POPULARITY IS OVER TALENT
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Time for the good ol people support popularity over talent argument.
Your first problem is that you think you’re talented or whoever you’re advocating for is talented.
Seems fucked up to say but look at it this way.
I feel I’m a talented writer but there might be people who just aren’t into my writing and think it’s trash. At the end of the day I don’t really have the final say on the support I receive. All I can do is place the product in what I feel is the right space and create what I feel is good. It doesn’t matter if I think I’m talented. The consumer will have the last say in that matter.
If I was to ask people to explain to me why they think they’re talented in whatever field they’re in I believe a lot of people would draw blank thoughts. Do you only think you’re talented because you feel what you create is top tier or do you feel you’re talented because there was a general consensus of strangers that came to the conclusion that you’re talented? No one cares if your parents, best friends, and baby momma or baby father thinks your talented. It doesn’t make it more true than a million people thinking you’re talented.
The issue in my opinion is that people believe just because they feel they have talent they deserve to be rewarded. It’s one of the most known cases of entitlement. We have to start looking at why things are popular and why popularity is supported quickly. Look at it like this. There are thousands of talented combat fighters in boxing and mixed martial arts but not all of them ever get to be a champion. Why? It’s because there are more variables than just the talent itself.
Conor McGregor has been the UFC Lightweight champion and UFC Featherweight champion. There are a bunch of fighters that are more talented than him but yet he’s more popular. Why is he more popular and why isn’t the public supporting the fighters that are more talented than Conor? For starters Conor’s style caters more to casual MMA watchers than MMA purists. Two, Conor’s brash, cocky, and reckless shit talking reels in not just supporters who want to see him win but haters who want to see him lose. One side will tune in to see if he knocks someone’s head off, the other will tune in to see if he gets his head knocked off by his opponent. Third he markets himself better than his peers. He put an image to the personality and attitude he showcases in and out of the octagon. Expensive high fashion suits with shades. DaBaby does the same thing with rap.
DaBaby isn’t the most talented rapper. I can name a bunch of rappers better than DaBaby. But this is what puts DaBaby over the top outside of the fighting and women thinking he’s gorgeous. One, DaBaby understands the importance of documenting the journey. He keeps a film crew on deck (Reel Goats) they document everything he does. DaBaby is also serious about his music videos. Instead of his videos being typical he adds imagination to his videos. He’s a promotion machine. He uses social media as a tool more than anything else. He showcases his personality by doing funny videos. He constantly says the same things about himself to make it stick to his image. It’s not just the rapping. Mystikal said it best. 80% of this is your business 20% of this shit is your talent.
Talent alone doesn’t mean much when there are millions of others in the world with talent also. Every athlete employed by a major sports league is talented but not everyone starts in games. There’s people who aren’t in any sports league that are talented but they may lack the intangibles to get them to the next level.
Your talent is an engine. Either the engine is good or the engine is bad. Regardless the engine is useless if it’s not in a machine. This is what people don’t understand. Yes the engine can be pretty and do everything under the sun but if it’s outside the hood what use is it to me? I can’t drive an engine. An engine by itself can’t get me from point A to B. That’s where all the things outside of talent come into the equation. As a creative, artists, businesswoman, whatever you are it is your job to build the body for the engine to be placed in or put your talent in spaces where someone is willing to invest and provide a body for your engine to be placed in. Now let’s dive into the popularity side of this.
Popularity is generally supported over talent because it’s already built up, it’s already running, and a bunch of people are already swearing by the person or product. Most importantly the popular person or product have the trust of their supporters. Not too many people have the foresight to support something that’s at ground zero. It’s human nature. If they can’t predict the future of it and they don’t feel it’s a sure thing then they’re a little hesitant to offer support to it. Are you willing to support or invest in a business with no supporters after they’ve been in business for 3-4 years? You’re going to have questions right? That’s how people who rap or sing sound when they want people to support them after singing and rapping for 5 years but they have no supporters but their friends.
The owners and creators of AirBnb had talent. When they started out they had little support so of course they didn’t have many investors but the few people that bought stock in their company when nobody knew of them or the company are super rich today. But why did they invest even though Airbnb wasn’t popular? That’s the question. One, the idea of Airbnb was innovative. Two, the owners of Airbnb had a great business plan and business model. Three, the few people who were using their services trusted them so much that they spread the word about the company to people. If those 3 things aren’t occurring for you or you’re not focused on those 3 things, it doesn’t matter how much talent you have you won’t be going anywhere and no one outside of your circle will give a fuck about what you’re doing. So go get popular or become popular in a space you’ve created. Basically build a cult following (Griselda Records is a great example of this).
“But how does one become popular Benny?”
I’m glad you asked. Off the top of my head I came up with a list of how and why people are popular.
Money/Material things
Personality
Attractiveness/Looks/DNA
Status
It or They makes other people money.
Sense of humor
A TALENT….. DING DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!!!!
A lot of people are popular because of their talent. You think people hangout with 5 star recruited athletes because of their personality? No. It’s because they’re extremely gifted. Majority of popularity is achieved by having talent which means the talent is being recognized and therefore supported because it exists. Now I’m not stupid I know there are people who are not the most talented and yet they’re popular and the popularity is the foundation of their support. Rapper Saweetie is an example of this. Saweetie’s music isn’t good in my opinion but she’s popular. Why is she popular though? She’s pretty with a nice ass body. End of discussion. One could argue that “My Type” success is why she’s popular but that song was liked because of it’s sample more than anything. Of course she’s going to be more popular than a Tierra Whack. Saweetie titties always out and Tierra’s not but Tierra is 100 times better than her at making music and creative direction. Even if Saweetie wasn’t rapping she’d be popular just off her looks alone.
People gauge popularity in different ways. So for example someone may feel popularity is someone who has a lot of followers on any social media platform. I’ve seen artists with millions of followers not able to sellout multiple venues across the country. I’m talking no even 20 people showed up. Some people gauge popularity through shares and retweets. Retweet don’t mean shit unless someone openly praise what they’re retweeting and even then there’s a high chance that no one will give a fuck.
We need to just call this what it is. The people who always feel people support popularity over talent have no accountability on why they’re creations aren’t selling or resonating with people. What if you’re not as good as you think you are? That’s a real possibility. What are you doing outside of creating to put your work in the right spaces? Are you just posting on social media that your shit is available and that’s it? How are you separating yourself from the thousands of other people that do what you do? Why should I invest my time into what you create? Do we share the same morals? Is this something transcendent and is a moment in time? Is this something I want to brag about to people that I heard it first? Do you have any videos, vlogs, short films, anything? Have you asked yourself “Why aren’t I popular?” What if you’re not likable? What if you’re boring? What if the city you live in doesn’t give a fuck about what you’re creating? Are you going to actively search for a market and community for what you create or are you going whine? People are not going to support something they don’t like and as a real individual the last thing you want is forced support cause that ain’t real. Instead of making statements you need to be asking yourself the right questions. You want people to pay their hard earned money for something they don’t care about nor has anything to do with their day to day survival just because you feel you’re talented? Do you hear how crazy that sounds?
This “People support popularity over talent” statement is an excuse for lazy and entitled people. You’re too lazy to build your own fanbase. You have the internet. Your fanbase isn’t just confined to what city you stay in. Your marketing methods are amateur and nothing is exciting about it. It takes more than photoshoots, graphic designs, and videos. Your goal should be to get me to feel like I’m not apart of an exclusive club if I’m not supporting you. If I don’t feel like I’m missing anything then what you’re trying to push isn’t good enough. You need to be focusing on building your brand and that’s it. How can you make the right steps forward? How and where can you improve? Not popularity. The only thing that should be kicking your ass is the money that you’re investing into creativity not your insecurities of why this person over there isn’t more talented than you but eating more than you. They’re a cleaner and you’re not. A cleaner is someone regardless of talent or not will get the job done and get the end result. So lace your shit up and become a cleaner or take your ball and go the fuck home and hop on social media and complain. JustGiveUp2020. End of story.
#JUSTGIVEUP
Peace
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