ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION. WHEN ANYONE WITH A LAPTOP AND THE RIGHT SUBSCRIPTION CAN PUSH A BUTTON AND GET A PASSABLE VERSION OF ALMOST ANYTHING, WHAT DOES THE CREATIVE ACT ACTUALLY BECOME?
THE VALUE HAS MOVED UPSTREAM. IT LIVES IN TASTE, PERSPECTIVE, JUDGMENT, AND THE ABILITY TO NOTICE SOMETHING BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE DOES. IT LIVES IN CONNECTING IDEAS THAT DON'T USUALLY BELONG TOGETHER AND BUILDING A POINT OF VIEW PEOPLE CHOOSE TO RETURN TO.
THAT'S WHAT ‘IN PRACTICE’ IS ABOUT. A WRITTEN CONVERSATION WITH THE PEOPLE SHAPING CULTURE FROM THE INSIDE. SENT OVER EMAIL. ANSWERED AT THEIR OWN PACE.
OUR FIRST CONVERSATION IS WITH RJ POWELL.
HE BUILT IBREATHEMUSICALLDAY INTO ONE OF THE INTERNET'S MOST TRUSTED MUSIC CURATION PLATFORMS, REACHING MORE THAN 360,000 PEOPLE ACROSS PLATFORMS BY CONSISTENTLY SPOTTING ARTISTS AND CURATING MUSIC BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE CATCHES ON. BEYOND CURATION, HE MAKES MUSIC, DIRECTS FILMS, AND APPROACHES EVERY PROJECT THROUGH A CLEAR SENSE OF CONVICTION. RAISED IN MEMPHIS ON GOSPEL MUSIC AND THREE 6 MAFIA, HE LEFT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AFTER A SEMESTER TO BUILD HIS OWN PATH. HIS CHRISTIAN FAITH ISN'T SEPARATE FROM THE WORK. IT QUIETLY INFORMS WHAT HE CREATES, WHAT HE SHARES, AND WHAT HE CHOOSES TO LEAVE ALONE.
NO HOT TAKES. NO PRODUCTIVITY HACKS.
JUST ONE OPERATOR, IN PRACTICE.
NU: THE STRONGEST CREATIVE PRACTICES RARELY START AS "A BUSINESS" THEY START AS A PROJECT THE PERSON CANNOT STOP OBSESSING ABOUT, AND THE PLATFORM EMERGES UNDERNEATH IT SLOWLY, OFTEN MESSILY, OFTEN YEARS BEFORE THE PUBLIC VERSION OF THE STORY BEGINS.
WALK US THROUGH IBREATHEMUSIC'S ACTUAL ORIGIN. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE IT BECAME THE MAIN THING? WAS THERE A PARALLEL-TRACK PHASE, A SCHOOL PHASE, A SIDE-PROJECT PHASE? WHEN DID THE PROJECT TIP INTO A PLATFORM?
RJ: WELL TO TELL YOU THE STORY ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF IBM, I HAVE TO GIVE A LITTLE BACKGROUND LORE BEFORE I EVEN CREATED OR THOUGHT OF THE IDEA IBREATHEMUSICALLDAY. BACK IN 2018 I ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE KNOXVILLE DURING THE FALL SEMESTER. I HAD THE INTENTION OF GOING TO COLLEGE FOR FILM WITH A MINOR IN JOURNALISM. FILM IS HONESTLY MY FIRST LOVE AND I ALWAYS DREAMED OF DIRECTING, PRODUCING, AND EVEN ACTING IN FILM/TV.
SO IN THAT FALL SEMESTER, I MADE IT MY DUTY TO MAKE MY DREAMS BECOME REALITY ONE INTERNSHIP AT A TIME HAHA. I BELIEVE I HAD AROUND 3-4 INTERNSHIPS IN THAT ONE SEMESTER: I WAS A PA (PRODUCTION ASSISTANT) FOR AN INDIE MOVIE, I DID SOME PA WORK FOR AMERICA'S GOT TALENT, AND I ALSO JOINED THE STUDENT RADIO STATION FOR MY JOURNALISM MINOR.
AS THE SEMESTER WENT ON, I GREW EXHAUSTED. EXHAUSTED OF THE LATE NIGHTS IN THE LIBRARY STUDYING, WAKING UP SOME DAYS AT 3AM-5AM FOR MY INDIE MOVIE INTERNSHIP, AND I'M NOT GONNA LIE, UT KNOX IS A PARTY SCHOOL AND I AM NOT THAT TYPE OF GUY TO GO TO PARTIES AND BE OUT LATE, SO I GREW TIRED OF THAT TYPE OF LIFESTYLE, EVEN WHEN IT DIDN'T DIRECTLY AFFECT ME. I CAME TO THE EPIPHANY THAT I DID NOT WANT TO WAIT 4 YEARS JUST TO WORK IN FILM AND BE CREATIVE. SO I DROPPED OUT…AFTER ONE SEMESTER LOL…AND GUESS WHAT I DID RIGHT AFTER I DROPPED OUT…STARTED MAKING YOUTUBE VIDEOS
I BEGAN CREATING SKITS, VLOGS, AND BASKETBALL REACTION VIDEOS FOR A COUPLE YEARS, BUT UNFORTUNATELY NOTHING WAS REALLY MOVING ALL THAT WELL. I COULDN'T EVEN CRACK 1K SUBS FOR ABOUT 3 YEARS.
DURING COVID, AS I CONTINUED TO MAKE TONS OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS (AT LEAST 3-6 FULL LENGTH YT VIDEOS EVERY DAY), I BEGAN TO HEAR ABOUT TIKTOK BEING ON THE RISE BUT IT WAS IN ITS EARLY STAGES. I WAS KIND OF SKEPTICAL OF IT BECAUSE IT SEEMED TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE THAT PEOPLE WERE BLOWING UP THAT QUICKLY FROM THIS NEW APP. SO I DECIDED TO TEST THE WATERS AND POSTED A COUPLE VIDEOS ON TIKTOK. THERE WAS A VIDEO I MADE, IT WAS A DUET OF ME REACTING TO THIS ADDISON RAE VIDEO, AND THINKING NOTHING OF IT, I POSTED IT AND WENT TO SLEEP. I WOKE UP THE NEXT DAY AND THE VIDEO HAD OVER 250K VIEWS, MY FIRST EVER SEMI VIRAL VIDEO: I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. I HAD NEVER SEEN THOSE TYPE OF NUMBERS EVER IN MY LIFE AND I HAD BEEN POSTING ON YOUTUBE FOR ABOUT A COUPLE YEARS PRIOR.
SO I BEGAN BEING CONSISTENT ON TIKTOK, IT WAS COVID ERA SO I HAD A TON OF TIME ON MY HANDS, POSTING ANYWHERE FROM 8-20 TIKTOKS A DAY (NO JOKE). I WAS POSTING REACTION VIDEOS, SKITS, POP CULTURE VIDEOS ABOUT FILM/TV, ETC. WITHIN A COUPLE YEARS (OR I THINK LESS) I REACHED 1 MILLION SUPPORTERS ON TIKTOK.
ALTHOUGH I HAD A HUGE FOLLOWING, I WAS STILL WORKING AT ABERCROMBIE & FITCH (I GOT FIRED ON MY DAY OFF FROM THAT JOB) AND I WAS WORKING AT LITTLE CAESARS. EVEN WHEN I WAS WORKING AT THOSE PLACES, I TOOK EVERY CHANCE I HAD TO EDIT MY VIDEOS, POST MY TIKTOKS, AND DEDICATE MY TIME TO CREATING (WHILE ON THE CLOCK).
AT LITTLE CAESARS, AFTER WORKING THERE FOR A FEW MONTHS, I FELT LED TO GO ALL IN. AT THE TIME I HAD ABOUT 200K ON TIKTOK AND WAS NOT MAKING ANY MONEY YET FROM SOCIAL MEDIA. BUT I KNEW I WAS MEANT FOR SOMETHING GREATER; SO I QUIT MY JOB AND MADE VIDEOS FULL TIME.
FAST FORWARD TO ABOUT 2022 OR 2023, I WAS CONTEMPLATING SHIFTING GEARS WITH MY VIDEOS: I WAS TIRED OF DOING THE SAME VIDEOS AND WANTED A NEW, FRESH PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT I LOVE. AND THAT WAS MUSIC. I WAS ALWAYS A MUSIC HEAD WATCHING 106 AND PARK AS A KID, LISTENING TO THE CHOIR AT CHURCH, AND BINGE WATCHING YOUTUBERS LIKE BIGQUINT, FANTANO, MALLORY BROS, SHAWN CEE, ETC FOR MUSIC REACTIONS. I SAID TO MYSELF "HEY, I CAN DO THIS, EASY."
SO ONE DAY AS I WAS DROPPING OFF MY SISTER AT HER JOB AT THE TIME, I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT FULLY BUT I DECIDED AT THAT MOMENT, "I'M GONNA MAKE A MUSIC PAGE," AND THE NAME IBREATHEMUSICALLDAY WAS INSTANTLY DOWNLOADED IN MY MIND. THE NAME OR THE CONCEPT WAS NEVER PREMEDITATED OR MEANT TO BE ANYTHING HUGE: IT WAS MERELY AN INSTINCTIVE MOVE FROM MY CREATIVE END TO JUST SEE IT THROUGH NO MATTER THE RESULT. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW FAR IBREATHEMUSIC WOULD GO OR WHAT IT WOULD ENTAIL. IT WAS PURELY FORMED OUT OF A GENUINE LOVE AND PASSION FOR MUSIC.