I’m opening up another year with the Busy Doing Nothing Podcast crew ready to discuss current events for those lovely listeners who like to do nothing right along with us. We’re here with season five and more readily available for others to find us to stream their favorite podcast platforms.
If you aren’t the one to listen to podcasts but you’re looking for something light to start you off, the Busy Doing Nothing crew is back with more content for easy listening. I’m lucky enough to say I’m still apart of the Busy Doing Nothing crew since 2017. It’s been four years of bliss and sharing interesting topics while drinking with cool friends.
Watch Season 5 Part One: Episode One of the Busy Doing Nothing Podcast
In Season 5, the crew returns to discuss more social topics that make us ponder the normalities and common sense of the world around us. Expect ear cringy content to sharing a bit of light-hearted material, the crew talks to you while drunk about it all. They share a traditional shot of the Drink of the Day at the beginning and end of each episode, and sometimes individually throughout the episode all in good fun to close off each week.
The Busy Doing Nothing Podcast is originally filmed on a 360-degree camera to provide virtual reality interaction with viewers who get right in the middle of the conversation. So listeners can view from a perspective as if they’re sitting directly at the table with the Busy Doing Nothing hosts. The Busy Doing Nothing Podcast also prides itself on highlighting local talent and business owners by either having them as a guest on the show or promoting their cause during the episodes. Some guests to grace the BDN microphone are producer Jony B, rapper 7uca, journalist Ryan Chance, photographers Sofia Vidal and Shae McCoy, videographer A Ross Films, and multiple other talented and business-savvy people from Baltimore.
I’ve truly missed meeting up with my friends every weekend to talk and make light of what’s happening throughout the week during 2020. Before season four was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Busy Doing Nothing crew introduced a new segment for viewers. In addition to the podcast, there now is a portion of the show where hosts test out and judge each other’s mixology skills.
Busy Making Drinks is a series of short videos brought to you by the four BDN hosts. Each host takes turns in choosing a wine or spirit to use as the main ingredient in a mixed drink prior to the recording of each episode. Hosts record, taste, name, and rate on a scale of 1 through 5 their mixology dexterity. The same mixed drink concocted in Busy Making Drinks is sipped throughout the podcast and viewers are left to infer how good the drink is by watching the cues of the hosts throughout the show.
Watch Haus make her mixed drink on Busy Making Drinks: Haus’ Quarantine Punch.
New episodes of the Busy Doing Nothing Podcast are posted every Wednesday via Anchor Podcast and YouTube. Watch all previous content at the Busy Doing Nothing Website www.bdnpodcast.com.
Stream Busy Doing Nothing Podcast on your favorite platform:
Definitely wasn’t expecting this one. I spend so much time writing and researching about other artists in Baltimore City, it’s really been quite some time since someone reached out to have Doc as a featured guest on their platform. That’s why I’m thankful for Brian Waters of Breaking Through Glass Ceilings Podcast because he didn’t have to do this.
It wasn’t since 2017 in my interview with Whiskey Girl in her blog series Embrace The Crazy, I joined another podcaster to talk about the ends and outs of what’s currently going on in the life of Doc. Then, the topic with Whiskey Girl was of Love and Hip-Hop and to share the intimate tales of a former romance with owner Strongway Lifestyle, LLC. In 2021, I interviewed with Breaking Through Glass Ceilings and shared the many outstanding accomplishments I’ve made so far breaking molds with my brand Doc’s Castle, LLC. Love and romance were out of the question, here.
8 Baltimore Media to Watch for Independent Artists is an article on Doc’s Castle Media highlighting the media I think are dope and provides great insight on artist news in Baltimore. Brian’s Breaking Through Glass Ceilings is one of the eight featured platforms I mentioned. When I reached out to share my article with Brian, I didn’t expect to get a personalized special shout-out for sharing his podcast with my readers. Not only did Brian give Doc’s Castle a shout-out, but he also invited me on the show as a guest on his show! Didn’t think I would turn up being that.
We discussed a number of topics and reason why I do the the things I do for Doc’s Castle Media. Some topics such as when I felt I broke through glass ceilings, the importance of sharpening your career skills using your 9-5 job, who has the best crab cakes in Baltimore, and more. I really enjoyed my time as a guest on the show. So I thought I’d share.
As we should all know, the media helps shapes the perspectives and minds of many that stay abreast of current events. There are millions and millions of people in the know of what’s happening around them. They take what they read and watch on news outlets as fact. It shapes the way each individual chooses to live their life. Most importantly, it’s extremely influential in molding the opinions of people participating in buying and selling. More recently we’ve found it’s one of the leading factors as to why America is in so much turmoil in politics and policy with our current president. So this is why I cannot overlook critiquing Baltimore Media in my second post of Quality vs. Quantity because, with or without media, it continues to be influential to Baltimore’s art culture.
Indie Media has the ability to mold the careers of inspiring artists by helping them move from 0 to 100 through merely talking about an artist’s successes and downfalls. From covering an artist’s success when they have a breakthrough project to talking about movements that aren’t too favorable to the progression of an artist’s career, the media has the power to make or break whether an artist will make it to legendary status.
Having this knowledge that the media has this much an impact in shaping an artist’s career should be the leading factor for why artists should be involved with getting to know their local underground media like the bloggers, podcasters, and many other commentators who are fans of the city’s art culture.
Artists and media need to work hand-and-hand in the progression of the industry of Baltimore’s art culture. But somehow the light bulb hasn’t powered on with that idea and there’s is a big gap in linking the two.
Photo from Facebook
Why is Baltimore Indie Media not helping the Baltimore Art Culture Progress into an Industry?
Traditional media is falling by the wayside as more journalists are left without work. There are fewer printed newspapers and more online news sites. But passionate journalists work hard to continue to do what they love; by recording the history of which they currently live through. They do this on more accessible platforms that some of these journalists invest in on their own.
Underground media has little to no funding to push its indie brands. This leads them to depend heavily on instant gratification online. No longer are they going to work for large media companies aiding them with story leads and money to put food on the table. They report where most people spend their time in order to get recognition, which means social media is where the majority of these outlets can be found excelling.
But if they all can be found on the same platforms, it means most media has the same story leads. They all report about the same things. One great example is knowing about Baltimore’s own comedian Monique’s recent battle with Netflix. Everyone knows she’s called out the black community to a boycott. But, I can bet you that no one can remember which news sites reported the Monique story first.
Major outlets, like the Baltimore Sun, 92Q, Fox 45, and Baltimore Magazine are not the only sources for breaking and entertainment news in the city. There are a plethora of small name underground websites, blogs, podcasts, and magazines that flood social media with opinions about current events on a daily basis. If more local artists and media worked together to saturate the internet with UNIQUE stories on smaller platforms instead of focusing on what everyone else is reporting, we wouldn’t have to see recurring topics on our timelines.
How many times are we going to talk about the same stories? How many times will we only talk about Young Moose or Lor Scoota like they were Baltimore’s only rap artists? Or why aren’t local media coming up with new creative ways to highlight an artist on their websites without doing the usual “get-to-know-the-artist” interviews of creatives who nobody knows about on their podcasts or blogs? There’s a lack in the quality of content in the media that’s similar to the lack of quality in the artists. I think it’s time we stop ignoring the lack of distinction in media if we want to work towards the change I spoke about in my previous essay Quality vs Quantity Part 1: The Saturation of Wanna Be Artists In Baltimore Art Scene.
Underground media in Baltimore city are not exempt from the numbers of individuals seeking to be the voice of the culture. Like many artists and entrepreneurs, inspiring journalists seek to be the “it” factor for change in Baltimore, as well. Everyone wants to be a legacy. But each platform shows proof that following the same formula doesn’t help push progression. We have multiple online radio stations in the city that follow a similar strategy for marketing and studio production, which shows there’s little research done to help each radio brand standout amongst larger successful media. We have podcasters whose production comes off parallel to the other, which shows there’s a lack of research for what’s actually working that’s helping successful podcast accelerate. It’s easy to tell who’s taking the necessary steps to push their brands and who’s not. Who’s going to be our leading TMZ of the city- breaking all the details of our industry if these brands can’t differentiate themselves?
Being similar isn’t the only thing that’s keeping Baltimore’s Underground Media from helping progress the art culture…
The rise of social media brings a wave of opinionated perspectives from every crevice and corner of the Internet. People are not afraid of sharing their thoughts online. But there comes an increase of sensitivity to the opinion that has arisen which makes me concerned about the status of Baltimore City’s urban art culture. More people are sensitive to opinions, and it’s one of the reasons Baltimore’s art scene is lacking genuine underground media outlets willing to step up when it comes to critiquing Baltimore artists. This is a problem because constructive criticism is what Baltimore artists need in order to improve their crafts.
There is a downfall of quality in even the highest-rated of underground media. I believe it’s caused by the lack of direction of each company’s branding techniques, and the additional pressure to chase lead stories. What we’re experiencing as readers and followers of pop culture is brands fearing their power being lost because they’re considering readers’ opinions of what they share. Instead, these companies should be focused on pure facts of what’s necessary to share and not what’s going to make them popular.
The integrity of emerging media is at stake alongside the quality of artwork being circulated. Both sides need to take a moment to pause when evaluating their influence in Baltimore’s Art “Industry.” To improve the stance of our industry, the questions that should be asked by both artists and underground media are “what am I doing to help the current art community,” “Am I making a positive or negative impact in this culture,” “Is what I’m doing necessary for this industry’s growth,” and “Are there any other platforms available currently doing what I do that I can collaborate with and add my input?” Once creators can answer these questions with the benefit of the city’s culture in mind and become successful in getting implementing their findings, then maybe we will see a change for the better?
What do you think? Do you believe the underground media outlets in Baltimore have an impact on the stance of Baltimore’s Art Culture? Leave your comments below.
