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10/15/14

31: Asher Roth – How To Build a Career in Hip Hop

“Make the radio and labels come to you by staying true to yourself and cultivating your own audience.” – Asher Roth

I Love College was a hit and for the last seven years Asher Roth has been making a living as a musician.

In this interview we discuss the complexities of a life that revolves around your art.

Asher is different in lots of ways. His name is out there with each song. He doesn’t get the opportunity to do commercial work to support his personal projects. He’s on the front line.

In this interview we dive into what exactly that means. This one is full of light and wisdom creatives so thank you for downloading, let’s get into it with Asher Roth.

“Stay positive. Shit sucks some times, but you’ve got to keep it moving.” – Asher Roth

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/asher-roth” title=”Asher Roth – How to Build a Career in Hip Hop” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/31_AsherRoth_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • How Asher engineered breakthroughs in  his hip hop career
  • On the balance of staying true to your art and keeping food on the table
  • What makes a “Responsible Record”
  • Your record label and your art?
  • On the importance of fun and a positive attitude
  • How Asher Roth got started in hip hop
  • Monumental moments of self discovery through the writing process
  • Jack of All Trades or Expert at One Thing – Which one?
  • Why acknowledging talent is so important
  • About the role of relationships and a creative lifestyle
  • A freestyle on what it means to live inspiration

“When you can lose yourself in what you’re doing, it’s pretty awesome.” – Asher Roth

Links mentioned:

Music Credit: I Love College, G.R.I.N.D. & Tangerine Girl by Asher Roth

Connect with Asher Roth Instagram | Twitter | Website

LET'S CONSPIRE & CREATE

CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION

“Make the radio and labels come to you by staying true to yourself and cultivating your own audience.” – Asher Roth

I Love College was a hit and for the last seven years Asher Roth has been making a living as a musician.

In this interview we discuss the complexities of a life that revolves around your art.

Asher is different in lots of ways. His name is out there with each song. He doesn’t get the opportunity to do commercial work to support his personal projects. He’s on the front line.

In this interview we dive into what exactly that means. This one is full of light and wisdom creatives so thank you for downloading, let’s get into it with Asher Roth.

“Stay positive. Shit sucks some times, but you’ve got to keep it moving.” – Asher Roth

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/asher-roth” title=”Asher Roth – How to Build a Career in Hip Hop” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/31_AsherRoth_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • How Asher engineered breakthroughs in  his hip hop career
  • On the balance of staying true to your art and keeping food on the table
  • What makes a “Responsible Record”
  • Your record label and your art?
  • On the importance of fun and a positive attitude
  • How Asher Roth got started in hip hop
  • Monumental moments of self discovery through the writing process
  • Jack of All Trades or Expert at One Thing – Which one?
  • Why acknowledging talent is so important
  • About the role of relationships and a creative lifestyle
  • A freestyle on what it means to live inspiration

“When you can lose yourself in what you’re doing, it’s pretty awesome.” – Asher Roth

Links mentioned:

Music Credit: I Love College, G.R.I.N.D. & Tangerine Girl by Asher Roth

Connect with Asher Roth Instagram | Twitter | Website

10/15/14

31: Asher Roth – How To Build a Career in Hip Hop

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“Make the radio and labels come to you by staying true to yourself and cultivating your own audience.” – Asher Roth

I Love College was a hit and for the last seven years Asher Roth has been making a living as a musician.

In this interview we discuss the complexities of a life that revolves around your art.

Asher is different in lots of ways. His name is out there with each song. He doesn’t get the opportunity to do commercial work to support his personal projects. He’s on the front line.

In this interview we dive into what exactly that means. This one is full of light and wisdom creatives so thank you for downloading, let’s get into it with Asher Roth.

“Stay positive. Shit sucks some times, but you’ve got to keep it moving.” – Asher Roth

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/asher-roth” title=”Asher Roth – How to Build a Career in Hip Hop” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/31_AsherRoth_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • How Asher engineered breakthroughs in  his hip hop career
  • On the balance of staying true to your art and keeping food on the table
  • What makes a “Responsible Record”
  • Your record label and your art?
  • On the importance of fun and a positive attitude
  • How Asher Roth got started in hip hop
  • Monumental moments of self discovery through the writing process
  • Jack of All Trades or Expert at One Thing – Which one?
  • Why acknowledging talent is so important
  • About the role of relationships and a creative lifestyle
  • A freestyle on what it means to live inspiration

“When you can lose yourself in what you’re doing, it’s pretty awesome.” – Asher Roth

Links mentioned:

Music Credit: I Love College, G.R.I.N.D. & Tangerine Girl by Asher Roth

Connect with Asher Roth Instagram | Twitter | Website

10/15/14

31: Asher Roth – How To Build a Career in Hip Hop

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If your message keeps shifting, your brand feels inconsistent, or your presence doesn’t match your capability yet. This is where you build the foundation before you scale.

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It’s an ongoing creative partnership focused on bringing your personal brand identity to life.

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All shaped as a direct extension of who you are. The work also includes a bespoke process of identifying and aligning the right experts when needed, so nothing gets built out of sync with your core.

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Elevated Realism portrait of a composed expert, representing the coherent authority on the far side of the expertise-to-income gap.

Being great at what you do doesn’t automatically turn into income. Here is the expertise-to-income gap, why it exists, and how to start closing it.

Elevated Realism portrait of a polished personal brand, the kind of presence a full brand team is hired to build.

A real brand team runs $30,000 to $70,000 a year. Here is the full breakdown of what each role costs, and the engine I built to replace it for $997.

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Your AI sounds generic because it reads the whole internet and returns the average. Here is how to make AI write in your actual voice instead.

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For two decades I made other people’s brands coherent while my own waited. Here is the Brand Intelligence Engine I built to finally close that gap.

Elevated Realism brand portrait demonstrating the visual authority that results from building a complete brand through the Brand Intelligence Engine's three-phase AI system

The Brand Intelligence Engine is an AI personal brand system that builds the complete infrastructure of a premium brand in three phases. Here’s exactly what happens inside, what it produces, and who it’s built for.

Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client whose content strategy works because identity and visual translation are built underneath it

Your content strategy is not working because the problem isn’t content. It’s what’s underneath it. When your brand lacks identity and visual translation, posting more just amplifies incoherence. Here’s the trap and how to escape it.

Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client who has passed the coherence test where identity, visual translation, content, and business all align

This personal brand audit takes two minutes and reveals exactly where your brand is broken. Four questions, one for each layer of brand intelligence. Most people fail at least two. Here’s the diagnostic.

Elevated Realism portrait demonstrating how personal brand identity is a deliberate translation of the person rather than an unfiltered copy

Your personal brand identity is not you. It’s a translation of you. When you confuse the two, you either freeze up or perform. Neither builds authority. Here’s the distinction that changes how you show up online.

Elevated Realism personal brand portrait demonstrating the visual authority that comes from investing in brand photography at the level that matches your expertise

The biggest personal brand photography investment mistake isn’t underspending on photos. It’s investing $50,000 in coaching, ads, and masterminds while spending $500 on visual identity. Here’s what that costs you and how to fix the order.

Nick Onken Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client demonstrating the visual authority that comes from closing the gap between expertise and brand presence

I spent 20 years photographing personal brands. I watched brilliant people stay invisible because they skipped the layers nobody talks about. So I built the Brand Intelligence Engine to fix it. Here’s the full story.

Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client whose authentic voice and identity can't be replicated by generic AI content

Your AI content sounds generic because the AI doesn’t know who you are. It’s not a tool problem. It’s an input problem. Without your identity, voice, and brand intelligence loaded, every AI produces the same bland output. Here’s how to fix it.

Elevated Realism portrait capturing the moment where creative direction becomes self-construction and a personal brand client meets their next identity

Creativity as intelligence is the idea that creative work isn’t about expressing who you already are. It’s about constructing who you’re becoming. Most people treat creativity as output. It’s actually architecture. Here’s why that changes everything.

Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client whose visual presence and authority fully match their depth of expertise

The personal brand identity gap is the distance between your expertise and your visibility. When who you are doesn’t match how you’re seen online, it’s not a marketing problem. It’s a coherence problem. Here’s how to close it.

About the Blogger

I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here. 

I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here. 

NICK'S STORY