Episode 2 of Conversation with Cristopolis, founder of ‘Thinking Hip-Hop’ and Creator of the song, ‘Cyres Cafe’.

How do you get your inspiration?

Space and time! Although there are many factors that influence my inspiration by far the most significant comes from having the space and time to tap into my creativity and to get in tune with myself. I am at my best when I can calmly sit in a room with my rhyme book and pen and just create.

Regular meditation, an orderly work area, and simply feeling good about myself also play a crucial role in tapping my mojo!

Describe the process of how you create a song and of how you are creating the song for Cyres Café.

My songs always begin with an idea, sometimes they are inspired by a melody that triggers an emotion and at times I just get an idea that I think would make a great song and I then go about looking for a beat to fit the concept. Once I have the idea and the beat, I go about putting together a rough sketch of the song arrangement. Meaning I decide on how many verses and choruses, how long of an intro, whether or not there will be an outro, whether or not there will be a bridge, plus the general length of the song.

Once I have a rough arrangement in mind I begin to make an outline of what I am going to write about. For example in a traditional 2 verse, 1 bridge, 4 chorus pop song format, I would first write the chorus, because it drives the entire song. I would then decide on what I would want to express in the first verse and then the second verse in order to capitalize on the pacing of the ideas that I want to express. Last but not least, I would come up with a bridge that was as memorable and catchy as a chorus but that also fits in well with the final chorus, thus giving the song a big send off at the end.

There can be endless combinations when putting songs together, some of the most memorable songs are quite unorthodox in structure. But this outline is pretty close to how I go about my craft.

What is the end result/feeling that you want to achieve with the Cyres Cafe song?

The end result that I strive to achieve with ‘Cyres Café’ is a song which represents what ‘Cyres Café’ stands for, personal development and self-empowerment. Cyres Café is more than a café, therefore I do not include references to coffee, tea or java but instead I focus on principles for creating your own reality, and the process of self becoming.

My goal for when people hear ‘Cyres Café’ the song, is that they feel uplifted and that they are left with a rhyme or two that hangs around in their mind and which helps them create the life they dream of.

How do you want this song to contribute to Hip-hop and personal development?

As Hip-hop becomes increasingly more mature I believe that personal development through Hip-hop aka ‘Thinking Hip-hop’ will find an increasingly larger audience. My aspirations for this song are for it to introduce the potential of Hip-hop as a positive, empowering and entertaining tool, to new audiences. And my hope is that this new audience will in turn help the Hip-hop community grow.

What are you reading right now?

I am currently reading ‘The Science of Being Great’ written by Wallace Wattles. You can find a free version of the book at this site; http://julieanne.powerfulintentions.com/library/doc/2596521

I have no affiliation to this site, but this is where I got my copy. Thanks Julie Anne! =)

I have read the ‘The Science of Getting Rich’ 10 times and ‘The Science of Being Well’ 3 times (all by Wallace Wattles) and they have had an incredibly positive impact on my life. This is my first reading of ‘The Science of Being Great’ and while it’s a bit shorter than the other two it’s just as good. I am having a great time reading it and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the ideas of ‘New Thought’.

What changes do you forsee in the music industry in the coming years?

I see in the future (and as we speak) a complete changing of the guard. The music industry is currently changing at breakneck speeds and I see no sign of this trend slowing down. I believe that CDs will become irrelevant within the next ten years as the world moves to digital downloads. I think that this in turn will have a great effect on the current importance we give to albums. Albums will still be around but I believe that singles will become the driving force behind sales, as they were in the 1950s and 60s when artists released singles on 45s. Instead of trying to sell 1 million albums artists will instead be selling 10 million downloads of single.

As artists continue to become empowered by increasingly inexpensive technologies and the internet becomes the main medium through which people purchase music, the grip that the big four record companies (Sony BMG, Warner, Universal, and EMI) have on the industry will greatly loosen. And as revenues continue to decrease from traditional album sales the industry will be forced to cut their overhead. This in turn will change how much money they are willing to put behind each artist, therefore clearing the way for business savvy and successful regional artists to get more exposure on their local radio and television mediums. That will then lend itself to major record labels working with established and successful regional acts in exchange for a slice of the pie.

This is incredibly revolutionary because until now the major labels have taken the entire pie (publishing, master recordings, trademark of the band name, websites, and all related merchandising) and given the artists a slice through royalty payments.

Things look very good for artists, so keep your publishing!

What do you want to create in music in the coming years?

My greatest wish is to create music that helps people become who it is that they want to be. And throughout the coming years I hope expand on every idea and all subject matter that I think can make a difference in helping people (and myself) achieve this.

Thank You, Cristopolis.

Looking forward to tuning in to Episode 3