The way I work is not the way that you work, and the whole point of any creative act is that. What I have to offer is me, what you have to offer is you, and if you offer yourself with authenticity and generosity I will be moved.
Success will be when I can have a real swimming pool instead of the fifty-dollar one I buy at Kmart every year. But I don't want to get robbed of any authenticity to try and make money.
Not to say people shouldn't get rich from art. I adore the alchemy wherein artists who cast a complex spell make rich people give them their money. (Just writing it makes me cackle.) But too many artists have been making money without magic.
I'm against government giving money to artists, but I'm not against artists taking money. Just like I don't have a moral problem with people taking healthcare from the government, but I don't think government should give it.
My mom was real into like a lot of different musical artists, real artists, even back when Jay-Z and Beyonce was together.
What happened with reggaeton is that many artists kept recycling the same sound. But there are a lot of reggaeton artists that are still in their prime - like Daddy Yankee - because they've chosen to continue growing, to offer people more than just reggaeton. That's where I learned to always be able to try something new and not be afraid.
Everybody's story of getting into the industry is just as difficult as the next person. Whether you come from money or no money, it's not easy... you have to offer yourself; you can't expect someone to get you.
There's this thing about authenticity when you rap, right? Whether or not it's real, it has to feel real.
Real artists free of the tedium of money can use, now, all of society as an idea factory.
Authenticity is a virtue. But just as you can have too little authenticity, you can also have too much.
I am trying my best to stay above the water. Right now ACID does not only offer animation. I offer real life productions as well and also compositing (animation composited into real life video)
You can get money and make a really cheap movie. You can, from independent financers who are just giving you money to support artists. This is what was happening in the '90s, and I was very fortunate to be a part of that.
Before the money or anything, number one, it was just to put out real music, real stuff with a passion, real art.
I've been buying real estate because it's an asset I can control, that I could finance extremely cheaply if I chose to. I do not choose to; I buy my real estate in cash. I'm not interested in making money on it. I just want to keep my money safe.
I think that the intentions are genuine in the search for authenticity, but it can tip over into absurdity so quickly. I just start to wonder, like, what authenticity even is, and whether we can even start to define it in such a globalized world.