Daddy Daughter time…

Where we are in life and what we want to be are totally up to us. I realized this early in the music industry. An A&R at Universal Records wanted to sign me, and he kept telling me the type(s) of records I had to make in order to close the deal. Only problem was that the direction they wanted me to go in musically wasn’t my style at all. It was more along the lines of audio poison that degrades our women and encourages our youth to murder each other in the streets. I realized at that moment I had to make a choice, become another industry puppet, or stay true to myself. None the less I decided to do things my way. I refused to jump through hoops and live a false reality that wasn’t me. But in order to do that I had to take a leap of faith and walk away from a situation that wasn’t for me. Sometimes in life we have to take that leap of faith with the understanding that God is in control. It’s impossible to embrace new opportunities when your hands are holding old regrets.

Friends and associates are a reflection of you. Surround yourself with real people and realize the benefits of keeping liars and fakes far away from you

This is knowledge right here. 99% of the time in life people will do things to piss you off. People will lie, steal, cheat, rip you off and do anything they can as long as they get what they want. And guess what? 99% of the time you will never hear them say they were wrong, or be big enough to admit they messed up. So what’s the best solution? Learn how to move on and be the bigger person. Accept the apology you never got because chances are you’ll never get it. Apologize to yourself for letting it happen, and repay yourself with knowledge and experience to never let it happen again. Real people do real things, and nothings realer than rebuilding yourself as a better and smarter you.

Sup Fam, it’s about that time for another blog. I haven’t written one in a minute and I figured it’s long over due. Someone asked me the other day what gets on my nerves the most about the music industry. Well keeping it real I can go on and on for days about that topic like the Energizer Bunny. But one thing that gets on my nerves are people that don’t understand how this business works so they always want something, and unfortunately there are a lot of them. I get a lot of messages that start out like this “Hey K, how are you?”. Now that introduction seems perfectly harmless right? So I proceed to engage because I love building with people (I honestly do) and respond “I’m chilling, how are you?”. Then their response is always clock work and predictable so they say, hey I need a verse or I need you to write a collaboration for me; and I also need it for free of charge because I have no way of compensating you for studio time you will pay to do so…

Now, this really starts to get on you nerves when you get an average of 75-100 of these messages a week in your inbox. I guess my issue is that people no longer view artist as people anymore, they start to view us as people that are at their disposal and are at liberty to do whatever they want when they want. And when you don’t do it they get mad (really mad). But my question is simple, why are they mad tho? Really makes no sense, I got an email from a guy that I didn’t know from a hole in a wall and he wanted to collaborate. I respectfully declined and then he got mad and replied, so you’re telling me K. Sparks can’t collaborate for the love of Hip Hop…

Well since you asked…no buddy. K. Sparks cannot do a song with you for the love of Hip Hop, nor for the love of the Emceeing, nor for the love of Luke and the magical light saber force to save the galaxy, nor for the love of that glorious Doritos Taco at Taco Bell…

People feel a sense of entitlement because they went to a concert or bought a CD and somehow get it twisted that a collaboration is included with their $12.99 purchase.  So I repeat, why are they so mad tho? I always show love when I can to everyone, and I respond to every message that is sent to me because I ride for all my fans/supporters. Another thing that people have to be aware of is that as hard as a pill that it may be to swallow, you are not the only one that has asked your favorite artist for a verse. Chances are you are number 129 for the day. So don’t take it personal when an artist has a hectic show schedule, massive amounts of music obligations to meet, and he/she has no time to record a verse for you “for the love”. I repeat, why are they mad tho? Sometimes I don’t even feel like a person because that’s how people treat you. And it’s not just random people on the outside looking in, you also have to deal with this from artist as well. See, the music industry is very competitive, so everyone is trying to come up off of the next man. So artist that don’t have a strong buzz always want to collaborate with other artist they feel they can get their name to come up off of. In laymen terms we call those types opportunist…

I’m not mad at their hustle, it’s just that I’m too smart to go for their non sense. See, if Emcee Pookie D is not popping, but Emcee Supreme is buzzing; then Emcee Pookie D wants that collaboration because he feels the outlets that support Emcee Supreme will now check for him. But let’s press the rewind button to analyze this, what does Emcee Supreme gain from this…

So the life of an artist is always filled with a bunch of questions such as, who are these people, and what do they want from me. Because 99% of the time it’s the same hustle, somebody has a need and nothing to reciprocate. And the worse is when they use the line, brother you can’t do this for the love of God…

Listen, people need to stop using God as a crutch. And I find that some people love to do this. People need to stop putting their personal wants off on God, and using that to justify their non sense. If that’s the case and that’s how they choose to get down, next time they to go to McDonald’s they should go to the counter to order a number 1 (super size) and when the cashier tells them that comes to $5.49 plus tax; I want them to tell the cashier, brother, you can’t give me this Big Mac for the love of God…

So I digress to my point, the music industry is no different. If you want something you have to pay for it. This is not my hobby, this is my job; and I treat it as such. We are all here to make a difference and help people, but let’s keep our level of interaction intelligent, civil, and not insult each other with childish propositions, wants, and behavior. Respect my time and I will respect yours. However if you choose to do the opposite I will do the same. Until next time, props to all my true supporters aka street family, be encouraged and God Bless.