Yes…I am an artist. But in addition to that, yes…I am a FAN of music. I wouldn’t even consider trying to become an artist if my love for music wasn’t there. I still go crazy when I hear someone like Ghostface or Rakim on stage live, rocking out their classic songs. I still enjoy taking the time to listen to albums, giving my undivided attention and reading the liner notes. Even if I wasn’t an artist, I would forever be a fan of music that feeds the soul.
So for me, as an artist, when a fan of mine tells me that they love my work and appreciate what I do, I NEVER take that lightly. Just because I’m an artist, but not a mainstream pop star, doesn’t negate the fact that some of my fans are extremely genuine in their support for me. When my album “The Streetwise LP” was released, I signed every single poster and some fans contacted me back and were amazed to see that I took time to sign the poster or a CD. Those “little things” that you, as an artist, may take for granted could mean EVERYTHING to a fan. As I said earlier, I am the exact same way when it comes to artists that I love listening to.
There are some artists that are on Twitter or Facebook, and I’m amazed to see just how crazy they talk to their fans. I remember one instance where a pretty popular hip hop artist had to leave a show unexpectedly and either performed for a very short time, or didn’t perform at all (I forget what it was). But as fans went on Twitter to tell the artist just how frustrated they were (simply because they REALLY wanted to see one of their favorite artists rock the show), the artist got extremely defensive and started talking sideways to most of the fans! I’m like WOW…How do you think that’s COOL to do?!?!?? Regardless of the circumstances that caused you to change your set and not perform as scheduled, you have to always show some compassion and empathy towards your fans!!! I didn’t see one tweet that said anything in the realm of “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to rock for yall” or “I feel the same way yall do” or something like that…I think his fans would have taken that a lot better than the responses he was giving.
I don’t care if I remain an underground artist with a buzz or a platinum seller, the fans are EVERYTHING to me…period. The ONLY issue I would ever have is if a fan would try to cause me physical harm. As a man, I will defend myself, of course. But even that type of confrontation, in my opinion, wouldn’t come from a REAL fan anyway…so I don’t expect that to happen. And I’m fully aware how some so called fans will try to talk and instigate a negative response from an artist. But again, those types of people aren’t really part of your true fan base…so I’m not really talking about them.
So artists…as you continue your grind to build your fan base, don’t ever forget that fans support you because they admire you in some way. You just can’t talk any kind of way to your fans, or ANYONE for that matter. Maybe it’s the internet that’s causing this…The “tough guy behind the computer” syndrome…lol I don’t know. And to that artist on Twitter that chooses to disrespect his fans for no viable reason…There are PLENTY of artists (me included) waiting in line that would be happy to take your place.
About the author:
Edgar Allen Floe is an award-winning hip hop artist from North Carolina. He created eafloe.com to not only showcase his catalog of music, but also provide insight on a variety of topics to help motivate people to excel. Follow him on Twitter @eafloe.