Trey P: I assume many people in the Vintage Limited fan base are in your fan base as well. But for those who don’t know you, can you tell them who you are?
Josh: My name is Josh and I love Jesus and hip-hop.
Trey P: You own Sphere of Hip Hop, one of the largest online shops for conscious, Christian, and spiritual hip hop? How did you get started in this business?
Josh: I had a media class in college, and we needed to build a website for a class project. It blossomed from there into what it is now and only by God’s grace. At first I was plenty reluctant for it to be anything beyond a hobby but it was clear after a few years that it was a calling upon my life. I’m blessed to be servant.
Trey P: Do you have any advice for those wishing to do what you’re doing? How might they get started with their own shop?
Josh: Get rich first! It’s a ton of work each and every day. It’s not one of those things you can do for a few hours a week. There are a few things to do every day, even if I don’t want to so you really need to be diligent and dedicated. Also, find help if you can. Orders don’t get shipped and customer service emails don’t get answered if I don’t do it. Finally, you need to be well connected and have good working relationships with people you want to stock.
Trey P: What have been some of the biggest challenges in the years you’ve been doing this job? And has there ever been a time when you didn’t think you would pull through?
Josh: For the online store, it’s been a few things. Music piracy is the #1 challenge right now and for pretty much everyone. We’re selling things that people can just steal if they want to. That is tough to compete with amongst a segment of our target market who don’t “value” music enough to support it with their wallets.
Marketing has been something that is a daily challenge. Finding ways to engage people and not shove “buy this” messages in their faces is challenging. The business reality is that we need to sell X amount of stuff to stay afloat. That sometimes forces me to do things I’d rather not do when it comes to marketing – things that are cool to do but stuff I’d just rather not if I didn’t have to. Changing with the times and learning how people consume information has been important in molding a changing marketing approach.
About a year ago, I was as close as I ever have been to quitting. Looking over the receipts for the previous year and not seeing much “good” in the upcoming year was awfully scary. We’ve been holding on for about four years now essentially treading water with the finances. Very challenging. My prayer was that God was going to have to find a way for it to work out if it was indeed His will to keep operating. The latter part of 2009 was encouraging. That allowed me to take a few necessary marketing and promotional risks to help expand our reach. Those things have in turn brought in new fans and customers. It’s been a struggle to see if that new growth is in response to the expanded marketing or if it’s because people are less freaked out about the economy. Once the economic downturn hit… our sales plummeted by over 50% for about 7 months straight. Tough to manage. I just got a bit more creative and found ways to make ends meet. Today I am a bit more confident that we’re going to pull through.
Trey P: Talk to us about fashion. In the past you’ve combined CD combo deals with shirts and other apparel. Why do you think that marketing strategy attracts the hip hop fan? And what is it about fashion that is so essential to the hip hop community?
Josh: Music fans generally love “brands.” We all know people who are really into a small handful of artists/bands. They have the clothing, music, posters, and so on. Now with how the music scene has shifted, you need to create value for the fan. People are generally ready to support (save those who don’t care and just pirate) if you give them a good reason to. Selling albums for $15-18 doesn’t work anymore. Even selling for $10
doesn’t work anymore unless you’ve got something unique to offer. That is what has attracted me to offering special deals via the store. The strategy has worked well and I think there is room to grow.
Fashion is so deeply a part of the culture of hip hop. You can almost identify hip hop fans out on the street simply by seeing how they dress (for better or worse). People are always seeking to identify with things and it’s natural for hip hop fans to gravitate towards fashion crafted for them. There are some great clothing lines like Vintage putting out stuff right now. It’s no longer something dominated by large brands. The indies are dropping some awesome quality clothing right now.
Trey P: Your affiliated with the Scribbling Idiots and their label Illect Recordings. How has that relationship been important to you?
Josh: It’s been great. Scribbling Idiots is a unique and diverse crew. You see a bunch of different artistic angles and expressions at play within the group. Seeing them grow from the early days of their formation to now has been encouraging. It’s awesome to see a bunch of believers that love people and love the art of hip hop that take it all as seriously as they do. I’ve been friends with many of them for quite a long time. JustMe and I go way back to about 1997 when he was rhyming with Solseekers. Solid friendships have made it a natural progression to work on music together.
Trey P: People probably have the perception that to have an online retail business or store means you’re living big with no financial worries. Challenge that perception.
Josh: I live in a modest house and until two weeks ago we had a 33-year-old furnace that was about ready to die and no air conditioning. Here in Minnesota we see the best of all the weather…super cold snowy winters and hot humid summer. My wife and I kept it real and saved up for a few years to afford a new furnace (laughs). We clip coupons, rarely eat out, and live on a modest budget. Hopefully, we’ll be able to afford new windows soon (laughs). It can get drafty up in here son! I try not to think about it, but over the past decade I’ve personally invested almost $200,000 of my own money into Sphere of Hip Hop. It’s a staggering amount and money that I’ll likely never see again. I am at peace with it because being involved in hip hop isn’t something I am doing for money or fame. I’m simply blessed to be a blessing.
Trey P: You work with a lot of artists who come to you to promote their projects. How has that been? And how has that improved or deteriorated your relationships with these artists?
Josh: It’s been great. My passion is challenging people to grow in their ideas about marketing and promoting their music. I’ve privately mentored dozens of artists over the years and have been encouraged to see tremendous growth. When the scene has moved forward I’ve been honored to often be a vital part of that growth.
Second, I try not to over promise. It can be challenging to maintain proper expectations. Usually I try to be so bluntly honest that it almost discourages them. A heavy dose of reality is a good base to work from. Then the light comes on for them and they understand the tough road ahead. Promoting stuff is not easy.
Trey P: You recently overhauled the website and it is quite impressive. What is the outlook for Sphere of Hip Hop in 2010? And do you have any other projects planned?
Josh: Thanks! It’s nice that it is finished.
A major goal is to find new ways to fund the site and also continue raising monthly support for outside ministry projects. For many years, I’ve privately work with numerous outreaches with at-risk youth in several countries. Providing some positive faith-based hip hop to different organizations has been a way for me to help encourage young people to live better lives and make better choices. Hopefully, we’ll be able to reach our monthly target so we can greatly expand those things. We’re about 25% of the way.
I’m working on a few other projects for the site as well. I’m holding my cards close on those, so it’s a surprise. I’d like to have a few more clothing options available with the site’s branding. Working on some hoodies now. The big work project for me is working on the next revision of the online store. What we have now “works,” but isn’t what I want.
Trey P: Do you see any trends developing, whether good or bad, in the Christian and conscious hip hop community that you can report to us – things to watch for or avoid?
Josh: It’s too easy to make mediocre music and few people are willing to level criticism about it. There are also some pretty heavy pride issues but lately that seems to be getting dealt with. On a good note, there are some really amazing projects coming out from
newer artists. It’s nice to see more newer cats bringing it.
Trey P: Finally, anything or anyone you want to plug?
Josh: If you want to check us out, we’re all over the web at spots like…
http://www.sphereofhiphop.com
http://www.sphereofhiphopstore.com
http://www.facebook.com/sphereofhiphop
http://www.twitter.com/sphereofhiphop
Thanks for the support guys. God bless what ya’ll are doing with Vintage.
Finally got out side today and it was a beautiful, cool, sunny afternoon… put me in the mood to listen to sum old Motown records. This is a quick sketch of a man I saw reading a newspaper. I would of drew more but I spent most of the time chasing my son around the park. Got some cool pics too, might post them a little later. – 
