Blogging. For a long time, this word was associated with people writing about their personal lives and airing their opinions to the Internet. It was not a writing form that got much credit. But now, as generations become more Internet savvy, people use blogging as ways to promote products and spread information in a more conversational form. Senior Steve DiCecco is one of those people.

DiCecco, a marketing and sales major, blogs about music and fashion on major hip-hop sites like Inflexwetrust.com, a music promotion blog spearheaded by DJ and producer Funkmaster Flex. DiCecco said he has blogged about this subject since high school, which has led to the opportunities he has today.

“I started my first blog sophomore year of high school,” DiCecco said. “From there I really had no idea what I was doing. I fumbled my way around the Internet until I ended up working with Funkmaster Flex and [the radio station and music website] Hot 97 two and a half years ago.”

While working with Funkmaster Flex, DiCecco met DJ Drama, a DJ with Grand Hustle Records and the official DJ for rapper T.I. DJ Drama asked DiCecco to work with his music blog, DramaLikeTheDJ.com and from there, DiCecco had made his way into the online music world.

“That was my last major project and the rest is history,” DiCecco said. “I premiered T.I's single ‘Go Get It’ off his latest album on the site – that was one of the bigger moves. Grand Hustle really took me in when I moved to Atlanta last summer. With DJ Drama being a former Grand Hustle artist, I grew close to one of T.I's producers, Stroud. I've been working with him to develop his brand now.”

DiCecco’s partnerships with artists like Funkmaster Flex and DJ Drama has opened a door straight into the music industry. Though he said this business is not what he expected, he feels grateful for the experiences he has had because of it.

“I took [my blogging] from nothing to something,” DiCecco said. “I never imagined anything would have come from sharing my opinion on rap music and fashion, but it has taken me to SXSW, [South by Southwest, a music, film and interactive media conference in Austin, Tex.), New York, Atlanta, New Orleans – all over. I've met the majority of my idols. I can’t even predict what will happen tomorrow. I just keep doing what I know and focusing on the people I love.”

DiCecco has even used his partnerships to give back to Elon. DiCecco worked with Elon’s Limelight Records, bringing artists Ryshon Jones and Cooly Wright to Taphouse two years ago.

After a summer working at EMC, an IT storage company, DiCecco realized he could apply what he had done in the music industry to a business angle. Now, he said he is figuring out how to balance corporate marketing with music. No matter which way he goes after graduation, he said blogging has had a permanent effect on his life.

“My entire life has changed for the better,” DiCecco said. “I feel that what I’ve experienced – the shows, trips, people, lessons – I would never trade it. My life is nothing what I predicted but everything I could imagine.”