Thursday, July 30, 2015

Are we artists okay in the head?


I have an ego, I must admit. And so do you. Ego can be constructive in protecting us from social degradation. However, ego can also be atomically destructive and cause us the worst forms of social degradation. Unfortunately, more often than not, our egos can mercilessly lead us into the unwanted evil of our self-manufactured downfall. For an extended example, if you want to see the ugly nakedness of ego, just live closer to what we shall call Musicians And Stupid Singers (The MASS). We musicians and stupid singers have such unbearable egos. And for that reason, we hate any person who has the tiniest inclination to criticise our musical products. "Don't touch me on my studio" is noisy song we sing whenever we go looking for people to approve of our half-baked musical products. Trust me, I know. I have been part of The MASS for the past 20 years.

The challenge is that this ego-ravished approach to creating excellent musical products will never work because The MASS are in their own way. Admit it or not, we are in our own way. We fear criticism so much that we won't give an ear to anyone who doesn't feel our music in their ears. You may be saying, "Yes, it is true that the fear of criticism is worse than our fear of death, but how does this work against musicians and singers?" The major challenge with this MASS Ego is that a musician or singer will approach you with their song in hand and ask you to give them your "honest" opinion about their musical product. You listen to the song and then give your opinion. What happens next? If your opinion is not complete adulation or gargantuan adoration for their musical product you are going to have an argument on why the product is good. Now, how is that asking for someone's "honest" opinion? We musicians and stupid singers are nothing but a bunch of egomaniacs and shameless pretenders. We come to you pretending that we are looking for an "honest" opinion or assessment when we are in actual fact looking for praise. How diabolic is this approach to developing our products into the best out there? Haven't we learned something from the story of Lucifer who, because of an unbearable ego, messed with his Creator because he wanted to shine brighter than the One who made him? Now, in the same way, we mess with our own creativity because we just want to ascend to the throne of praise even when we have not created anything worthy such applause. We musicians and stupid singers always pretend we are looking for an opinion that can help us improve on what we have created when in truth we just came for a standing ovation. This is madness. This is ego at its destructive best.

My solution is simple. If you really want an "honest" opinion on your musical product, just bear the criticism and go evaluate it in your personal creative space. Don't attack on spit on the honest opinions of people you approached for an opinion in the first place. If you don't want the criticism, don't ask for anyone's opinion. Just take your product to the public and they will decide whether they think your product needs some work or not. One thing I have learned in this world of music is that, hypothetically, one song can generate 10 different opinions from 10 different listeners. When someone doesn't like a song that I composed, sang and/or produced, I don't take it personally anymore. Trust me, I have heard people criticising or not even paying the slightest attention to a Tupac song that I thought was the best hip hop song in the world. Now, if someone doesn't honestly feel the legendary Tupac, or a song that I thought was one of his best, who am I to boil with rage when someone doesn't feel my song? This is too much ego and it's poisonous. It can destroy the very art we try to create. When someone criticises your song, they are saying to you, "You might want to consider this before going out there with this product." What is so wrong with considering something? If you feel the person is wrong, don't take it personally, don't argue and don't attack. Just go with the opinions of the nine others, or at least one of them. If you want praise, just play the song and hallucinate in self-praise. Only the market can judge you. If the people love you out there, there is no need for you to go pretending you are looking for an "honest" opinion when you are in fact looking for a fan. Lamentably, this is the same story you come across when dealing with fine artists, crafters, journalists, dancers, athletes, bakers, love-makers, etc. We human beings just don't want to be told anything, unless it's good to our ears. However, I feel it is fair that sometimes we should tell people what they need to hear, when it really matters.

I'm sure I have stepped on a lot of egos with this post, but I don't care because I'm still also going to approach people for their "honest" opinion about my music. And I swear to you, I will do that with my heart hoping that I get some serious praise. Mine is not to frown when someone points out that tiny room of improvement. Criticism in general is hard to stomach, but we must treat constructive criticism like bitter medicine aimed at treating an ailment. We must grin and bear it. We must be brave enough to suffer three constructive criticism opinions than to suffer the embarrassment of being told to quit music and look for a job. Like it or not, a thousand plus critics await your music out there. What are you going to do when they rubbish you in the open just because you refused to listen to advice in private. This is the sorry story we see of families banding together in support of someone who believes they will be the next Idol when in fact that person can't sing to save his or her life. We need to be honest enough with ourselves to take some criticism. Remember, criticism is not meant to stop us, but meant to highlight areas where we can become better. As an author, I have received some constructive criticism from some of my friends who read 12 Types of People to Love. It was hard taking the criticism but as time went along, with many others showering me with praise, I have seen that I can use some of the criticism to my advantage in my next offering. I can't change some of the unnecessary parts in the book now, but I sure can do better next time. English author Neil Gaiman once wrote, "I suspect that most authors don't really want criticism, not even constructive criticism. They want straight-out, unabashed, unashamed, fulsome, informed, naked praise, arriving by the shipload every fifteen minutes or so." The same can be said about The MASS.

Sadly, criticism is a controversial topic. Inspiration speaker and author H. Norman Wright once argued, "Is constructive criticism really constructive? Not really. You can't make a child better by pointing out what you think is wrong with him or her. Criticism either crushes spirit or elicits defensiveness. Constructive criticism is an interesting combination of words. 'Construct' means 'to build.' 'Criticism' means 'to tear down.' It creates defiance and anger as well." As much as I agree with him to an extent, as an author and a musician and stupid singer myself, I have to also caution against following that line of thinking. If your friend is building a beautiful mansion in a water-logged area, would you be fair to only celebrate the beauty of their house when you can see that it won't stand for long? One of our own South African products, Unarine Ramaru, a journalist and graphic designer had this to say about criticism: "Choose criticism wisely, it might help you improve some elements of what you do."

It's up to you? Are you looking for an "honest" opinion or are you looking for praise? Be clear what is it that you want; you can save all of us the ego madness.

Wagago
Kgoshii Lerabela


No comments:

Post a Comment