. Having worked with producers and artists from Australia, the UK, and across the United States, he embraces the borderless nature of modern music creation. His involvement in "The Heist" – an ambitious project bringing together 20 artists through Shadow Works Entertainment – demonstrates his commitment to community and creative partnership.
Whether discussing the challenges of capturing audience attention in the first few seconds of a track, the implications of AI in music production, or the authenticity behind rap beefs, Maxx offers nuanced insights that will resonate with creators and music lovers alike. Search "Maxx Osama" on any streaming platform to experience his music, and reach out for collaborations regardless of genre or geography – this is an artist genuinely open to connection and creative exchange.
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's Indie Artist Music Hustle with Blind Intelligence. I'm your host, Ms Ronnie, where I always seek to give you exquisite cranial repertoire. This week we have a very special guest, Max, how do you say your name, Osama?
Speaker 3:Osama, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2:Max Osama, how you doing today.
Speaker 3:I'm doing good you.
Speaker 2:I am doing just fine. What we're going to do is let you take over and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm Max Osama, independent artist man. I reside here in Tennessee East Tennessee to be exact, man and I've just been on this journey, working this music man. You know I also have a nine to five where I cook, so I consider myself a cook both ways I cook on beats and I cook in restaurants, which I work at a buffet style restaurant. So busy ain't the? It's not enough hours in a day for me to do all the stuff I need to do, you know. But music is my passion, I love it Way to express myself, form a therapy for me, and you know I just like giving people my life story. I don't have the time to write a book. It's a lot faster for me to do it on the beat.
Speaker 2:Gotcha, I gotcha. So how long have you been an independent artist?
Speaker 3:Well, I always, I've always done music, which I started due to the fact that I used to like poetry. I wrote poetry a lot and then, you know I love music. You know I'm an 80s baby, so I grew up in the hip hop era like a real hip hop era. So once I started to see I had a way with words, you know, and with my interest in music, I gave it a shot.
Speaker 2:So I was about 14, 15 years old, but I started taking it serious from a professional standpoint about three, four years ago. Okay, okay. So with you being in hip-hop, right, yes, yes, yes, which I mean.
Speaker 3:I do multiple genres, but my preference is hip-hop.
Speaker 2:Yes, what do you think about the hip-hop climate right now?
Speaker 3:well with as far as the climate with this new generation. You, you know I dab and dab here and there, you know, just to keep up with from a versatile standpoint. You know I challenge myself to be able to be a versatile artist but with hip-hop being my thing, like the evolution of hip-hop is what I was raised off of. So like I've had multiple people come to me and you know they like my music. But there's times where I get into my lyrical hip hop form and they're like, listen, I don't even understand what you just said. You know what I mean, but I mean it's just me. So I kind of try to blend the two together and dumb it down somewhat with the new generation in the era of music. But I still got to let my music out, I still got to do my thing.
Speaker 2:I got you, I got you, I got you. So tell me this there are many commentators on youtube that do reviews on music and dissect lyrics and things of that nature, and I was watching some reviews. The other feel like the climate of hip hop has changed and that Lil Wayne didn't grow with the change in an evolution of hip hop. So, with you saying that you try to dib and dab to keep up with what's going on within the current climate of hip-hop, what do you think about commentators being a major part of what people's perception of your music is?
Speaker 3:well, well, depending on how big the actual commentator is itself on his platform and what business it is he's controlling, it could be a major part, because if it's somebody who has a wide range of followers, you know people are going to continue to look at this. And the more you look at something, the more you look into something, you know it becomes a part of you. You're almost training yourself. So therefore, I see it as if repetitive of you. You're almost training yourself. So therefore I see it as if, repetitively, you're hearing this, hearing this, hearing this from majors, then that's what you're going to start to feel like, that's what you're going to feed into. So I mean, it's just like with music. You know, if you got one person that listened, compared to a thousand people that listen, everybody is going to follow the trend of that thousand people. And that's what I do, just like personally myself with music nowadays it's more so a popularity contest than it is a talent contest anymore.
Speaker 2:Okay, on one of my shows that we had some technical difficulties on, but on one of my shows I interviewed an executive that was part of Pinescope Records and I know that with a lot of these major distribution deals but which anybody can get a distribution deal, but with some of these major distribution deals, like with Universal, that some artists have, there's a threshold that you have to meet. How do you feel about social media being a major part of whether an independent artist gets a decent distribution deal or just have to settle for using general distribution?
Speaker 3:Well, with social media being involved in things, it's more so.
Speaker 3:I look at it from time to time.
Speaker 3:As you know, you're a musician, you're an artist, but then there comes a part to where you're almost playing a role, you're a character, and it's due to the fact of needing this large following and these numbers.
Speaker 3:So, therefore, these people see you, they want to be interested in you because, at the end of the day, it's a job. So, with them expecting you to meet the expectations of a certain criteria, it's, it's just like a job. If you work in production, you got to get this amount of things done, or they're going to let you go, or they're just not going to deal with you in any way, shape or form. Which is why I challenge myself to touch multiple areas with music, to be noticed, with the understanding that if it happens to land and say so not much as lyrical hip hop that I'm still qualified to do that. It may be more challenging for me, which is when you know work, which I mean, that's what we do, but more so when it comes to my preference, it's easy okay, so tell me some of the other genres that you have fused had a fusion?
Speaker 3:I've touched everything except pop except pop?
Speaker 2:why except pop?
Speaker 3:I'm on it, it's just my voice, and when it comes to those melodies and things like that, I feel it would be better off if I had a lead artist on a pop song for me to follow up behind. I just don't have much experience in that area, so therefore I could feed off another artist easily, which I've worked with artists in Australia and all types of things. I actually just had a track come out that was nowhere near my style I mean nowhere near it and it was with a DJ I met who was also Australian, and when I heard the beat I was like uh, but I don't turn down a beat. If you send me a beat, I'm going to do it. So I did it and I sent it back to her and when she got it back she was like yo, that's great, that's a great track and it just it keeps me motivated. You know what I mean and, like I said, it's a job. So I'm not going to say no, I can't do it, I'm going to work and get it done.
Speaker 3:OK, tell me about your latest project, my latest project. Well, I released Third Degree, which is actually a song that I did, which we were saying, you know, with the evolution of music and what's going on today. It was more so of a track of what's happening nowadays Today it's more so of you know, with the beat, the up-tempo beat, the bopping and things of that nature, which, again, I did just reaching out to people, showing people my versatility and things of that nature to where it reaches a wider audience. It's not so much as a storytelling-type track, it's more so of a vibe you out with your homeboys, you might be riding with your windows down, it's about to be summertime, type energy.
Speaker 2:OK, so is it a single or is it an EP? Is it a whole album?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a single, which I mean my one. Before that actually came up with the creation, I just put a track up for release for the 20th June, 20th to be exact, and it's called my Story. Um, you know, and I just was going through some things in life, you know, I lost a couple friends in the last month and a half. So you know, I was just feeling some type of way one night and I let it out. And with that idea came I recorded a part two to the song. Uh, a couple days before a funeral and I wanted to get the song out. So now I'm building a collection based off the topic my story story, and I just considered it a series, re-released the first track with the second one for marketing purposes, seeing if I can catch a wave with my story series that way.
Speaker 2:OK, so tell me, how many projects have you released professionally?
Speaker 3:At least a hundred, a hundred, you're doing more than Pat Poole.
Speaker 3:Listen, I have a real serious problem when it comes to recording. I try to tell myself not to keep going, not to keep going, but I almost record, like when I'm not at work as much as I've been recently. I record two to three songs a day and when I record a song, you know, I get the understanding like there's no point in me holding on to this. If I hold it, nobody can hear it. So I just may hit a moment to where I create traffic, and once I have that traffic, I want to grasp that concept of that momentum, so I just flood it.
Speaker 2:During COVID, a lot of artists found ways to collaborate with people in other countries, so what do you think about that?
Speaker 3:Well, it's a great move and, honestly, djs and I met when I first began. I met a lot of promoters, just uh joining lives and having my music reviewed and things which my um, my very first fan base, uh reach wise when I started to grow, was UK. I have a lot of people that I talk to, um people I do meetings with and things of that nature, and a lot of them are from London a lot of them.
Speaker 2:So have you collaborated with anybody lately from the UK?
Speaker 3:Not from the UK. Honestly, I've had the Aussies in tune with me. Like I have an Australian female right now. She ain't been feeling too good Wait for her to get better and get back in the studio and we got a collaboration on the way. Another guy he's actually about to drop an EP which he's from Australia as well and he just asked me the other day to get on there with him A couple of guys. There's a guy in Florida that I deal with. He's a producer and things like that he goes. He has his own little entertainment service, shadow Works Entertainment, and we've actually been working on a project called the Heist and we have artists from it's like 20 of us and we're working a situation out to where we're shooting content and things of that nature and making single individual records and just collaborating within the 20 people. But we're shooting it like a real heist.
Speaker 2:That's what I wanted you to tell me. When I say tell me a little bit about yourself. Business chemistry when you're doing a collaboration, how important is that to you? And I know that some artists can say, well, I record here and they record there and we just go in and just work or whatever, but how important do you think it is to have natural business chemistry, such as how megan the stallion and cardi b had it on why it's, it's a great ordeal because it's going to cause both artists to continue to work after the studio session.
Speaker 3:For as far as promotion, marketing and things of that nature, it's a great ordeal because it's going to cause both artists to continue to work after the studio session. For as far as promotion, marketing and things of that nature, it's way more than just recording a song and putting it out and hope your people see it. I have to wait to get to my clients. I have to make my clients want this, which fans clients. You know, same ordeal. But you know, just because they see the name don't mean that they're going to bite on the situation. So therefore, if we're doing, we need to do from a job aspect. Say, in the same sense, I wouldn't know michael jones, I wouldn't know gatorades, I wouldn't know different flavors of candy or kool-aid if they didn't have the commercials to follow up after it was released. So therefore, it takes the business side of that to have people working continuously, continuously, continuously. It's more than just recording and putting it out and saying, oh, this is fire in the world, like you got to put it in their face.
Speaker 2:Okay. Studies show that in order for you to grab an audience's attention, you have to grab it visually within five seconds.
Speaker 3:I agree.
Speaker 2:Do you think that translates into music? Because sometimes a song will start and it might be a great song, but the intro may be too long. The intro should start within 25 seconds, so do you think that that should translate into music, or is it different circumstances to catch that attention?
Speaker 3:It should translate into music, because me myself, when I first began, I had that same ordeal, going to where my intro would be more so speech than rapping. And within my second year I would, you know, as far as me, networking and learning multiple things. A lot of people told me you know, the song was good, but you're losing that audience because your song ain't starting. So I learned to construct myself and at least give my hook to a sense, to where they hear the hook, and now they want to know what the rest is within a 10 second time span.
Speaker 2:OK, so does that, I would say, influence the way you write a song?
Speaker 3:No, I just use instead of of you know where I would talk or speak. I wait to catch the right part to where I feel like, okay, I can drop my hook right here, and I mean maybe not even the whole hook, you know, I may just kind of, you know, I mean, focalize myself through at that point and I cut the hook off. And then by the time I cut that off, the beat will drop. Or I'll go ahead and start my verse and then switch my tempo when the beat drops to catch the beat.
Speaker 2:OK, so next question AI. What are your thoughts on AI in music Now? The reason why I ask this question is because I may have the producer wrong I think it's Timberland and it may be somebody else. That has an AI artist and some people are not feeling that, and I understand the concept of it. But as a independent artist, as a creator, what do you feel about the trajectory of ai in music right now?
Speaker 3:ai to me is a dangerous type of thing which but I mean it makes you more competitive. But my whole outlook on the whole ordeal ai don't think for itself. You got to give it the words. It can't think for itself.
Speaker 2:So if I can elevate myself to the person who's using the ar, beyond the person that's using the ai, I wish you the best so my scenario that I always use is you wrote a song and you've been searching and searching and searching for the right sound to just make it just that, and you know that sound because you created it. You can't find it, so you decide that you're going to use AI. What do you think about that scenario?
Speaker 3:With that scenario. I would more so push it as somebody, like with the Timbaland situation, the ordeal he has going in, because if the song is that and he has that artist comes the business side of that. You want me to carry this this way. I'm going to go into that situation as a songwriter. So therefore, I'm not just putting something out and then I have no claims, no format on it, in no way, shape or form. It comes off as you wrote the song, possibly, or it's just an AI generated song and my name will never touch the credits. So therefore we got to have some formal agreement as far as business to have to understand that, hey, I did this. Maybe you just sing better than me, because I can't carry a note if you put it in my pocket what about uh, uh.
Speaker 2:What's his name? Uh, timberland's ai artists. How is that artist going to perform? Is Is that what we're looking forward to?
Speaker 3:It's going to have to go digital, it'll have to be holographic. There's no way around it. You know what I mean. So what is?
Speaker 2:that going to do to the real artist? How do you think? That's going to affect the real artist.
Speaker 3:It's going to be a challenge. It's definitely going to be a challenge, especially with the makeup of the artist, because I know what you're speaking on, but I haven't seen the image of this artist yet. You know what I mean and one of the people I actually work with. They created the character. That's a DJ that I'm working with as we speak and it's a female DJ, but it's a dude who created this character and it's an AI created character and he runs all the tracks through this AI-generated DJ and I mean he makes beats and he's a producer. He does all of that, but you would never know it's him unless you work with him.
Speaker 2:What do you think about the current rap beats that's been going on? Do you think that it's more? We're going to leave Drake and Kendrick at it? Because Kendrick said I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress, I hate the way that you sleep, but these other beats that's going on. Do you think that? Because a lot of artists are afraid to drop right now because they feel like Kendrick is on the roll right now and so they're kind of like hating, because they feel like that if they drop right now they wouldn't catch the momentum that they need. Do you think that the rap beefs that's going on after the Kendrick and Drake beef, do you think that it's more to generate attention to them or that there's really a beef going on? Do you think it's more marketing and promotion or do you think there is some real beef or do you think it might be a little bit of both?
Speaker 3:Sometimes it could be both, but more so than none would it be in the business I'm talking about right now?
Speaker 2:I'm talking about these little fires that's going on right now.
Speaker 3:Promotional stunts, trying to remain relevant. You got to stay on course and remain relevant. You got to do what you got to do. That's how they feel about it. I mean it's worked for some of the greatest rappers of all. I mean you got to think how 50 Cent came into the game.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That made beef with the entire industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and people will do that, but sometimes it just don't stick. Like when Megan dropped his, the focus was on Nicki Minaj, it wasn't everybody else that she said something about. So, yeah, I do think it was a promotional thing there and I think that it paid off for her.
Speaker 2:But I don't know if she. I know she has tried to, but I don't know if she's kept the momentum going with everything that's going on in hip hop right now. So I think she's a popular rapper and she's great. I think she's great, but I think, as one of what they would consider hip-hop queens, I don't think that it's made a splash big enough for her to get there. Yet. I'm not saying she can't get there because she's got skills. She's got skills, yeah, for sure. So do you think that the Tory Lanez thing is going to hinder her from getting to that tier?
Speaker 3:With the way the tables have turned here recently, in the last month or so. I honestly think so, Because there's stuff coming out. You know I was looking at something the other day showing a release date for them. You know what I mean. I think it was 2029 type ordeal. So it's starting to look very fabricated, that situation, scenario. So that's going to cause her to lose fans. You may be a true Stallion fan, whatever the case may be, but newcomers aren't going to gravitate towards you due to. You know like, when I do my music, my music is real life stories. If I was to say something that somebody know I didn't do, that's going to hinder my situation. Cap, as they call it nowadays. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:I try to refrain from that because I'm giving people the real, authentic me true stories. Okay, so what do you think about? People report on this all the time. How do I want to put this question? So I'm going to leave the negativity behind. But what do you think about the Papoose and Clarissa Shields? I would say, beginning of the Black Love brand?
Speaker 3:yeah, I mean it's a powerful move for it, definitely a powerful move for it. You're seeing two people who are well in tune with what they do and have established a base on their own and coming together and living a happy life, pushing and supporting one another, and that's what we all need when it comes to things of this nature, in the entertainment form or whatever the case may be. Um, you know, I can be as big as I be individually, but if I could put somebody together with me and have a relationship both ways, then I mean there's no limit to that.
Speaker 2:So big salute to them for sure I've done a show the other week about. The perception is that papoose dated up and Remy dated down. So I'm going to ask you this Do you think, with all the controversy surrounding the personal lives of Remy Ma, do you think that it's going to affect her rap career?
Speaker 3:It just depends on what she decides to do at this point in time with that attention. You can flip that attention into momentum in the sense that if you drop some things, that's going on similar to what I try to do myself, you know, if I know, if I have a release going on, I may do an open verse challenge with no intentions on releasing the track. You know, just get a bunch of people looking, a bunch of people looking, you know, just get a bunch of people looking, a bunch of people looking, and all of a sudden the song drops. So now that I have that momentum and everybody looking and watching, wondering, oh, who's this artist, what's this artist? Oh, what's he doing next? What's he doing next? And then, just out of nowhere you know the element of surprise he's dropped a track. Let's go hear this track.
Speaker 2:And I try to use that to my advantage, so it could definitely be used. She capitalizes on it, okay, well, I thank you for coming. I want you to tell everybody where they can find you if they want to work with you, how to follow you, how to find your music, your latest, your latest project, the future project, no recap, everything for us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, I got you know. Like I said, my story in third degree just recently dropped. Within the last two months. If you're looking to find me in any way, shape or form, max M-A-X-X Osama like Bin Laden, I always tell people Google the name. It'll take you to all my music, all my social sites, anything you may need from me. All you got to do is search the name Max Osama. I keep everything relevant to my name because my name is my brand, which, of course, I LLC my name because I carry it in the business format. So if you want to do business music collaborations, you need some merch, whatever it is you may need. Look up Max Osama and reach out to me and get in touch.
Speaker 3:Man, I got. I got T-shirts, hoodies and things of that nature. I'm actually working. I just talked with a lady the other day who's actually a friend of mine and I didn't know she had the machine she had, and now that I know that, I'm looking into the shorts. You know, I'm just seeing what they got going on as far as you know, the clothing trend for the summertime and I'm going to try to capitalize on that as well.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:Everything is Max Osama Like being live. For sure, for sure, and y'all reach out man, because I'm definitely working, looking to collaborate with artists. I don't care what genre, I don't care what city, I don't care what state, I don't care what country. Man, let's work, keep ready to work.
Speaker 2:All right, Remember, you can find the podcast on all podcast platforms. When I feel like it, sometime I might stream live on social media, but you know YouTube been yanking me a little bit, so that's okay. And you can also get your merch questions, anything you need, at wwwblonde-intelligencecom and we will see you next week. Bye.
Speaker 1:Hey girl, let me tell you about this podcast. Girl, everybody has a podcast these days, but this one interviews new and interesting indie artists. It's called Indie Artist Music Hustle with Blonde Intelligence. Really, where can I find it? It's on all podcasting platforms streams live on social media and on RPENTradiocom. What'd you say it was called again, it's called Indie Artist Music Hostel with Blonde Intelligence. Girl, I'm gonna have to check her out. Give it a check, girl.