Work Ethic>Talent

I've told people over and over that I don't value talent like I used to. Let's face it, rap isn't what it used to be. No disrespect to the big artists out doing their thing, but talent wise, we ain't where we used to be. Jay-Z, Big Pun, 2Pac, Biggie, Eminem, etc, compared to our biggest 5 hip-hop artists today?... Anyway, all that to say that times have changed. Record labels aren't signing artists today based on talent and skill. It's come down to who's attracting fans, by whatever means. And the in most cases the ones attracting fans are the artists that are WORKING the hardest and most consistently. I've seen many artists, super talented, not grow because they're talented and believe that talent is enough. It's not, period. It helps a great deal if you're super talented but if the world doesn't know then what does it matter. If the artist isn't marketing themselves to the world and saying “Look how dope I am!” then it's almost like they aren't that talented. What's happened is mediocre artists have become work enthusiasts. They've learned how to market, how to be seen, how to be heard and in essence, have stolen the fans away from more talented artists who are, for lack of a better word, lazy. Music has become largely a DIY industry, with all of the things you can do without the help of record labels now. You can find producers/ beat makers (instrumentals for sale)with places like Airbit and Beatstars online, you can find distribution online, you can find how-to's and what-to's online. The information is easily accessed. The ones that have the crazy work ethic are easily the ones most likely to succeed. That's just what it is and until the “doper” artists wake up to this fact, things will continue in this way. To be continued....

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