Is image REALLY everything? Yep. While having a conversation with the marketing director here at Patchwerk, we both agreed that the music industry (rap in particular) is plagued with a peculiar dichotomy: Image vs. reality. As you can learn from sitting in on one of our many informative I Do Music panels, (again with the shameless plugs?!) your image should reflect who you are as both a person and an artist. Seems easy enough, huh? You’d be surprised. More times than not, artists get caught up in portraying a character, no different than the role of an actor. Despite the recent wave of rappers turned thespians, I contend that as far as image is concerned, theatrical performances have no place in the world of hip-hop. Test it out. My hypothesis: Longevity as an artist and genuineness of one’s image are directly correlated. So let’s say your not buying my story, and you’ve come to the conclusion that trendy is the way in. Everybody’s doing it so that’s where the money is. You develop your gimmick and rather than let people know “the real you”, you introduce a manufactured image of yourself to the world. That’s cool. Wait…if people fall in love with your trendy persona, you’re only as a relevant as the trend you’ve adopted. And as we all know, the essence of a trend is to be ever-changing. That makes the fake you important for approximately 2.5 seconds. These are just some humble notions from a blog writer. If you don’t like it, get at me. I’ll be here. Until next time, (and pay careful attention to my next two words…) do YOU, do music.
-Gilles
Real 'ish!!! Preach brotha, preach...
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