The 5 Performance Commandments- take heed.

#1 Thou shalt arrive on time- on time means an hour early.

You are not Weezy, Drake, Jay-Z, Nas, KRS-1, Red Cafe, Tech-9, Graph or any other well know rapper. You do not have people. You need to be prepared to deal with any last minute changes, how can you do this when you arrive 15 minutes before your set starts.

I dont give a crap what your Momma nem told you- you are NOT as  hot as you think you are. You are not a superstar, you do not have millions of fans. YOU NEED TO BE THERE EARLY TRYING TO NETWORK AND GROW YOUR FAN BASE!

#2 Thou Shalt Get your head out of your ass

Squash all that beef shit. Everyone at the showcase, talent show, contest, competition, WHATEVER, is on the come up too. Who the hell do you think you are to walk away from the stage AT ALL after your performance or while someone else is performing. ESPECIALLY, ESPECIALLY when your entourage makes up half of the attendees in the venue. It is just flat out unprofessional and quite rude. You have to realize that you are probably as whack as they are, and you actually might learn something from them if you nose wasn't stuck so far up your own ass. Even if you are the hottest act there, I am sure you can think of a time that you were at that level. At a showcase everyone is on the same level, everyone should be showing love.

#3 Thou Shalt Not be like everyone else

When someone attends a showcase just to be entertained,and isn't down with any of the rappers or their crew, it gets old REALLY quick when you see the same act 13 different times. I mean if you have a dance song... make up an 8 count that you repeat during the chorus or hire some dancers, dont just stand there walking back and forth across the stage... this is what got Drake in trouble. 

No one wants to hear the same songs about flossing, beefing, or you reppin your set. Do a song about the club, get people dancing. Do a song for the ladies. After all, isn't the point to grow your fan base? Don't be boring! By the way ... no one wants to look at your back or see you rapping to your crew on stage with you for 85% of your performance.

#4 Everyone in your crew needs a specific job

It does not hype the audience up to see 30 people on stage with you. I mean who are you performing to? If pookie, lil man, trey-trey, keon, and peanut are not rapping- they do not need to be on the stage. Seriously, it is distracting. You haven't sold 1,000 cds YOU DO NOT NEED A BODY GUARD! If they just NEED something to do have them hand out CD's or business cards or SOMETHING. A group of 4 rappers with 47 people on the stage is not necessary ... don't yout think it would make you look better to appear as if you have fans in the audience instead of groupies on stage?

#5 Thou Shalt Communicate with the DJ

How can you expect to have a flawless performance if you don't even do a sound check? I mean maybe if you arrived early enough you could have known what mic to grab and the DJ could have adjusted your levels. This way when your hypeman gets the mic ... he isnt turned up 10 times louder than you making people jump every time he ad libs because its just so loud and unexpected.

If during your performance, you realize this is happening to you ... get the DJ's attention and kindly tell him to adjust it. You better watch how you say it, after all the DJ holds your peformance in their hands.