I was talking with a colleague quite a while back, and the subject of a particular artist came up. I expressed my opinion, something along the lines of "talentless, ugly little girl". My colleague stopped and said "Do not EVER say something like that again." She was right. Who knows who may hear your comment and take it back to the person you insulted. What would happen if I was suddenly in a position to NEED to work with that person, and they knew what opinion I had expressed? How would that effect my career or future income? (Fact, I don't actually know the person I was referring to, and should never have said that.) More importantly, what if one of my clients or artists needed to work with them or something. How could MY bullshit have affected someone ELSE'S future? You see, I have learned a few things in my 17 years in the industry. First and foremost, this is a VERY small "village". Everyone either knows everyone or is one person removed from knowing everyone. Second, not everyone who smiles at you or laughs with you is your friend. They'll turn on your in a hot second and throw you right under the bus, if it serves their agenda.
Third, you simply never know. You never know who you're talking to or who they may know or even be loyal to! Bizzy Bone has one of the ILLEST lines in all of hip hop along this topic. "I've got people that you trust, who need some green, and really DON'T love you!". Think on that for just a moment. Yeaaaah, you get it. That was EXACTLY my response. People that have fooled you into thinking they're on your side, but actually despise you, and will sell you faster than you can ever imagine.
"Yeah, well, I live in Adams, N.D. Aint nobody here know nobody". Really? Ya think so, huh? Uh, ok....let me fill you in a bit here, Snidely. I live and run my company in a very VERY small town in N.W. Indiana, called Middlebury. My wife owns another business in an even SMALLER town called Shipshewana, where I go help her on occasion. Small, amish towns, "where everybody knows your name", kinda place. But, I run record label and entertainment corporation, from right here in my home/office, in this little tiny town. I deal, on a daily basis, with celebrities of the caliber of Chuck D (Public Enemy), Daddy-O, Kangol Kid, Sir Mixalot, and more. I converse and conduct business with major labels, publishing companies, fortune 500 companies, movie stars, directors, publicists, managers, struggling artists and millionaires. But you wouldn't necessarily know that. I'm not bragging here. What i'm trying to illustrate is, if you didn't know me, and somehow Rapper XYZ was in the news because he beat up his babymama (a term I fucking HATE, btw), and you decided to run your mouth, the shit you spout off could very well end up in MC XYZ's ear. I'm illustrating that, you don't know who you're talking to. EVER.
So, the lesson i've taken from all of this is as follows -
I wont say i'll keep my opinions to myself. If you know me, you'd call bullshit if I did. But I am hyper aware of what I'm saying about whom, and keep names out to protect my OWN ass. So, if you ask me about so and so, and I say "I'm a fan of their success", I'm still being honest. Because even those who aren't famous, just notorious, still have achieved enough success at just being an attention-whore, that YOU are talking about them. Remember that one thing, boys and girls. Even if you're talking about what a loser they are, how full of shit they are, how conceited they are, what an asshole this one is, and what a whore that one is....you're still talking about them.
They've done what they set out to do
No comments:
Post a Comment