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Monday, February 22, 2010

showing of face briefly explained

super tired right now but here goes:

why have i started showing my face more?
the answer is simple really. Though I originally intended to continue to perform without having to reveal my identity entirely, I have apparently changed my mind. But why?

A few people whose opinions are of great value to me have, over the years, encouraged me to overcome my, I guess, shyness and allow the people who are influenced and/or believe in me to see what I look like.
I was never really shy though. Perhaps paranoid? Or perhaps it is my ongoing seemingly subconscious desire to remain detached which probably explains my lack of songs with what I deem to be too much emotion. ? When I think about it though, there's probably no such thing as having 'too much emotion' in music, but rather, it is up to the individual artist or artists and how they want to represent..
Though I still believe that true artistry doesn't necessarily require one to reveal their identity, I also can realize that as a 'rapper' or musician at that, your look contributes greatly to uniqueness.
Even if your look is animated. (see Gorillaz)

I now know the importance of actually being seen especially living here in the Los Angeles county where networking is apparently everything. It was by showing my face that Big Sean knew who I was when I met him out in Hollywood at the Roxy. Then again, it was without showing my face that Lupe Fiasco knew who I was. The whole idea can be viewed as advantageous or as a horrible disadvantage but more than likely, in the entertainment business especially, the former seems more the case than the latter.

As some may have noticed, though, there aren't too many pictures of me floating around the net and hopefully I will learn to be able to accept the importance of that too. I just don't like the idea for some reason. Like, if you enjoy my music, what does it matter how I look like? Perhaps if I were Vega or something (narcissistic) maybe I would thrive off of being seen.
I find it especially sad and disturbing when some of these rappers, specifically those who are unsigned and have yet to join either Ascap or BMI amongst other things, take numerous pictures of themselves and post them on their blog or whatever with ridiculously cheesy subtitles like "so fly" and just dumb stuff like that. no offense. i just think it's weak sauce.

I think that pictures should be taken with a purpose. Take Kid Cudi for example. I don't know if you seen his recent Calvin Klein pictures but I think that those pictures are significant in that he is actually modeling for a company and what have you. Please, don't confuse what I just said as being synonymous with a comment like "Dang, I think he look good with his shirt off" because it's not even like that. chill out.
It's more like, some people who are not modeling for a company or for a cause other than narcissism will take those same exact pictures just because and as a musician, not an aspiring model, I don't see too much importance in doing such things. At the same time, I don't knock anybody for their decisions. Everyone is different and have their different beliefs and I respect those...for the most part.

I know it's long winded but I tried to somewhat fully explain my decision.



--------

Today was the first day of film school. It was great. One of the instructors told us that if we happen to work on a set with James Cameron and our cell phone were to go off, he's known to not only take your cell phone away but to drill a screw through the phone through a wall of shame despite how expensive your phone may be because a single scene can, at times, run up in the hundreds of thousands.
During the course there were other more advanced students recording the lecture with the professional microphones that they extend from this pedestal thingy and they wore these headphones that were somehow connected to the sound board and to these little devices attached to the hips of each speaker. There was even marker and before each 'scene' of class the person would say something like 'scene two take one action'.
So much information in one day and right now i'm exhausted. got lost on the way home and ended up at LMU right across from the beach which was just surprising to see pop up outta nowhere. I didn't even know I drove to the ocean. Foolish.

ummm what else.

homework already. something about dissecting the actual screenplay of The Bourne Supremacy but I plan to do that tomorrow or something. excuse me for being too detailed. it's just in my nature at times annnnnnnd yeah...

anyways, i'll keep you updated with new music information. REAL DEAL.

11 comments:

BibbleFoshizzle said...

Do it big Turbo!!! You always keepin the Scramble alive mannnnnnnn!!!!!

DisKisM said...

I dig it. Film school sounds cool man. Get it!

Koran said...

That explanation is understandable. I remember seeing all those people on myspace with glitter graphics and bad photoshop trying to act like they're famous and getting annoyed by it. So yeah anyway... Film School sounds tough, whatever happened to just bringing a tape recorder or something?

Intellect Gang said...

Definitely feel you on the concept of narcissism, though I personally didn't pin you as falling to any such thing when you revealed your physical identity. I was thrown off the first time I saw your face in a video because for a couple of years now your anonymity served in my eyes, as its own unique identity. From a fan's standpoint, I believe that image contributes both positively and negatively to an artists' iconic and/or commercial popularity, though I held extra respect for you because you chose to atypically create a façade for your material in which most cases, an artist’s own face is the preferred source for such. This doesn’t imply, however, that your credibility is any less esteemed now that your physical identity has been exposed- your scramble has remained honest since our first glimpse of your face and frankly, the only thing spoiled in this uncovering was my personal curiosity.

Best of luck in film school!
One love,

Nick said...

That sounds like a great experience. I do a little bit of film at the club at my university, but I never had the balls to dedicate myself to film school. I wish you luck and hope you come out with what you're looking for when it's all said and done.

PlatinumAssassin said...

Good luck with the class and future assignments, T. I used to take a buncha classes for screen writing as it was something I wanted to do. Keep up the scramble.

dena.DUHH said...

I always wondered about you showing your face too, so it's nice to hear the explanation. And film school sounds like a pretty amazing experience...good luck.

soupasoup said...

im glad your moving forward with your film school and doing what you love man. film school also sounds dope. keep doing your thing man.

Anonymous said...

lu is my nigga, i asked him if he knew you. guess what he said.

Anonymous said...

whatd he say?

Anonymous said...

Tony. Dungy. LOL!
-Cinque