I'M GONNA GET REAL WITH Y'ALL FOR A MINUTE
I'm a 33 year old actor/musician from Birmingham, AL. I've been grateful enough to work in the musical theatre industry for the past 6 years, and it's been a blessing to have that pay the bills.
BUT NOW I'M LOOKING TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
I'm sick of pretending to be someone else. I want to be me. Being an actor is great because you get pretend to live life as someone else. In many ways it's cathartic because I can let myself disappear into another person, and for those 2 hours I don't have to deal with my own bullshit. I'll admit: It's extremely satisfying to receive instant gratification from the audience; to have women of all ages wanting you just because you stood on stage and played guitar. It's wild, and if you're not careful, it'll send you down a road of depressing cliches. I completely understand how the "27 Club" came to be.
Having said that: I'm older now. I don't drink or do drugs anymore, and I'm looking for a life that's more meaningful. I want to get paid to be ME. KURT JENKINS, or SKYWAY SPIRIT as I'm known on other parts of the internet.
SO WHAT'S MY MASTER PLAN?
Over the next 2 years I'm going to work my way into the recording industry and become a EDM/HipHop artist who sings, raps and plays guitar solos.
WTF?!
Look at these stats:
- 33 years old
- White
- Politically Centrist (Right-leaning)
- Never released a record on a major label
- ZERO major label connections
- Limited knowledge of current industry techniques.
Uphill battle, right? Maybe, but honestly it's just crazy enough work.
I know that I'm going to get pushback from just about every person in my social sphere. My family, my close friends, my secondary and tertiary friends who'll criticize me on Facebook. Not to mention haters who will inevitably call me a white-privileged old man fuck-boi who has no right to try. I don't give a fuck. EDM/HipHop is the present and the future, so if I want to enter the market this is where I'm going to have to live. Once again,
I DON'T GIVE A FUCK
SO, HOW AM I GONNA PULL THIS OFF?
The main differentiating factor between winners and losers is work. Not just "work," but being a calculated practitioner who's not above taking short term losses in order to restructure their lives for the sake of the long term.
I've been hiding my desire to do this for a while, but it's getting to a point where I can't deny it any longer. If I continue to keep this dream inside, I'm going to have a complete mental breakdown.
I have a hard fucking mountain to climb. I see the dragon at the top guarding a beautiful virgin, sitting on an eon's worth of gold.
It's going to take every gene in my DNA to overcome any FUD I have, but it's worth it 100%.
I'm going to die one day, so what other choice do I have?
-kJ