brutal truth for artists :

Reminded me of this visual. Sry 2 the artist 4 not posting credit

This message I think is true for every artistic endeavor not just music.

"Talent is only leverage if it's attached to a sticky message" is a bar.

But also… kind of to your point, it is how the song or project is delivered. Are you attractive? Is the cover interesting? The video?? There are tons of good songs out there delivered poorly or without anything to create the attachment to the artist and the music.

This explains the Stan wars. The most popular artist in the world have emotional bonds with their fans and these mfs lose their minds when you disrespect them

I agree with this wholeheartedly, and a really clear representation of this for me is the fact that I have two versions of a song out right now, WAGMI & the WAGMI WE.Mix — the letter of which was remade with a professional instrumentalist and Musician on the production with professional mixing in mastering with guest features and award-winning Mastering to close it out. The original was made in my home studio, mixing mastered and recorded by myself. So imagine my surprise when I had a few handful of people in my community, tell me that they enjoyed my original version more than the We.Mix I say that to say, there was emotional stickiness that I was able to touch upon in that original version, regardless of how crude the mix was, and my community heard & resonated with that even still. Even when the “better version” was out and available for them to listen to. So yeah, put that music out there anyway you can.

rappin your ass of right here tho

This shit resonates for real.

factsss

100% Make sense to other humans

The amount of battle rappers that need to hear this lol

I am sorry, but the music business is dying because we are tired of the lack of quality. Have you not seen the numbers ? The releases keep getting less and less streams. Now look at recently Rosalia released a masterpiece and it was a breath of fresh air.

Only issue there is, we’ve had an entire generation of suck ass artists Lil Baby, Da Baby, Playboi Carti, Young Thug, NBA, etc from like 2015-now with ppl caring about their music. So in conclusion the audience doesn’t even know quality music, so they damn sure can’t be trusted

Your not wrong...but also it's wayyy more complex then that your oversimplifying here. Just to prove that quickly and easily alot of the top music in rap right now for example has very little emotional or human connection...it's image and marketing based

You are selling emotion to some degree

Consistently on point for how many years now sheesh

He’s got a good point hey? @BrianZisook

That’s why ppl are always upset with Grammy and Oscar wins. “But that’s not the best song/movie!” Ya no shit. It’s called, whoever sold the most albums and tickets and pumped money back into the industry that grants the awards usually gets them. Not a critique, just the game.

Beautifully expressed, Russ. Really encouraging.

What about the skill it takes to craft an entirely instrumental song that make the hair on your arm stand up? Cant it be both? Can the skill of a musician compensate for their crappy songwriting and brilliant songwriting make up for basic production?

this whole talk is more bars than lyrical miracle hysterical rappers will ever understand 🫡

Needed this like MADDDDDDDD

Wait has this mf always had different colored eyes??

@selkm_ 🫳🎤 we are all @Nakamigos

That’s why someone like Rick Rubin can get paid so much money for his taste.

Russ speak that shit Man U always drop gems when it comes to this matrix of a music business

Very well said

Truth

"what is my message?" fuck, what IS my message?

I feel this hard, especially in heavier music. Band bros love a super technical riff, but that's just not what people connect to. Conveying the message and expressing emotions is what matters most. Bless 🤘🏼🌌

This is why some of the simplest songs carry the heaviest weight. 🖤🥀💀

On point

Bro its gon3.

Absolutely.