Michigan native and current St. Louis resident Vaughan Taylor is bringing something brand new to hip hop with Air Playd. Instead of creating a traditional video for a new song, the web-based venture (which is moving to mobile very soon) creates custom video games for songs. Players have the opportunity to not only listen to, but download new and exclusive music from their favorite artists all while playing the game.
Dope idea, right?
BlackEnteprise.com had a chat with Taylor so he could tell us about his life as a dad, husband and of course the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur in hip hops digitalscape.
Tell me about Air Playd. What is it and when did you start it?
I came up with it last April. In the beginning of 2012, I started teaching myself how to code. I had ideas, but its hard to manifest ideas if you cant code yourself. Im definitely going to teach my daughter how to code.
Time out. I just have to acknowledge the adorableness of you saying youre going to teach your daughter how to code. You didnt say ride a bike or drive, but code. Too cute.
*Laughs* Yes, Its an important skill to have right now, so I think its something that would just help her have more options in general by the time shes old enough to do it.
Love. Ok, back to Air Playd
So basically, we make custom video games for songs. The artist essentially creates a soundscape. If the song is about Detroit for example, the game might feature Detroit landmarks and streets. You start with the music and let your brain go. But we go beyond that.
How is Air Playd different than other games out there?
When you look at mobile games that are out and poppin right now, they lack a certain edge or cool, but people eat them up. So my thought process was how do I add something new, but also something of value? Wouldnt it be cool if you could play a game and win music from your favorite artist? So thats what we did. With mobile apps now you pay a dollar and you win a virtual pig or something useless like that. Who wants a virtual pig? Much better to get something of value like music downloads.
So what exactly is your role in Air Playd and whats your typical day like?
I do the coding and I have two people who do design. First thing is being a dad full-time during the day while my wife is at work. Shes a professor. So from 10 am to about 6 pm Im watching the baby. Shes five months old. Then from 6 pm until like 2 am, Im working on Air Playd.
Was it scary at first being at home alone with the baby?
No, its not scary at all. Coming from the music industry and having to depend on yourself to do things, I just jumped right into this and embraced it. Im used to drastic changes. Plus, I love spending time with her.
Speaking of being a baby, you started out as a rapper in the group Athletic Mic League when you were still a teenager. How has your relationship with hip hop changed over the years?
When I was about 19/20 years old, I thought I was going to make all of my money by being a performing artist. But it stopped being fun to me. All the regular things that happen in the music industry with issues with the label, not getting paid and things like that. Plus, you have the whole basic change in music where people consume more music, but they dont necessarily buy it. It was less enjoyable when I was depending on performance money for my income. As I got older I was thinking about how I could still leverage music but separate myself from all of those things. I dont depend on my music anymore in that way to make me happy.
Its nice that you have your wife as a support system. Sometimes people who have 9 to 5 jobs find it difficult to relate to or help balance out a creative type with a non-traditional schedule. How do you manage that?
It can be difficult, but when we got together, she was still doing her PhD. She had a very open schedule and so did I. We helped each other stay focused. We were in a similar place. We pushed each other. If she had a 9 to 5 back then, it probably would not have worked. But now, we have a solid foundation and a schedule that works for our daughter.
Thats awesome. What has been the response to Air Playd so far?
The response has been dope. After the first game, there were a few blogs that were saying Air Playd is a game changer. From looking at our analytics, about 50 percent of the people playing our games are in the U.S. and the other half come from abroad. We split the revenue from the sales with the artists.
How do you select the artists?
We are only two games in, so I reached out to The Black Opera and Burn Rubber. Everybody has been really happy with the response. With Burn Rubber, that game was in conjunction with the release of Reeboks Night Storm shoe. The game for Burn Rubbers Fly MC is all about shoes. I wanted to show that Air Playd is capable of working with advertisers and sponsors. I try to be strategic in every aspect of building Air Playd.
Whats next for Air Playd?
Getting out there in the app world. Its web based now, but we have to go mobile. Right now, Im working on setting up a beat battle app. For the first one, were partnering with 14 KT, producer and Red Bull National Champion. The basic idea is you have to battle a producer to make the best beat. Its something like Guitar Hero, but times 1000. In our app, you trigger drums and different sound effects to create your beat and advance to the next level. Im really looking forward to this one and we have an artist were about to work with for another video game, but I cant talk about it yet. Working things out with the label.
How do you get funding for something like this?
Ive been applying to a few start-up accelerators. Its mostly a timing issue. The main thing I need to do is get the games out. Were doing this in a space that is kind of sexy to funding right now, which is the mobile world. I have a few that Im focused on and like I said, were just working on getting our product polished and out there.
Whats your lifes theme song?
It would have to be Kendrick Lamars Black Boy Fly. Thats definitely my theme song right now.
