After everything is said and done the final step of becoming an artist is being able to sustain your career. You have put in months and years of time and effort to become the artist you are now. You have done all the recoding, you have got through the post production, you have assembled your team, they have got you live shows, you have produced and distributed merchandise, you have affiliated yourself with distributers and PROS and released your music, you have met with and singed a record deal, (or have signed with a production or publishing company) you have gone on or are in the process of setting up press runs and tours, and you are constantly working with your label. After all of that, how do you as an artist sustain a successful career in the music industry? In todays digital and streaming age, it is easier than ever to release music. It is easier than ever to create music. (at least in regard to the actually physical creation meaning recording and editing, not the creative part of creating music as even with the advancement of technology, still not everyone can be an artist) Through social media, it is easy to grow and captivate a fan base. (it may not be easy at the on set, but it is easier now than in the past to gain and grow a following) It is easy to stay engaged and communicate with that fan base. If all this is true, why do we see so many artists come and go? Why do we see so many artists get signed only to release one single, maybe one project, only to never be heard from again? Why are so many artists here today and gone tomorrow? What are they doing wrong that they can’t sustain their career once they have, “Made it?” To put it simply, it is because they don’t know what it takes to be a sustaining artist. They are not prepared for the artist life after they have reached the point of being signed and becoming famous. As I stated in my last article, once you have got signed by a major label, that is when the real work begins.
Over the last few weeks I have laid out a few steps that can assist you as a guide to becoming an artist. But what are some of the things that make an artist sustainable. What is it that has made Drake become one of the greatest and most popular artists of all time? (being able to literally drop projects with no notice and still having them go platinum) Why can Eminem and Jay-Z (even though Jay hasn’t release as much music in recent years as Eminem) drop projects with little to no roll out, no press, just release it on the digital streaming platforms and have millions upon millions of fans listen to the album? How has Lil Wayne been able to release five Carter albums along with a countless mixtapes and every time have people are waiting on the edge of their seat to listen to them? How is Russ, Chance, Beyonce, Migos, Kendrick, Yachty, Uzi, and The Weeknd all able to not be fully active on social media, but still sell millions of copies, go number one, sell out every show in every city, year after year after year? What do all of these artists have in common? Work ethic and undeniably great music.
Of course music is all subjective, and the music I listen to is going to be vastly different from the next person, and what I deem as a great artist, a great song, or a great album, can be considered by another person as complete trash and utter garbage. I will be the fist person to say, that when it comes to the new era and generation of, “Rap,” that is out now (the more trap sounding, less lyrical, efx driven, auto tune style) I can’t always listen to it. I simply don’t like it, it is not for me. That being said there are millions of people that absolutely love this music and listen to it non stop and would tell me I am nuts for not liking it. As an A&R and music publisher I have spend years training my ears to understand why this music is popular and why people (especially the younger generation) love this type of sound and music so much. After years of studying it I have come to certain conclusions (which I will touch on in a further article) but I will still be the first person to tell you that it is not my go to music, and unless I am listening to it for strictly professional purposes or because I am not in control of the aux cord, I won’t play these types of artists.
Back to the original point of what makes these artists (and of course there are a variety of others, both in the same and different genres that are just as popular as these, but for sake of this article and simply a quick annotation I came up with off the top of my head based around the hip-hop focused position I work in, these are the artists I came up with) have such sustainable careers that have lasted (with the exception of Russ, Chance, Uzi, Yachty and Migos as they are newer artists compared to some of the others mentioned) over 15-20 years. The two main points are their unmatched work ethics and their undoubtable incredible music. Yes, each artist has something in particular that separates them from the rest of the field and the rest of their peers and competition, (each of which I will briefly touch on) but each of these artists have those two particulars that are unmatched.
Starting with Eminem and Jay-Z, (simply because they are the longest standing artists on this list) can you name two other rappers that have the knowledge and lyrical prowess that these two have? Not to mention the amount of time both of them spend on each album let alone each song they record. I have heard stories of Eminem working with Dr.Dre in the studio for hours on just the sound of a single hi hat in one song. Now if you know music (especially hip-hop) you know what a hi hat sounds like. You also know that in most cases a lot of them sound the same. So, to spend hours on this one sound, on one song (that may or may not featured on an album, or even be released) shows you how much care is taken into his records. Add that precision into his lyrical ability where he just jots phrases and stanzas down, not for any particular song but to be used at a later date, (so much so that in a recent interview with Lil Wayne, he mentioned having to look up his own lyrics on Google to make sure he wasn’t using the same lyrics twice) coupled with his off the head freestyle ability that we have all seen over the course of numerous videos and performances, and it is no wonder Eminem is considered to be one of the top Hip-Hop artists and lyricists of all time. Jay-Z is the exact same way, there is a video of him in the studio with Rick Rubin recording, “99 Problems,” where he says, “I have never seen anything like Jay, he doesn’t write anything down, he goes into the booth, feels and understands the record and then records.” Artists nowadays say they don’t write things down, and it shows with their short lines all followed by some grunt and the same word at the end of every line. Can you tell when Jay-Z or Eminem are rapping off the top of his head? Both of these artists progressing through their careers, pushing the age of 50, still releasing albums and lyrically growing with age is just the tip of the ice berg on why they have been able to sustain 20 plus year careers. The ability to continually grow as an artist as you grow in age is something most artists don’t do well. You will hear a lot of artists as they mature still try to rap and sound like they did at 21 when they first came out. As Eminem and Jay-Z have matured, so have their lyrics. Jay has gone from rapping about the street life and selling drugs, to rapping about the art in his house, his kids, his wife, working with the NFL and owning an NBA team. Eminem has went from, “I don’t give a Fuck,” to speaking on political issues and the state of the country. (whether you agree with what he says politically or how he goes about this is another conversation) Being able to mature with their lyrics and not continuously staying in the same box is yet another aspect of their musicality that separates them from every other artist, and why both of the undoubtably are considered to be not only top 5 but is some cases top 3 Hip-Hop artists of all time.
How about the next age of artists? Drake and Beyonce have two of the greatest work ethics in the music industry period, bar none. (which has led them to having two of the biggest and most successful music careers of this generation) Stories of Beyonce working so diligently and focused, that she once worked three or more days without realizing she didn’t eat. The videos and documentation of the practice and rehearsal Beyonce does for each song, each performance, each show, is unmatched by any artist of this generation, and probably only rivaled by Prince or Michael Jackson. Going from being in a three girl group, to being the undoubtable lead singer and stand out of that group, to being the only one of that group to have a sustainable career, (sorry Kelly) to becoming a world wide super-mega star, is just the tip of the iceberg to what separates Beyonce from the rest of the artists. The empowerment she has given and demonstrated for women. The empowerment and embodiment she has shown and given to everything she stands for, she is the living image of not only what every artist but every person should strive for. Drake on the other hand, his work ethic is unmatched as well, but in a different sense. Starting with a role in a Canadian television show, to getting signed by Lil Wayne, to becoming one of, if not the biggest rapper and artist of all time, breaking numerous records along the way, to becoming ambassador to the Toronto Raptors franchise, Drake has continued to rise and rise. Every year since he first came out as a major artists under Young Money, Drake has had a release. Whether it be a solo project of his own, multiple features on other projects, multiple features on other artists songs, or singles and features of his own, there has not been a single year where Drake hasn’t had some sort of release, not to mention that most of those releases have landed in the top 5 or top 10 at least on one or multiple charts. (most of the time landing at number one of one or multiple charts) Going from being a rapity rapper on songs like, “Ransom,” and on his first album, “Thank me later,” to becoming the sing-rap melodic hit making genius he is today, Drake has transitioned beautifully and is on a run like no other. So much so that when one of his latest releases didn’t land at number one after the first week releases, people were wondering what happened.
Finally touching on the new (or newer) age of music, specifically in the hip-hop genre, Russ, Chance, Uzi, Yachty and Migos all have had major success of their own due to their work ethic, their great music and the new sound they have created. In the case of Russ and Chance specifically (mostly because of the artists I have mentioned on this list they are the only true independent artists, even though some don’t consider Chance to be independent because of specific release ventures with Apple, but that is a conversation for another time) have independently been working for years, releasing their own music and captivating their own fan base. Russ spent years recording music in his and his friends basement, (close to 10 years before being national and internationally recognized) releasing music through independent distribution channels allowing him to continue to fully own his entire catalog, netting him over a million dollars from certain songs each year just from streams. To this day, Russ is one of a very few artists that can truly say they own all of their own masters, and have full ownership of every song in their catalog. He has been able, through his work ethic and constant drive, to become one of the top independent artists of this generation (possibly of all time) growing and sustaining his fan base to ensure longevity of his songs and his catalog. He mentioned in an interview with Joe Budden that due to the way he has released and promoted his music, he has songs that were released years ago that have just recently began to gain traction, to the point they are going gold, and platinum and have become some of his most famous songs. Chance has a won Grammy from his “Coloring Book” mixtape, cumulating in additional Grammy nominations for his first official album release last year, all while staying completely independent. Migos changed the sound scape of rap music, ushering in the sound you hear almost everyone trying to emulate today. Migos are “The Fathers,” (meaning that they have created, or in some way are looked at as being responsible for a lot of the artists we see coming out today, because most of the artists today are releasing music that in some way is derived from the Migos sound) of the modern sound in this generation of rap music. Artists such as Uzi and Yachty come from the era of rappers that got their original sound from the template of Migos. Granted Uzi and Yachty have since created their own sound (so much so that Uzi latest album release almost sounds like his first release and still the entire album charted on Spotify) and Yachty has created his own sound. These three artists made their names from creating a sound that has changed the landscape of modern rap music and ushered in the next generation of artists all while creating undeniable hit songs. When you create a sound that every single new artist try to emulate, there’s no doubt that you can have a sustainable career.
As an artist in todays music climate, even with rise of social media having an incredible work ethic and undeniable music will still take you further than social media ever could. Yes, having presence on social media is important, and the reason the aforementioned artists in this article don’t need to be as active on social media, (although some of the artists mentioned are more active on social media than others) is due to the fact they were established artists either before or at the beginning on social media. However, if you ask any label representative or A&R they will tell you that they will take an artist with great songs and no social media over an artist with great social media and lesser songs. To answer the original question posed at the beginning of this article, how do you sustain a career in the music industry? The answer is have an incredible work ethic and undeniably great music. Yes, it is true that the answer is not that simple and there are a bunch of other factors that go into having and sustaining a career in music. However, based on a variety of different circumstances that can and will arise through out your career, if you start with work ethic and your music, you will have a leg up on your competition.
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