“AO” – guest blog post written by Ashley Outrageous of AshleyOutrageous.com and Bread and Butter Events LLC

The following guest blog post is written by Ashley Outrageous, founder of AshleyOutrageous.com and co-owner of Bread and Butter Events, LLC.

Emerging as a female brand within the entertainment industry has been one of the biggest learning experiences in my life. I relaunched my website, AshleyOutrageous.com, on February 17th, 2010, “Ash Wednesday”, as a clever way to generate interest and as a way to catapult my brand within the hip-hop industry. Since then I’ve been on one heck of a ride.

“If you have no critics you’ll likely have no success.” – Stalley

Their are times when I’m perceived as someone that I’m not. People feel that everything I’ve gotten is just because I’m a girl. Their is a huge “groupie” sub-culture within hip-hop that people sometimes mistakenly associate female entrepreneurs with. People don’t realize that every time I interact with a male hip-hop artist, I have to deal with the fact that I could possibly be stigmatized as a “groupie”. It’s an obstacle that I’m very aware of, but it’s not something that I’m worried about because I’m a dedicated student of hip-hop. I have a passion for this culture. It’s my passion that has helped me get as far as I have. From interviews, to studio sessions, to events, It’s been my drive that’s been able to afford me as much success as I’ve had in such a short amount of time. There’s alot of leg work that has gone in-between everything people know me for up until this point. The emails, the twitter conversations, the carpooling of artists around the state for shows, the traveling around the country to meet and get to know these artists in their regions, the sponsoring of events outside of my region of south Florida to help support artists. It’s the investments and sacrifices that I’ve made that have helped me get to where I am. Nothing more, nothing less.

“It’s nothin better than girls that know what a good rap song sound like” - Dom Kennedy

Being in charge of a hip-hop website can be complicated, especially as it begins to gain more attention. When it comes to new/upcoming artists, I love to give them a listen and get people hip to their music, but it’s not every submission that I’m fond of and people can’t expect me to like everything. I’m told that I have a good ear, and I’m frequently asked my opinion about many things regarding artists. From their beat selection, to their delivery, to the concept of a project. I support artists from all over, because my site is not constricted to just one region. What’s posted on my site is music that I would bump through my speakers, what I would add to my iPod; I don’t feel the need to post something I dislike.

I’ve worked hard enough to be able to branch off from my website, and coordinate live hip-hop shows, as well as help brand other artists. In November 2010, I started Bread and Butter Events LLC with my partner Samantha where our goal is to shine light on artists from around the country. Before Bread and Butter, I had previously done my first event back in February entitled “The Cool Bowl” which featured Curren$y and Dom Kennedy. The event was a success put together in a weeks time frame. Even though it went very well, their were things that I saw could have been done better. Now going into my first event with Bread and Butter in September 2010, we brought Los Angeles emerging artists PacDiv for their very first Miami performance, alongside our good friend Dom Kennedy again. For this event, we had enough time for us to plan everything out, and it all came together. We ended 2010 with our biggest event yet featuring G.O.O.D Music/Def Jam artist, Big Sean. The outcome was an even bigger success than our previous show. After having three successful shows in one year, It’s given me motivation to continue doing what I’m doing as a brand and as an entrepreneur. But the motivation has not only come from the success, it’s also the people that I surround myself with. Many have come and gone, but the one’s who have always been there since the beginning believe in me as much as I believe in them.

“Be Ultimately Realistic And Never Sell Out.” - Kenny Burns

The hard work has begun to pay off because not only I do only shine light on others, but now others have become interested in shining light on me by reaching out for interviews, advice, and just my overall view. I feel that my passion and dedication can get me very far to where I want to go. Though I’m young, my work ethic is very mature beyond my age. And I think the level of growth I’ve seen in myself is what keeps me going. It doesn’t matter whether your male or female, it’s your grind that strikes the attention.

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More info on Ashely Outrageous, check out: www.AshleyOutrageous.com