TITLE: The Invisible Filter That Deletes Great Art Before Anyone Sees It
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG3so9skNow

Some creators make mediocre work and become immortal. Others make incredible work and disappear. Talent is not the difference. Storytelling is not even the difference. There's something underneath both. >> It's one thing, but honestly it's I think timing and momentum is more important than talent. And the energy of it. Like talent, there's a lot of people with talent. And we're seeing that now. Like there's so many dope people on the internet like that are just raw, but it's your timing is what you're talking about. It's if you're catching the zeitgeist of what's happening in the in the world. And like my goal is I want to connect. >> I work with creators all the time. Some of them think quality guarantees attention, but history is full of people that were talented that nobody remembers. Visibility is not about quality. The world has to be ready for your work. Timing matters. Narrative and storytelling are not the same thing. >> You know, I feel like I've always thought about recording not in terms of production, but in terms of vision. >> Yeah. >> So, it's about the story. And uh every album that I've ever made has the story. It's the underlying narrative. It's a mythology and it drives the process. And sometimes that calls for different things. >> Story equals what happened. Narrative equals what does it mean? And zeitgeist equals cultural mood, atmosphere. I like to call it the paper plane analogy. >> [music] >> Story is the paper. Some paper holds up better than other paper. Narrative is how you fold the paper. How well it flies is impacted [music] by how you shape it. That's narrative. Zeitgeist is the air, the atmosphere. It's the cultural mood. It's the collective conscious. Zeitgeist is a living and breathing thing. How well the air flows determines how far the plane goes. Events impact the zeitgeist. >> An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times. I think that is true of of of painters, sculptors, poets, musicians. I I mean as far as I'm concerned, it's their choice. But I choose to reflect the times and the situations in which I find myself. That to me is my duty. >> The time that you throw the plane into the zeitgeist, into the air, how much force you use when you throw the plane, all that matters. When you take a story and you put it into the zeitgeist by telling the story, if it doesn't have an impact, it could be that the narrative is not connecting with the cultural mood. Maybe it's not windy enough to fly the plane. Timing matters. If you're creating and strangers are not connecting with what you create, then you could be missing one of these or misunderstanding one of these steps. >> Cuz there's so much you can do, right? Which is annoying. Like, if you think about it, because I want to live my life, right? That's number one on my list of priorities, right? Like, tied with music, but like living my life, right? So, like, when every day I could Snapchat, I could Instagram, I could be doing all of these things, and then like not only that, then you have to shape it in a way that makes the narrative make sense for who you want to portray yourself as because just being a human being is not enough because it doesn't tell enough of a story. >> Zendaya almost had the Disney curse where people will forever remember her as a child on TV. Then she stars in Euphoria. Months later, the show Euphoria runs into the 2020 pandemic. Everything her character represented, kids were dealing with during the pandemic. It was already in the zeitgeist. The air was flowing. The atmosphere was perfect. This is what happens when story, narrative, and zeitgeist align. It was the perfect timing. When Marvin Gaye said, "What's going on?" he asked a question to the world and the world responded. He spoke to the moment. It was the right time. What question are you asking? Are there too many of you asking the same question? Why is the story important? Story is important because it stays in your brain longer than fragments of information. It's essentially how we remember. It eliminates the audience having to put the story together, which makes it easier for them to remember. >> You write from the left to the right. Right? >> Oh, no. >> I I know. >> [laughter] >> It's only right that I only write with only rights. Time I left behind my back fight you with only rights. You still get left behind my back cuz I don't just write my flows and pedestrians. You see how you get left, right? We'll take a southpaw. He write with his left, right? We'll write or left, we all read from the left, right? So I just laugh when MCs say, "Let's write." I say, "I'd rather left." They say, "Is that right?" That had nothing to do with anything. But >> But it [clears throat] but it it has everything to do with everything. >> But so the whole left right thing is is a mechanical right um expression that actually records. So this is our version of scanning. So I also realized that when you when you write something, you don't we're not very mechanical in the way of like we'll say, "Johnny went to the store to get an apple." Then we'll continue from after apple and that's not how we write. >> [music] >> We'll go, "Johnny went to the store to get an apple." And then we'll go back to the beginning in our minds and we'll say, "Johnny went to the store to get an apple, but they didn't have any." And we'll write that, but we scan So every time you scan it you're scanning it in and you don't even know it. I was able to recall the whole rap because in order to write it down, it's called scribing. Right? Writing is scribing. So you're making an impression. Right? You're making an impression. [music] And that impression is forever scribed into your mind. You know what I'm saying? What what's your favorite color? >> Orange. >> Where was that at before I asked you? Don't even worry about it. That's the type of I'm talking about, right? It's forever there, but [music] because that's so simple My favorite color is orange too, by the way. >> Oh, really? That's dope. >> Yeah. And so because that's there, but it's some but you didn't you didn't have to put it Oh, I'mma put it here consciously, but when you needed to recall it, you could recall it. You could do If you could do that with orange and you could do that with anything that ever took place in your entire life. >> Your brain treats stories like lived experiences, even if it wasn't your life that the story was talking about. Narratives activate visual and motor regions of [music] your brain. Plot structure is a lot easier to remember than scrambled fragments of facts. Storytelling is important because it's how we remember and it's how we're remembered. >> An example is how we appreciate a piece of music. We don't just hear one note at a time that replaces the previous note because that's gone and it's in our past. No, we experience music as a as a continuum. And the way we do this is through what's called episodic memories. We are storing memories of events in our brain that are then stitched together in a continuum so that it's not just the present moment note that we are conscious of. We're conscious of some finite time in the past weaved together to give us the music that we appreciate. Added to that the fact that we anticipate where the music is going in the future even though we haven't heard it yet. Uh and so what we regard as the present now is really an extended period of time that relies on past events that are still stored in our memory that we have access to. >> Why do certain people become symbolic? The material products that we use to create have a story of their own. How we use the materials creates a story also. Jay-Z doesn't write his raps. Everything comes from his mind. That's what legend says. Legend says the same thing about Biggie. Didn't write his raps. Would go to sleep and wake up with the whole song. That's the story. The narrative is that it makes them better. Better than other rappers. More legendary. Jimi Hendrix plays the guitar upside down. He's left-handed. He plays a right-handed guitar. So he must play it upside down. That's the story. If he can play a guitar upside down and still play better than people who play it the right way, he must be legendary. That's the narrative. These things become part of a narrative that builds legendary status. They're all fragments and over time people infuse it into a story and create a narrative. Musical styles have stories of their own. When you infuse different styles into your style, you bring those stories with you from the past. You bring along fragments of history. Amy Winehouse singing [snorts] R&B, infusing jazz, even how she looked visually, she brought that time period with her. It all created one story. It added to the narrative. Even if you just create for fun, story still matters. And it's because internal narratives shape identity and shapes your memory. >> So, there's a wonderful little trick you can use with your narrative. Right? Just add the word yet at the end. Okay? I'll never get I'm not famous yet. I'm not that talented yet. I'm so bad I'm not good at auditions. Like I need to get better at it. Like I suck at auditions for now. Right? You can just add a couple of words of hope or opportunity or the potential for future or some sort of infinite component that will profoundly change your narrative. >> How you speak to yourself, the stories you tell yourself matter. >> If Barack Obama came here today, President Barack Obama stepped in today, had a piece of paper in his hand and just left it up here like this and walked out. Everybody would try to get that piece of paper. Why? Why is his Why does the does the paper go up in the No, it's the person holding the paper. You believe in their value. Yeah. And why do you believe it? Cuz they told a story. A story, not the truth, not their biography, they told a story about themselves, which gave them value. When they touch anything now, it has value. >> If you're a fashion designer and you work with denim, that automatically connects you to the gold rush. If you wanted to, the gold rush becomes part of your story and it's a way of dialoguing and kind of using nostalgia as a tool. In the same way, many times an album becomes a soundtrack of a moment in your life. You'll see a photo from a party and you'll remember the song by looking at a photo. Even if the story's not true, all those things connect. It's forever connected to that memory. Sports has done a great job at shaping narrative and overall storytelling. Even when someone's not interested in a sport or even when someone's not knowledgeable about a sport, they can still hold on to a narrative. >> What are your thoughts? >> Uh I seen a video on Instagram this morning. I was so happy. I like the story, so I'm riding with him. >> It is my favorite story here too as well. Mark Glatt, the trainer there. He's worked his entire career to try to get a a horse into the Derby. He finally does so after decades of trying, but unfortunately his wife passed away >> Yeah. >> heart failure just 2 months ago and he's in this very unique moment juxtaposition of emotion. >> Story shapes memory. Narrative shapes meaning. Zeitgeist shapes reach and timing shapes impact. Storytelling is most important because it's how we remember and it's how we're remembered. If you want to support the channel, there's a donation link in the description or you can become a member. I can make you look, but I can't make you see. Seeing is a choice. This is Brian from The King's Hand. If you like the video, please subscribe. Make sure you hit the notification bell. >> The appointed hand of the king. >> [music] >> Ooh.