Relatability

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I just saw this video today.

But it was launched twelve days ago on Kamala Harris's YouTube channel.

But it's also on Facebook and Stereogum and "Billboard"...

But it was only when Jake texted this to me that I found out about it.

Today your work is a time bomb. Do not expect instant knowledge and acceptance. People have too much else going on, too much input. And in order to really spread, you need a friend to tell you about it, otherwise it seems like hype.

But nobody likes this so nobody admits this.

The labels and the media like us to believe the entire world is waiting for the new work of Sabrina Carpenter or Post Malone or Taylor Swift when the truth is very few are. I'm not saying their audiences are insignificant, just that they do not cover everybody. We no longer live in a monoculture and the purveyors refuse to acknowledge this, because it's too confusing, and illustrates their lack of power.

So you've got to make something so good that people want to tell others about it.

Sure, you can try and short cut the process, by stunting. But the problem with a stunt, when you try and gain instant virality, is when it fails, it fails completely. Secondly, most people can tell when you're trying artificially for virality, and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth, meaning further down the line, even if you release something good, they won't spread the word about it, they're no longer on your team, they're out.

So there are two streams, the obvious and the good. Sometimes they intersect, but most times they do not.

Kill someone and it will be in the news for half a day.

Create a great track and it could literally take years to break, but it's waiting there, to be spread, each and every day of the year.

This is the opposite of the terrestrial radio paradigm. Where either it's a hit or a stiff. On or gone. Then again, tracks take ever longer to get on the radio chart, illustrating this long process of knowledge and acceptance.

But the bottom line is to grow beyond a hit into a career, people have to like you, you have to have credibility.

When Tim Walz talks about 8-tracks in his vehicles... You know that guy. He may not live for music, but he's been to shows, he's got the same bedrock references. Believe me, Springsteen and Seger were bigger in their era than anybody on the hit parade today. We were all working on our night moves, trying to lose those awkward teenage blues, with autumn now closing in.

When Kamala acknowledges Walz, says "okay," it doesn't ring wholly true. But when she starts to testify...it's from the heart, with knowledge. She's not pandering, SHE KNOWS!

And that makes all the difference. It's one thing to know a hit, it's quite another to know the oeuvre, to have context. This is what delivers relatability.

This is why Trump is f*cked, he lacks relatability. And his lies detract from any credibility he may have once had, if ever.

That does not mean no one will vote for him, that just means the landscape has changed in eight years.

Eight years ago there was not as much in the landscape. Stars meant more than they do today. I saw online that Jimmy Fallon, Jon Hamm and Bradley Cooper were partying in the Hamptons. WHO CARES?

Gossip has been devalued. It's everywhere and means less. So you were here or there, what does that have to do with ME? Today it's all about the individual, who is a star of his own movie, who is leaving bread crumbs online. As for movie stars... We know they're many times married, far from intellectual, they can't even open a film anymore. Exactly why do we adore them? Should we adore them? Less than ever before.

And the musicians... Your songs were not written by you, you're hawking perfume, what does that have to do with me and my identity, you're just a poor imitation of a Kardashian, and no one in that family has ANY credibility. Sure, money, but money is not everything. Especially in this world of income inequality. You may not be rich, but you can troll anybody online, you can have impact on social media platforms.

But this almost never has anything to do with art.

Now if you try and fake the game people can tell. Harris knows Too Short from a few bars in this video: https://rb.gy/e8z61s You either know it or you don't.

So these clips are akin to Bill Clinton playing the sax on Arsenio. But back in 1992 Arsenio reached millions, and there were so few outlets available. The big was bigger.

Today you have to start small. Be everywhere and hope to grow.

But you only grow with authenticity.

There is train-wreck value, but it's got a very short shelf life. And in today's world you can be known by many today and still be broke tomorrow.

So Trump keeps playing the anti role, but Hillary Clinton is not running, the game has changed, there's a new duo in town. The only way to compete is to grow from the bottom up yourself. But Trump doesn't know how to do this, being born on third base. He thinks you can start at the top and stay there, fearful of losing his perch all the while, which is why he keeps talking about crowd size and ratings.

He cares, most people do not. Either they were there or not. All this hype about "biggest" is for the media, not the people.

And to succeed today, you've got to be for the people.


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