This week’s campus celebrity is Brian Rudolph ’12, a junior from Pleasantville, New York. Rudolph is a founding member of NotSomeKid.com, self-proclaimed to be “the most important website on the Internet.” Rudolph began the blog in March 2010 with his best friends from home, Ethan Fedida (Vanderbilt ‘12) and James Granata (RIT ‘12). Rudolph says that he and his friends started Not Some Kid because they are all “obsessed with music,” and wished to support up-and-coming artists. The name, Not Some Kid, is an inside joke the group had in middle school, but today reflects a vision that everyone should be unique and be his/herself. Similarly, the name suggests that each new artist they blog about is not just some kid! “We only post about talented artists that deserve to be recognized. Though, come to think of it, we did post a Rick Ross song once. Someone must have been blogging drunk or something,” Rudolph states.
Rudolph says the website has been consistently picking up momentum since it started. “We’ve been continuously getting more hits. It’s only halfway through February and we already have more visitors than all of last month!” Artists are also taking notice. Not Some Kid receives countless emails each day from artists requesting to have their songs be included in the blog. This sparked interest has permitted Rudolph and his friends to be selective in choosing which songs really demonstrate the qualities that they believe make a “good” song. Rudolph thinks that the blog has been so successful because he, Fedida, and Granata each express different opinions, and this allows the blog to be dynamic. Each friend posts blog entries individually and includes his name in the post (Rudolph uses his own name as his moniker, while Fedida is “Adidef” and Granata is “Immaculate”).
In terms of what makes a song stand out, Rudolph says that he is particularly interested in production, or the beat in each song. At the moment, he is especially interested in house music. “My two favorite songs right now are ‘No Turning Back by Gui Boratto’ and ‘Yeah 3x’ by Chris Brown. ‘Yeah 3x’ won me over with its music video. Literally, I watch that video every morning, sometimes before bed, and if I can sneak it in, in between classes. If you haven’t seen it yet, I demand you check it out!” HC Emory asked Rudolph who his favorite established artists are, and which new artists he loves the most (and wants us to check out!). Here’s what he said:
Electronic Music:
Hardwell, Tiesto, Skrillex, Avicii, Gui Boratto
Hip-Hop/Rap:
J. Cole, Blu, Nas, Common, The Clipse
Indie:
Animal Collective, Iron & Wine, Phoenix, Matt Costa, Tokyo Police Club
Alternative/Rock:
Oasis, The Strokes, Albert Hammond Jr., Arctic Monkeys, John Mayer
Producers:
Stargate, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, 9th Wonder, J.R. Rotem, Polow da Don
Up and Coming artists:
Living Lars (a Norwegian DJ that Rudolph has interviewed for Not Some Kid, click here to read the interview),
Sam Adams (Boston rapper that sings “I Hate College,” see Not Some Kid’s interview here), The Girls Can Hear Us (Canadian crossover artist with “a lot of potential,” see Not Some Kid’s interview here)
In the summer months and over breaks from school, Not Some Kid organizes events at bars in New York City featuring performances from up and coming artists. “Those events are awesome on so many levels. Not only do we get to see all of our friends, but we also get to give these artists a chance to shine. It’s completely win-win.” Due to their increased popularity, the Not Some Kid crew has even brought on two more members, Andrew Dunn (UPenn ’12) and John Granata (MIT ’11). Last summer, I attended a few of the events and they were really fun (see pictures). So if you are interning in NYC this summer, be sure to check the Not Some Kid website to attend their events with your Emory friends! Click here to see footage of an event!
Not Some Kid also utilizes Facebook and Twitter to communicate with fans and artists.
COMING YOUR WAY: Not Some Kid is about to release a song featuring up and coming rapper Kam Royal, a student at Tulane whose music has been featured on their blog. The song, titled “Feelin’ Alright,” was produced by Rudolph and will feature Rudolph singing and a verse by Granata aka Immaculate. HC Emory will be posting it to our website when it comes out!
Rudolph is certainly not some kid (editor’s note: get it? Haha), and we can’t wait to hear his new song. Please support him by reading his website, making comments, and attending Not Some Kid events!