20 year old, MC wanting to move to LA, where the music scene is big!!! (West Hollywood: buying, living in)

[Osbourne Sterling]

hey Im from Vancouver, Canada. still in my early 20s and music is my true passion its unconditionally, i made some choice and i feel what im doing is best, for me to be truly happy.

im 20 year old, black- British-canadian, with a style of my own. Where in LA is a good place to live where the music scene is buzzing for new talent?

[nightlysparrow]

Did you check the Legal Immigration forum here? Usually foreign nationals cannot simply move to the US.

[jm1982]

Anywhere in the la metro area I would think .

Do you have any experience in the Vancouver music scene ?

Seems like it would make sense to start there first .

[DontH8Me]

West Hollywood fo sho.

[Osbourne Sterling]

@nightlysparrow :yeah i checked it all out man, if your a canadian citizen you can live/vist the states for 6 months after that u have to have a working permit, from a company saying yeah hes working for us.

@jm1982 : o i cant agree anymore, theirs opportunities here.

@DontH8Me : West Hollywood, aight ill check it out!

[DCMann2]

Best of luck to you, OP. To say it's difficult to make it in the hip-hop scene in LA is a SEVERE understatement. I remember a couple summers back I went to Venice and came across a group of Detroit rappers selling their CDs. I sampled one guy's CD and ended up buying his and few of his friends' CDs for a grand total of around 20 bucks. The one guy's music I sampled was alright but the others were downright terrible, and on one of the CDs the guy was whining about how he hadn't gotten signed and why can't I get signed and this isn't fair I need to get signed, etc.

LA is a huge city with thousands if not tens of thousands of rappers trying to "make it," so make sure you come in with realistic expectations.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by DCMann2

Best of luck to you, OP. To say it's difficult to make it in the hip-hop scene in LA is a SEVERE understatement. I remember a couple summers back I went to Venice and came across a group of Detroit rappers selling their CDs. I sampled one guy's CD and ended up buying his and few of his friends' CDs for a grand total of around 20 bucks. The one guy's music I sampled was alright but the others were downright terrible, and on one of the CDs the guy was whining about how he hadn't gotten signed and why can't I get signed and this isn't fair I need to get signed, etc.

LA is a huge city with thousands if not tens of thousands of rappers trying to "make it," so make sure you come in with realistic expectations.

Sometimes I wonder if those dudes on Hollywood Blvd hawking their CDs are actually serious about trying to make it in the music industry or if they are just trying to hustle tourists for a few bucks.

To the OP - if you want to move to LA to move to LA, then do it. If you are moving here because you think it will help your music career, then you are wrong.

Honestly growing a local base in Vancouver and trying to get people to pay attention to you via the internet is a way more likely scenario for breaking into the music industry vs. moving to LA and trying to make it. None of my friends in the music industry are all that interested in "making it" (or more accurately, have a very different definition of what "making it" entails), but I think they would all agree.

Some of the best albums I have heard in the last few years were made in people's living rooms.

Plus personally, I don't think LA has all that great of a music scene.

[yamota]

I know a DJ in the Philippines who desperately wants to DJ in LA but the US embassy keeps denying him his tourist visa, something about not having enough ties or something, I guess they think if he goes to the US on a tourist visa he'll never go back

[hjt123]

in the internet age you don't need to move to the big city to "make it." plus, it's not like vancouver is lacking in great music

[Chicano3000X]

Originally Posted by hjt123

in the internet age you don't need to move to the big city to "make it." plus, it's not like vancouver is lacking in great music

Certain mediums I think it does. My younger brother is struggling for a job. I moved to L.A. with some relatives because I really am trying to become a vfx artist, or something within the realm of digital media.

As for my brother, he wants to be a DJ, he's into break dancing and he has a set and practices.

But at the moment he is stuck in temecula with my parents. He's 19. Want to bring him but don't got money for my own spot at the moment. And he'd have to have a job too.

The point is, living in the outskirts of temecula, a "city" of country types.

Maybe I'm back in the times, but I just think that career is better in the city. ****, if my brother was in New York City, he'd have more inspiration. Being stuck in a rural area where my parents chose to live isn't something I'd want being in my late teens/early 20s.