Don’t Listen To Art Snobs Who Talk About Purity

In a moment of passive aggressive rhetoric targeted at me, someone was explaining how they preferred creating with children.

The main premise was that children have no ego and just let go and create. Somehow they find joy in the moment and they get lost in the moment simply creating. They specifically targeted me with the comment “not making art to get money or being famous”.

People who share that sentiment often find the commercial art grind gross.

I’m not sure what this person’s problem is with me, they have one and have neglected to inform me directly what it is, so instead decided to do the equivalent of slut shaming with art.

There is no reason for making art that is better or worse than another.

The longer you make art the more expensive it gets

I can tell you my capitalist side has grown the more money I spend on music.

This month alone I sent out etransfers totalling 450$ to get beats. Just to get access to one piece of my art, cost me that much. Then there will be mixing/mastering, artwork, time spent promoting the songs and countless hours memorizing and working on the performance.

Maybe you, dear reader, are rich, but I am not. Spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on art each year adds up.

Thankfully, there are ways to get it funded.

You either do it privately which means you care about the recoup or you do it via grants and other funding, where they care about the business plan.

The adult version of art is more complicated.

Creating art all day without having to worry about paying rent is the dream

There’s always this callous attitude like somewhere along the way people like me lost sight of why we make art.

Firstly, I’ve never compromised my art. I’ve always made what I want to make, and any evolutions are tied into a desire to reach my community, not make bank. That being said, given how expensive art is, if you aren’t in a place of super privilege where you get to volunteer a ton of time and things like that, you need a business plan to keep making art.

Otherwise what happens is people make art, spend an insane amount of money, realize it’s not sustainable and move on.

For me, there’s no joy in a world where I don’t play with music, this means I need to focus on building my brand maturely.

If we don’t prepare kids for the world of art they become jaded like millennials are

Creating art as a kid is a wonderful thing where I know science says it helps brain development and stuff.

I believe adults should also embrace a creative passion of some kind. I think it helps sustain our soul, it’s part of the reason I make it a point to write every day. My ABC is always be creating.

Still when we’re young we weren’t prepared for art as a career choice. We were prepped for art as a hobby. I wish somewhere along the way more focus had been put into how to make money via art.

That way the people who do want to live off their art can have easier tools to make that happen for themselves.

The art game requires a set of life skills that are pretty unique and are different than the fun innocence of children doing their thing.

A lot of people believe making art for money is morally wrong

The statue of David was a commissioned art piece by a rich guy that Michaelangelo made.

The Sistine Chapel was also a commissioned art piece. That means that Michealangelo wasn’t necessarily making his life’s desires, he was the equivalent of a graphic designer making art in his era. I am aware that the man was a creative genius, but for the point I’m making, homie was making art for cash.

If that’s what you want to do, chase it. Don’t let anyone tell you that your intentions are wrong. Some people like to make art for the passion, but in truth their brand is so exclusionary they probably won’t find that community their formula says they will. All successful artists had to compromise and play the game.

Sell out, or don’t, but don’t let other people tell you what’s right or wrong.

They cannot speak for your soul.

Live Long and Prosper Everyone