I was asked, "Do you believe anyone can be an artists or is it an innate talent?"Taking out all variables such as desire, cultivation, or just simply being drawn to a particular art..Yes, I believe anyone can be an artist -- taking into consideration the "10,000 hour rule" (Gladwell 2008). If you spend 10,000 hours continually working at something (approx 4 hours a day for roughly 7 or 8 years) you'll become proficient enough to be an expert in that field. So if you pick up an instrument and work at the craft and continue learning all you can for that amount of time you'll be a...
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Recently someone asked me, "Where do you draw the most inspiration from?" After a lot of thought, this is what I came up with:My "creative" inspiration is driven from a need to express myself more than anything, and writing happens to be the best and easiest way for me to do so. As far back as I can remember, I've always been a writer. Whether it was letters of support, and comfort, to uplift my family serving overseas or just expressing how I felt about the girl on the other side of class through a poem in my younger days. My mind can get clouded with all...
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I was recently invited back to one of the two high schools I attended, Oxford Academy, to participate on an alumni panel talking about my experience at Oxford, how it prepared me for college and my career today. I was one of three panelist who represented the Arts and Entertainment industries. Miss Jenny P took some nice shots and got some good questions on video....
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What do you think of 360 deals?Before I dive in, here are a couple articles I read and liked. One from the New York Times, and another commentary piece I just happened to stumble on via Google which I wholeheartedly agree with.I think I'm going to do this blog a little differently. No rant...
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Back in the day when I was young I'm not a kid anymorebut some days I sit and wish I was a kid again.-AhmadIts a wonderful time of the year...
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Many people don't understand the difference between a recording artist and a performing artist, let alone recognize that the two are not correlated. There is a difference between being a recording artist and being a performing artist; title says it all. Very few have mastered both realms, and those who have are legends.What young artist need to understand, and I stress this to my artists all the time, they need to have something that isn't on the CD or the album. They need to have something that is going to keep fans wanting to see them live in concert over and over again. If a fan goes...
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I have a story, and this story took place recently. It’s summer, and rightfully so my boys and I took a vacation. Not so much of a vacation as an extended weekend get-a-way. Anyway, we were in Vegas and I know "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" but this story needs to be shared.So I was walking down the strip headed back to my hotel with the fellas when I notice a man standing on the corner holding CD’s, which turned out to be his demo. As I approached, we made eye contact and he asked me if I was a fan of hip-hop. I told...
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At what point is making a sacrifice considered selling out?It seems that a majority of the recording artists, writers, musicians and producers that I’ve worked with in the music industry all have their own project that they are trying to get off the ground. While that is in the works, they all seem to be working behind the scenes on other artists projects just to fund their own… myself included.I find myself to be very picky with whom I work with; reluctant even. Some really dope opportunities have presented themselves, but I didn’t necessarily choose to pursue them. My hesitation might have been with the image that...
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I've always wanted a fat guitar strap dripping with heritage, just like his.Chicano Rock is the genre label that is given to him on Wikipedia. I don't know why, but I find the most interesting things on Wikipedia; too bad not all of it is relevant/correct.Santana has such a distinct sound from his guitars, and the way he is able to speak through music is just beyond me sometimes. I think what I like even more is that as his career progressed the sound of his music changed, (ie, features, collaborations, etc) but no matter the style of the music there was still the distinct tone in...
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"I fight for love, and peace of mind" is what I said to her.Yesterday I was having a conversation with a friend about how I like to debate and sometimes start a discussion defending a point of view that I might not necessarily agree with just because i enjoy playing devils advocate. She told me that I was more of the fighter-type person opposed to the lover-type person she assumed i was...
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