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Forum nameThe Lesson
Topic subjectHow talented do you have to be to pursue a career in the arts?
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=3030077&mesg_id=3030077
3030077, How talented do you have to be to pursue a career in the arts?
Posted by obsidianchrysalis, Sun Feb-07-21 11:03 PM
I was watching the Super Bowl commercial with Drake tonight and was marveling at how well Drake acted in the spot. I had forgotten he came up as an actor before going into music.

Say what you want to say about Drake's music, but it's clear he's a great performer and entertainer.

That made me think of other artists who are extremely talented artists in seemingly every medium they seek to express themselves in.

Queen Latifah, Thought, LL leap into my mind as artists that are talented enough to be working artists in a variety of media. There are plenty of others.

Or think about Hollywood actors that come up in musicals and some even have fledgling music careers.

That made me think of the advice I would offer to my kid if he/she/they asked if music or the arts would be good to pursue.

Granted every working artist isn't a legend or a prodigy. But it sure helps. For every say Dilated Peoples (a good but not wildly popular act) there are thousands of other acts who had some talent but didn't succeed.

Maybe I'm looking at the arts as a career path with skepticism because my parents weren't artists, I didn't know any working artists growing up, and I never really considered the arts as a career. So, maybe I'm overestimating how much talent it takes to make a living.

But I still wonder what I'd tell my kid if their interest in the arts as a career outstripped their talent.

just thinking too much in my middle age.

What would you (or have you) tell your children about working in the arts?