I would probably try to find a connection between the diminishing sales in hip-hop music and the music itself. Because from here it looks like no other genre is suffering as much as hip-hop does. I don’t see other music being leaked as much as hip-hop music. It seems like consumers are not willing to pay money for something they already know it will disappoint them, again. So they consume music on the fly because they can’t get their money’s worth out of hip-hop music. I might be wrong, but I’d have to find out, right? (Laughs) This is what research is all about, falsifying stuff.

How did you relationship come about with Puma?

A few months ago a Puma representative approached one of our team. They wanted to set up an informal meeting with us to discuss a potential partnership. They’ve been looking for artists to collaborate for quite a while now, but it was important to them to work with artists that were up-and-coming. As you can imagine, Puma could’ve had any a-list artist for a partnership, but they wanted to have artists that were on the verge of gaining global appeal. We met them a few weeks later at their Swiss headquarters to discuss the whole endorsement in detail. I think they were really into our fresh, humble and positive music. Plus, they were very keen to enter the urban lifestyle market again and felt that our music would match perfectly with their new fashion line.       

Is it vital for artists/entertainers to have relationships such as these today?

I think artists should really try to think outside of the box, especially in regards to the very difficult market environment. One of the most important resources today is promotion and marketing. The easiest thing to do is release new music, there is iTunes, Napster, and many other digital aggregators.

The hardest part is to have good marketing behind the product. This is where you spend most of your money on. Having a partner like Puma is almost the same thing as having a big label promoting your music. They have their press offices, marketing companies and even music placement services. And there are many other ways to raise awareness for your products, even if it’s just a free album or mix tape.

Sometimes you just need to be creative from a business perspective. The Puma situation opened up a lot of doors for us. Not only do we get to perform at their events and wear some of the hottest gear, but they can also give our music a huge exposure.  

What is your ultimate goal with your music career?

For now, our biggest goal is to work with as many artists as possible and be able to live off our endeavours without having to compromise our music. And of course, we want to get that Grammy statue as the first urban acts outside of the US (Laughs). 

In the future, we’re definitely looking at having our own recording company where we can support our own artists.  But first we have to make sure we can get into a good label situation for our new album. We’re taking baby steps on this one, there is still time to conquer the world (Laughs).

Most invaluable lesson you have learned or person you have met thus far.

If you can’t afford it, DO IT YOURSELF!

Projects coming up?

We’re releasing our first official US Mixtape through Okayplayer’s 2DopeBoyz and Puma International in March.  This will be a very important project for us as it might lead to a lot of great opportunities.
Then, god willing, we’ll be releasing our sophomore album “The Antihero” in Q3/Q410.