Today we’d like to introduce you to Viraj Patel.
Hi Viraj, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve been a Hip-hop nerd/ super fan for as long as I can remember. I mean listening to old Tupac on Datpiff when I was like 8 years old, and no one really introduced me to it I just went out of my way to find it for whatever reason.
That fandom grew and grew over the years, which led to me obsessing over artists’ releases and every aspect of their brand and rollouts, and then as Hip-hop media became more prominent with the emergence of complex media the rap nerd in me was introduced to other aspects of the business and ideas about it, which formed this seed in my brain that I one day was going to work in the music industry.
So, as I went through college, I quickly realized my initial plan of being an entertainment attorney wasn’t for me. But my passion and knack for marketing lead to me artist management a few unpaid internships a couple of marketing and music industry degrees later here we are with two artists we’ve managed to scale up to 5 figure monthly listeners.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There are doubts every day with this game. It’s not easy you’re gonna do a lot of free work and not make any money in this for a very long time and that’s something I’ve accepted in pursuit of my dreams. Imposter syndrome is real.
Lack of social life is real. Always worrying about not doing enough is real. Mentally, physically, and spiritually this industry is tolling. It’d be nice to have a simple 9-5 which I’m currently looking for 1 month out of graduation but with the way the job market currently is and the economy.
I don’t plan on settling until I find the job of my dreams or something close to it. I got an interview as a digital marketing hip hop rep at RCA records so wish me luck!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
More or less, I manage artists and handle digital strategy while that seems vague, it’s an all-encompassing role that handles a lot of different responsibilities, especially early on in an artist’s career.
You may know me from working with Son Person the next Elvis in the city (self-proclaimed), and D.alexander the next great pop RnB artist.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
The man just is confident in what you do.
Don’t be scared to ask questions, and continue to provide value for other people, and hopefully, people take notice, and if they don’t just keep their head down and believe in themselves, there’s gonna be a lot of ups and downs and success isn’t linear nor is finding a mentor just this end all be all.
I wouldn’t be where I am today without my mentors and the people who taught me what I’ve learned so far. but they would have never taken interest in me if I didn’t already display a certain aptitude and potential
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Heyitsviraj
