The Problem With Principles Is You Can’t Please Everyone

I remember vividly wanting to try and be neutral in the public sphere as my “clout” started to rise in 2020. 

I had started this local interview show and at the time we all had curfew at 8 PM. This led to a lot of people having the time and energy to pay attention to my long ass interview  streams. It was also the first time in my life I truly experienced the consequences of my words. 

When people have their eyes on you with respect, they actually pay attention to what you say.

It’s one thing to stand and fight for the social causes or issues at large I care about.

Inevitably if you are growing as you should be, you will work with others and it will start to get more complicated. 

I’m going to attempt to write this without talking about any situation in particular because so many of them happen that no one’s actually special anymore. 

Let’s distinguish between gossip and principles

Drunk me is a yenta (a gossip) that likes to spill some tea.

There is a phase where I ran my mouth a little too carelessly without realizing that I was at a tier worth gossipping about. Ignorant as I can be, 2022 is one of the first times in my life I ever partied regularly with the same group of people over time.

Even in my past performing life, I barely drank and I barely went to anything unless I was performing.

Covid had ended, I was going through a lot emotionally, and I thought I was untouchable. Running my mouth unnecessarily pissed some people off and made me a liability in the eyes of others. It’s been a long while now that I try to avoid the gossip side of life.

Unless we’re talking about the shitstorm on Facebook surrounding Terrebonne’s bike path. I want all the bike path tea. All of it.

For real life stuff I’m good not knowing.

All that to say not all talking shit is gossip, sometimes talking shit is good.

Principles are about speaking truth and standing for something

Now sometimes when I get all ranty, it sounds like the same gossipy negative drivel, probably because of my tone of voice, but it’s the passion running through me.

I wish I wasn’t passionate about gossip to be honest.

However a lot of my rants are driven by creating a system that gets more people paid. After spending years learning about press kits, sync licensing agencies, how to get booked, how to get grants and other money making logistics, I end up facing weird opposition. Like somehow following actual business plans is too “insert insulting term” for that person to do. 

While I may be a nerdy weirdo, creating a brand is about following fundamentals. How you manifest those fundamentals into reality is on you, but you can’t ignore the world you are in if you want to be successful. Sometimes my shit talk is from a place of hearing so much rah raging over what I perceive to be the wrong thing.

Then again I make my money selling food promo and driving people around, not off my music. 

I try hard to talk less shit but my principles drive me to speak when I see something broken. 

Still working on time and place though.

When your principles and other people’s principles clash, it will be a problem

To a degree, as you work with people, you are affiliated with them.

In the past I didn’t necessarily offer the respect to my partners that I should have. I learned from that and a big takeaway is to not besmirch the name of someone on your team publicly or privately. Be careful with how you say things to people, they will snitch on you.

That being said, here and there you’ll be involved with people who are on opposing sides of a corny beef. Regardless of your relationship with each side, they have a disagreement and now you are in the middle. End of the day if you are a principled person, you need to do what you think is right.

Sometimes that will piss people off. They are principled in their approach and are looking for allies. It’s not gossipy mcgoo shit, it’s real deal to them. 

What’s important is that you don’t let any desire for approval or friendship cloud your judgement. People who expect you to compromise principles for their social causes, see you as a pawn, not a peer. Also, if you are going to piss off a side either way, choose the option that lets you sleep at night.

You are the one who has to live with your actions.

It’s okay if standing by your principles burns some bridges

To bring this home I need to confess how afraid I used to be of people not liking me.

My desire to be accepted by my peers was so strong I’d be willing to compromise my principles. That is what led to the gossip and certain drama that appeared in my life at one point. I compromised on my vision to appease others and it blew up in my face when I was salty later on talking wild shit.

It was my fault I was in that situation.

However the other side of that coin is that if sticking by my principles means some people don’t like me, so be it. Life is about timing anyway. Sometimes things make sense until they don’t. It’s okay to let go of things or create changes. I’m not advising that you torch bridges on purpose, but if living your truth leads to some social casualties, it comes with the game.

As the homie JS likes to remind me, leadership comes with that smoke. 

I don’t think I’ll ever like the fact that people dislike me. But thank God we’ve reached a point where I am getting comfortable with it. At least lately they don’t like me for reasons I’m proud of instead of shamed by.

I’m certain there will be worse moments in the future, but as I watch this video showcasing video game companies fucking people over and keeping them as consumers anyway, I’m sure I’ll be fine.

Live Long and Prosper Everyone