It’s official like a referee with a whistle, we have officially entered into the gift giving season and in this video I’m going to be sharing the top 10 affordable gifts that every rapper will love.
So to all my fellow rappers out there, you can use this list to treat yourself this holiday season or share this video with a loved one as a not so subtle hint at what you may like to receive this year.
1 Microphone MXL V67G FET Designed Condenser Microphone $99
First up, what’s the most synonymous item that comes to mind when you think of a rapper? A microphone! And there’s many different types of microphones ranging from dirt cheap to 10’s of thousands of dollars. But you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to get a decent sounding microphone.
I recommend the MXL V67G FET Designed Condenser Microphone as one of the best budget friendly condenser microphones out there. This mic will pick up all the details of your vocals without sounding overly bright or harsh.
Coming in at only $99 you can’t go wrong with this Mic!
2 Mic Accessories
Now if you’re going to purchase a mic then make sure you have all the necessary accessories to ensure your mic can function properly and record the cleanest single possible.
Microphone Cable $7.35
First up, you’re going to need a mic cable which typically isn’t included with microphones. There’s are really cheap and you can pick one up for under $8
Pop Filter $7.99
Next up is a pop filter. These prevent short bursts of air caused from “P” and “B” sounds from overpowering the mic capsule. These are one of those super cheap but super essential pieces of microphone equipment. For $8 there’s no excuse not to have one.
MX 57 Shockmount $27.99
Another affordable but essential microphone accessory is called a shock mount. This dohicky decouples your microphone from the microphone stand, so in the inevitable event of you accidentally bumping into the mic stand while recording, the shock mount will prevent the microphone from absorbing that sound, which without it would ruin your recording.
For less than $30, there’s no excuse not to have one of these!
Mic Stand (two options)
And speaking of Mic Stands, yeah those are kinda, important too! There’s two different types of mic stands you should consider.
Floor Stand $21.49
If you prefer being able to record in different places then you’re going to want to go with a Floor Standing Microphone Stand. There’s are really cheap can you get one for less than $22
Desk Clamp Mic Stand $28.79
And if you’re like me, I prefer recording at my studio desk because I have easy access to all my studio controls which makes for an easier, less cumbersome workflow. For this situation you have to get you a Desk Clamping Microphone stand. I had been recording vocals out of my studio for over 10 years before trying one of these out. And when I did, I had one of those light bulb eureka moments where I was like “where have you been my whole life?” “Why am I just know doing this”.
This mic stand was a game changer for me! Before I used a floor standing mic stand for years but it was always in my way. Then I upgraded to a mic stand that sits on your desk, I didn’t like that either because it was taking up too much space which I already had very little of.
With a desk clamping mic stand, I get the convenience of having my microphone always within arms reach, but I can just as quickly get it out of the way when I no longer need it. I’ve been using this Toner Desk Clamp Mic Stand every day for the past 5 years and for less than $30 I couldn’t recommend it more highly
Isolation Shield $28.99
The last microphone accessory is an Isolation Shield.
All of the previous accessories are non-negotiable but this one is dependent on your situation. If the room you’re recording has a lot of echo then this might save your butt. I always recommend trying to fix the problem first before trying to put a band aid on it.
In this case try to put more sound absorbent material in your room such as carpet, furniture, etc.. That alone will make a big difference. And apart from that, try not to record right next to any walls, and make sure the back of the mic is facing towards anything producing noise such as computer fans, etc.. because the back of the mic rejects sounds.
But if this isn’t an option, or you need a little more help to make a bad situation better then I highly recommend you get an isolation shield. I personally recommend the Kaotica Eyeball which during black friday is going for $148 https://www.kaoticaeyeball.com/
but if this isn’t within your budget you can get a cheap knock off for less than $30
3 Audio Interface – Can plugin into mobile devices and computers PreSonus Studio 24c $129.99
The 3rd affordable gift is an audio interface. This is the hub of any rappers studio. This is where you plugin in your microphone, keyboard, guitar, speakers, and headphones. And everything can be controlled directly from this device, and all of that connects to your computer via 1 usb cable.
My favorite budget friendly audio interface is the PreSonus 24C which comes in right under $130 dollars. You can connect up to two microphones or directly connect instruments via XLR or ¼ TRS cables. It also has Midi In and Out for your keyboards and midi controllers.
Also, what’s really dope is not only can you connect this audio interface to your computer but it will also connect to your iPad which means you could use this to record on mobile apps like Bandlab.
4 Headphones (wired) Sennheiser HD 280 Pro $85.90
The next item is some quality headphones. Many years ago, when dinosaurs were still roaming the earth, I was beginning to build my studio and would just purchase whatever crappy headphones I could find from Wal-Mart. After going through a couple of pairs within the same year I realized I needed to find some quality headphones that would last me a long time and boy did I accomplish just that.
I got myself a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro’s and I kid you not, that was 20 years ago and I still use them every day! I recently replaced the earpads and they are just like they were brand new. Honestly, I probably should have done some jail time over these because at less than $86 these things are a steal!
5 Speakers PreSonus Eris 3.5 Studio Monitors $99.99
If you’re a rapper that also wants to be able to play music out loud in your studio then you are going to need some studio monitors aka speakers. You can’t go wrong with the award winning PreSonus Eris 3.5 which can easily fill the room up with an accurate translation of what you’re playing for only $100.
+ Don’t forget to get a pair of speaker cables $11.99
6 Hard drive Samsung T9 Portable SSD 1TB $134
One thing about being a rapper is you’re always going to be recording which means you’re going to likely need more hard drive space. I recommend getting a really large 1TB SSD Hard Drive and save all of your studio stuff on it. That way you can easily take your studio files with you on the go or if someone is using your computer that you don’t 100% trust, you can just unplug the hard drive before letting them use it. It’s also a good idea to backup your hard drive using a service like dropbox or google drive just in case something were to ever happen to it.
The Samsung T9 is a really fast hard drive with 1TB of space more space than you will probably need for only $134.
7 Quick Guides 30% OFF COUPON CODE FRIDAY
Another must have for any rapper is education! The quickest way to develop any skill set is to find a mentor who’s already gone down the path you’re embarking on because they will save you a ton of time since they know all the mistakes to avoid that you’re not even aware of yet.
That’s why I created my Quick Guide Series which is a collection of eBooks that gives you all the golden nuggets of information you need for each topic you’re trying to develop. No fluff, or BS, just straight, concise, actionable tips on improving your rap skills. These books are very digestible at only 27 pages or less of straight heat!
And for black friday I’m currently running a 30% OFF Sale on all these quick guides so be sure to cop you some and save you a couple duckets.
8 Room Freshener Febreze Plug In Air Fresheners $15.20
Now another essential part of the studio is the mood. The vibe. The area you’re spending hours on end creating and pouring your heart out needs to be pleasant. And one stupid cheap way of improving the vibe of any room is ensuring it smells good. A room that smells good, makes you feel good.
Pick you up some of these cheap Febreze Plug in Air Fresheners and they will keep you’re room smelling fresh for weeks! And once the fragrance runs out, you can just easily swap it out with a new one.
To be able to change the vibe of your studio for less than $16 is a no brainer.
9 Smart Lighting (works with Alexa + Google Home)
Also, another huge factor in setting the vibe for your studio is lighting. It’s crazy how color can literally put off different energy. My favorite color I use in my studio is blue because I find it to be very calming.
And there’s several ways you can pimp out your studio with some new color!
Smart Light Bulbs – $22.79
You can get you a 4 pack of smart light bulbs that can be controlled via alexa or google home for less than $23.
Smart Strip Lights – $18.99
Also, another way to approach coloring your room is with strip lights. This allows you to outline the corners of your room, or hide them behind and under objects like desks, dressers, tables, TV’s etc… These strip lights can also be controlled via alexa and google home and are currently only about $19 for a 16.4 ft strip than can be turned into any color that you desire
Color Changing Lava Lamp – $31.00
Another light I have to mention is Lava Lamps. Now some of you youngins out there may not be hip to these but these were popular in the 70’s and made a comeback in the 90’s.
I think these are soo cool! And seeing the smooth flow of lava is so relaxing to me. I literally have about 5 lava lamps in my house lol I love these things! But they recently released a new one that allows you to change the color inside the lava lamp which is really cool, and these will only set you back about $31 bucks.
10 Music Distribution DistroKid 7% OFF $22.99 $21.38
And the final gift idea may be one of the least exciting but I feel it’s the most important. All the gifts I’ve mentioned up until now cover the creation side of rapping. But after you’ve put all of that hard work into creating your musical masterpieces what are you going to do next?
Hopefully you’re not just going to keep them hidden away on your hard drive and let them collect dust. You need to upload them and share them with the world! But where are you gonna upload them to? Youtube? Soundcloud? Those are two great places to start but there’s one major problem with this.
Everyone doesn’t listen to music on Youtube or Soundcloud. There’s tons of people who consume their music on other major platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon music. In fact all of these services have a larger user base for music streaming than Youtube does.
But here’s the next problem, these platforms are exclusive, not just anyone can add music to these sites. You have to go through what is known as a Digital Music Distributor. These companies will ensure your music is on every platform you can think of, including on Instagram and Tik Tok’s music library so that people can make videos and add your song to them.
My favorite Digital Music Distributor is DistroKid. They’re one of the cheapest out there and You can not only get a yearly subscription with them that will allow you to distribute your music to every major platform you can think of. But, get this…there’s no limit to how many songs you can distribute which is nuts! I used to have to pay per song I distributed but not with DistroKid. And they’re yearly subscription only costs $22.99 and if you use my link you will get 7% off your first year! How crazy is that!
The Rap Essentials Bundle
And if you’re new hear my name is Cole Mize and I’ve been helping rappers perfect their rap skills on this channel for the past 10 years. If you’re trying to improve your rap skills, make sure you get my FREE rap essentials bundle which includes
- The #1 Fundamental To Rapping eBook
- Bar Sheets
- 6 practice instrumentals
- The CMS Gear Catalog
- 3 Free Rap Courses
Plus I’ll be sharing via e-mail the most essential video tutorials I’ve made that I recommend every aspiring rapper to watch. These lessons are going to teach you all the core techniques you need to be a better rapper now!
And all of this 100% FREE when you join my mailing list via this link.
Again my name is Cole Mize with colemizestudios.com and always remember, when it comes to rapping, there’s no rules, there’s only techniques. Peace!
