The term starving artist has followed me through out my life. Not unlike most Talented artists of any medium. When you have a passion for something, I believe you must follow that passion. Most wealthy people love what they do. I'm not talking about the rich guy who works on wall street. I'm talking about Donald Trump, Swizz Beatz, Eminem and most importantly my mentor, LL Cool J. These are all people who were able to follow their passions unrelentlesly and for the most part, without loss of focus. In other words their eyes were on the prize the whole time.
When we think of an artist, we tend to think of Vincent Van Gogh, Monet...maybe even Basquiat. Humans so passionate about their art that money and society's version of success meant very little. For all we know Van Gogh felt like a failure his entire life. He was after all in and out of asylums..where some of his best work was created by the way.
Current music, rap, pop, and r&b for the most part, are the first forms of music and art that require the artist to look and act successful, before achieving any real success. This is a problem. It also may be a factor in the deterioration of REAL and Classic music. When I play people a track from my group 13, the refreshing feeling of hearing something real and hopefully classic is shared by most.
I'll get to the point. Parents, teachers, society and particularly family will influence you to have a plan b. What are you going to fall back on they will say. Having a source of income legal or illegal will only take away from your time and dedication to your art. Having a job eats away 40-50 hours a week that should be focused on your craft. If you truly have the passion, the desire and the inner thought that tells you what you were put on earth to do, you are lucky and you'd better listen.
Next time someone asks you what you have to fall back on, tell them you fall back on knowing that each day is dedicated to the pursuit of your passion and becoming your dreams.
Become your dream.
BD
No comments:
Post a Comment