Yashira Guzman has always loved to be around creativity, it has fueled her passion for seeking an outlet to express that. Her experience in a creative environment for her was in her creative arts high school where she was a part of the poetry club, where they did lots of showcases in her school.
Now Guzman is a 20-year-old sophomore at Rowan University and a music industry major, with minors in audio recording and entrepreneurship. Her aspirations for the future include being a part of the music industry in a management role by working with artists individually and providing them with different services. She also has a goal of opening up her own studio space as an engineer and then renting that space out to different artists.
Her love for Hip Hop came from her hometown, Camden, which she said was a mainly, “Black and Latino area,” and being able to grow up around them and the culture it felt like home for her. She loves listening to hip-hop and loves music in general.
Her decision to study at Rowan came from the music scene, especially the alternative rock scene. Guzman has always loved alternative rock and rap as well, she found out more about these topics from the Rowan Alternative Music Club, which hosts the annual Battle of the Bands event, introducing bands from all over the area to Rowan students.
The music industry major has recently taken a leadership role as the president of the new organization on campus, Rowan Hip Hop. The club created by Guzman is a student organization that creates a safe space for Hip Hop fans to share their love of the genre. As the president, she has taken on a lot of new responsibilities.
“I was the person to kind of put everything together and so I’m like the leader of it, I go like, give everyone their tasks and host the meetings,” said Guzman. “And make sure everything is like what it needs to be. Any information that I get I send out. Let’s say I get information that an organization wants us to collaborate with them. I get that to the event person, and then they’ll bring it, and we’ll all discuss it together.”
Her goal as the president of Rowan Hip Hop is to be able to work specifically with Hip Hop artists. She realized that there wasn’t a space at Rowan to showcase the musicians of Rowan University and a place for students in love with the genre to talk about it.
“I feel like Hip Hop is really like a cultural thing like it’s not even only music. It’s like graffiti, the art of it, there’s dance. There is so much that goes into what hip-hop can be. A lot of people don’t think of the politics of it as well, I feel like this space was needed on campus,” said Guzman.
When she created this space on campus, she also wanted to make sure that the organization focused on inclusivity and diversity. She has seen support from cultural organizations and is expecting lots of collaborations with them. She said that right after she presented her club to the Student Government Association (SGA), so many clubs wanted to work together. The club has already been very busy with trying to set up events, at the current moment they are still trying to identify their first general body meeting.
The classes at Rowan about the music industry have also aided her in furthering her knowledge of artist management and the industry itself. She is taking a touring and concert promotion class that allows her to learn the skills of planning a tour, how to promote, contracts, and getting to participate in the production of a live concert. Her entrepreneurship and innovations class is also helping her in her dreams of being an entrepreneur as well.
She is also aware of the struggle that comes with being able to get a job in the music industry field.
“It’s hard to get a job in the music industry, so it’s scary because I am even trying for internships and I get told no, so it’s like how is it going to be when I graduate?” said Guzman. “That’s very difficult, but I feel like being more active, actually working with more artists, and practicing my skills will help me.
Her piece of advice for any future music industry majors deals with trying what you’re interested in.
“I would say, just try different things like one of my professors, right now that I have, he’s like, even if you’re interested in the music industry, you’re not an artist, even if you are too, just try to manage someone I feel like that’s the best way of knowing,” said Guzman. “See what you’re good at, what you are not good at, and just like networking with people. I feel like that’s the best way because for me I wasn’t so sure what I would like. But as I’m getting more involved and like, I’m meeting people, I’m like, I kind of feel like I would like to manage people. I kind of want to try this out.”
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