Patience as an artist
First let’s look at a list of rappers and the ages that they finally started getting major recognition at.
Jay-Z – 26 when he released his very first album
Eminem – 27 When Got Signed To Dre
50 Cent – 28 When he got signed by Shady/Aftermath
2 Chainz – 34 When he blew up into the actual big time
The list of names is wayyyyy longer than this. I am just showing you this to start off this page and let you know that it is completely normal for it to take time. So don’t worry yourself about the little stuff, just continue working your ass off, you will get there if you have enough heart.
Patience is key. What you don’t know, is that people get signed to record deals EVERYDAY. That doesn’t mean shit.
That is when people have to START working. That is like you working for a job for years building your resume with your music. Then you get the job at the big office. Now you actually have to show what you can do to keep your job.
The reason I mention this is because these people have to be patient. They get signed, but most of the time they sit in the background for years on end building up their hard work to finally make it in the spot light.
Big Sean
A good example is the Big Sean story I mentioned in the ‘Opportunity’ article. He went and took hold of a MAJOR opportunity and later Kanye signed him. Then he sat in the background for 3+ years until he finally built up the ability to be main stream. Simply signing to GOOD music didn’t mean he was going to be BIG. He could have ended up Little Sean lol. He had to start working and stay dedicated! Now look at him.
Do you know how many artist are signed to MAJOR rapper labels that you have never heard of? People get signed EVERY DAY.
2 Chaiiiiiiiiiiiiiinz
2 Chainz was poppin in 2008 with Duffle Bag Boy Ft. Lil Wayne when he was with Playaz Circle. But he didn’t re-emerge for years because he was building up in the background. When he finally came back and popped, he was 32-33 years old. PATIENCE
Patience also runs along the lines of failing 999 times until the 1000th time is finally success. You have be patient and learn from all of your failures so the next time you’re better, fail, then the next time you are even better and learn from that experience and the process repeats until success comes and you fully understand why you have it.
You have a firm grasp on it and not only that, you actually deserve the fuck out of it!
Songs like this entail what I am saying. ‘God Knows I Worked For It’ from my ‘The Charisma’ Album
Don’t Think that being patient is a waste of your time. It’s NOT. And being patient doesn’t mean waiting around for shit to happen. It WON’T happen is you’re not working for it. Patience is an understanding that things take time.
So you understand not to get down on yourself when things are tough and you’re asking yourself why things are taking so long. When an artist seemingly blows up over night….. chances are he was in the background for 5 years before that happened asking himself the same questions. I know I sure as hell did.
The best way to look at the patience attitude is to think like this
“I need to build myself better and better and better everyday. One brush stroke at a time until I am a masterpiece and I am ready to be sold for millions and put on a wall. One chisel away at this solid piece of stone in front of me that no one can see the beauty in, until I make it into an incredible statue.” – NovAK
This is the true attitude of an artist. You have to chip away at making yourself a champion. Level uP