Unconventional Artists: the power of risk
Be great in your own right, on your terms
There is something enticing about the artist who is unafraid of their own choices in their craft, clashing against the artists that came before them and their peers. Unconventional artists made unconventional choices, and in hindsight, we consider them great after they’ve already become successful. Though, when most of these artists started out, they were ignored, scorned, or laughed at. It took a certain level of faith, vision, and unbothered-ness to get them to their greatness.
What is greatness? Greatness is something many attribute to only artists that have made it to the top of their respective industries and have become the gold standard for whatever craft they partake in. Musicians like Michael Jackson, James Brown, Whitney Houston. Writers like Toni Morrison. Dancers like Alvin Ailey. Some define “greatness” in very particular categories:
- Making a substantial amount of money in one’s craft and able to live comfortably from it
- The highest forms of accolades and awards you could receive in the craft
- Fame and popularity // being “known” for what you do
But there is another definition, one that is more impactful on you as an individual than the above type of success. Greatness can be the embodiment of everything you’ve ever wanted to do, and doing it when it has never been done, even in the face of failure and uncertainty. Being unconventional is more of a state of mind then, rather than an actual aesthetic. It’s always seeking newness, in the face of risk and failure to receive great rewards. This is what makes an artist great.
These three things then are possibilities of what could happen when you pursue a craft, but not guaranteed. It seems that artists are unknowingly after something else: creating on their own terms. That means greatness is really inner success: standing up for what you believe in unapologetically, creating what you want, feeling great about yourself, enjoying life in whichever ways you see fit. It’s yours for the taking.
So just as there are some of the greats as the ones mentioned above, there are musicians and visual artists who have acquired more niched success. Artists like Kali Uchis who contrast with mainstream sounds, modern producers like Kaytranada and musical gems like Anderson .Paak that all have their own distinctive artistic stamps on their work, all benefiting from what they’ve created, never sacrificing the one thing – the only thing – they have: their ability to create something that no one can, or won’t. Their conviction to create, even when the world around them is falling apart.
Once they reach external success, their perseverance seems inspirational in hindsight. So why don’t more artists take the risk of trying wild new things for such potential high rewards? Fear. Fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of life itself. So many artists will play it safe to get a foot into the industry by tried-and-true techniques, and will be capped there.
These unconventional artists, however, took many risks to come into the music industry with their own sounds, and now they’ve all benefited greatly. But there isn’t always a monetary gain or fame from art; this is a misconception of greatness. We love to look at the monetary gains of Rihanna but never of her commitment to making music on her terms for many years while sliding further into debt in the beginning. We always see Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer, but never her deep desire to write something she had never read before. Think about this for a second.
What’s the difference between the above group of artists and the second group? Not really much of anything. They were unconventional in their approach to their respective industries, while some transferred into mainstream success and others didn’t. The results are the things we cannot control, but all of these artists discovered some level of external success while presumably maintaining their internal desires. That is the crucial thing.
It is true, though, that being unconventional while getting high levels of external success is still impressive, hence probably why people adore Michael Jackson, but it isn’t the only way to be successful in life. In fact, Toni Morrison didn’t receive any major commercial success until almost seventeen years after her first novel was published. [It was only after seven years since her initial publication that she had began to become recognized as an author.] The author of Moby-Dick didn’t see any commercial or critical success for the literary classic in his lifetime. So then, what is success? It can’t just be those three external factors that you will never be able to fully control.
A Side Note: Getting back into flow
Use alpha waves. Any one on YouTube or Spotify will do. Getting your brain into a state of creativity is probably the easiest thing you can do. Sit and say in one sentence something you would like to accomplish creatively in your next session. Take a deep breath, and follow that breath until you feel like your mind has calmed, where your thoughts feel more quiet and less chaotic. Then proceed to your next creative session while the music is still playing.
We sometimes don’t even realize that our state of mind can directly conflict with the bridge creativity can offer us – between the mundane and logical, and the exciting and emotional. Alpha waves bring us back into this state, coming up with solutions, ideas, and simply letting go.
Often artists like writers will try to edit their piece as they go, and this is detrimental. Focus on writing, then edit later. You can’t edit if there are no words. Same thing with choreographing a dance. You can’t fix something that isn’t there. Alpha waves will calm this desire to jump to the result and bring the creative back down into the process and the flow of creating something, exactly where we need to be.
To not wonder if it’ll ever see the light of day, if it’ll make money, if it’ll be loved. None of this matters. All that matters is if it’s something you deeply would like to create, and how it feels for you to create, but more on this feeling later.
Taking risks and facing our darkness
We must have a willingness to learn, because our alleged failures have much to teach us. When you’re working on a writing piece, for example, you’ll feel tempted to say it’s not good enough as soon as you’ve finished. But don’t stop there, because that assessment will help you. Once you ask the fundamental question: “Why?” Why isn’t it good enough, why did I actually want to write this particular story? That discomfort is what allows for progress.
If we become content with doing the bare minimum and doing things we know will work [because they’ve worked before], then we’re doing a disservice to our craft and to our lives. You must ask why you’re so scared of failure; what do you have to lose? Monetary security is a myth; you could lose that job any day. No accolades make you feel better, as reflected by every “great.” And fame doesn’t last forever. So really, what do you have to lose if you fail in your craft?
The only failure is when you give up, to do something you never wanted to do in the first place, or to simply not have any goal as an artist at all. The goal gives you a trajectory, but rarely will it come to fruition the way we see it. And that’s the brilliance of it, because when we aim for it, we end up with more than we had before, no matter what we do. But first, it starts with taking a risk; it starts with intention. Time to ask “why?” again. Why do you want to be an artist; does it satisfy you? Does it wake you up in the morning?
Ignore people when you’re first starting out. You may get laughed at, or ignored, or scorned for being different. It isn’t until you’ve done what you sought out to do that people catch up. “To be great is to be misunderstood.” That’s another power of striving to be yourself and be different in your own right. Our greatness is already in us, but that doesn’t mean people will see it.
Kali Uchis’ father told her that there were other girls who could sing better and were prettier than her, so how could she ever make it as a singer? She was also kicked out at 17 and was forced to stay in her car, where she wrote the songs to Drunken Babble, a mixtape that got her recognized by Snoop Dogg and Tyler, the Creator. But first it started with having nothing, or using what you had – however you would like to look at it.
To give up fear for risk is to give up the deep ego need for safety. Consider your art as a contribution to the world. This will push you to discover your own unique gifts by giving something to people that hasn’t been done before. This view takes the ego out of it, which is the reason most people play it safe in the first place. Freedom to create what you want involves an incredible risk. Kali had multiple side hustles in the arts before she saved enough and left for L.A., pledging to never work again and make money from art.
This is the level of taking risks I mean. To dive into something unknown for the sake of being able to create. Do what you have to do to survive, hustle where you have to, but don’t make excuses for why you cannot do it. Sacrifice is a requirement to finding your own path to greatness.
“- what I do is a huge risk,” Kali Uchis said. “But life is about risks and if you don’t take risks there’s no point in living. We weren’t put on this earth to live boring, mundane, mediocre lives.” So don’t settle.
Greatness is a feeling
You could win all of the awards and feel like a failure. You could be a local dancer at a community center and feel like you’ve won. Michelle Obama said that failure is a feeling long before it is a result, and I believe this applies to greatness too. That when you feel your own power, you take exactly what you want instead of settling for less. That greatness exists within you long before the world will ever see it.
Think about all of the brilliant work that would’ve never seen the light had an artist wanted to just make money or be famous for their work. [If this is what you want, that’s different]. We would’ve never had Toni Morrison or Kanye. Kali Uchis or Childish Gambino. It took years before they could see any external success, but long before that, they pursued the things they wanted. That’s how you harness your greatness today: by striving to be different in your artistic expression and being unapologetic about it. Unrelenting. Loud.
Final tip
Just do your art, everyday. Writers write, dancers dance, and artists expand. It’s as simple as that.
Photo by Benjamin Raffetseder on Unsplash
