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One of my favorite artists (Ka), one of the best hip hop artists and writers I've ever listened to, talked about how important it was that he *wasn't* a "professional" rapper. He made his money being a firefighter, not through his music. And that let him make his music whatever he wanted
Yeah, I had to work. My job is... It made me be the artist that I could be. I never had to compromise myself because I know, I’m able to eat from my job. I go to work, I have a job, I can eat, I can pay my mortgage. I can eat. I didn’t have to like, “Wait, I know my music is kind of...” What I love to do with music, doesn’t really appeal to the masses. "Let me go and do a jam that’s more sounding like the sound of the times so that I can be popular and go on tour, and make that money." I didn’t need that. I’m good. All I care about is that, “Can I eat and do I have a house?” Can I live? Me having a job just let me be the artist I can be, free. I can do what I want. I do what I want to do, artistically, with no one telling me a thing.
I kind of agree. I like being able to write whatever I want, at whatever cadence I want, and take risks without worrying if somebody else is going to like it, if it's good enough to keep me fed. Once you take something you love and you make your very survival dependent on it, you compromise your art—consciously or not—in order to keep eating.
Today we talked in class about 'Operating as a hobby', which helps to reduce expectations on our creative work (and have to depend on something very risky). I tend to agree with that.