If you are writing, singing, rapping, dancing, painting, drawing, acting, _____ing with the intent that everyone and they mama’s mama’s mama should like your sh*t…

then you’re doing it for the wrong reason.

The beauty of self-expression is the “self,” which a lot of people might relate to, but certainly not always agree with. As soon as you compromise the “self” in order to please the masses, then you’ve already begun your descent down a hole of shoulda, coulda, wouldas.

“I should’ve done what I really wanted.” Or “I could’ve just kept it real and avoided this mess.” “Had I known things would end up this way, I would’ve just beenmyself.”

There are plenty of people who become famous by adhering to a long list of “Dos and Don’ts,” but for how long?

If you take a look at pop culture, you’d see that every legend is labeled as such because that person embraced who she was. That quirky behavior, or that “funny way of dressing.” Those things that a lot of people hated at first, became the very same things that people eventually embraced as “cool.” (It’s ironic but that’s usually what happens.) Legends aren’t afraid to be different. Because they love what they do too much to care.

Now it doesn’t happen overnight. You could be putting out your sh*t for years, maybe even decades, and still not catch a break. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. People often forget that this ain’t Disney: dreams aren’t granted by talking crickets or overweight fairy godmothers. Perseverance is usually your #1 source for dream-making. (Not even wishing on a damn airplane will do it for you. Sorry, I had to say it. Lol.)

The motive behind your art pretty much defines the art itself. Are you doing it to become popular? Are you doing it just to make money? Are you doing it because x-amount of people are digging that sorta thing and you’d feel lame if didn’t jump on the bandwagon?

I’m not trying to hate on anybody. And if I offend anybody, well that’s a different story. What I’m trying to say is it’s okay if you’re doing something as a hobby, or as a form of relaxation. But don’t expect a lot of long-term gratification if you’re just doing it to get attention. (If you’re doing it for the short-term grats, then I guess: knock yourself out.)

There are some people out there who give up their lives for what they do. Who love their trade so much, that they will meticulously tear a part their work for days on end, just so that they could express even a fragment of who they are in their work.

To them, hearing that someone is doing _____ just so he or she can be labeled as a _______er is like hearing ten rusty ol’ rakes being dragged across a hundred black boards.

When you’re passionate about something, haters become mice. And their bitching becomes incoherant squeaking that you only pay attention to because you think it’s cute. When you’re messing around, haters become an even bigger threat than a 7.3 earthquake. And that, to me, is the biggest difference.

Originally posted on Tumblr