It is not easy for any one of us, especially if you are an upcoming or emerging artist. You will get a lot of refusals and hear lots of negative stuff. But always remember NO is just a word NEVER allow it to mess with your mind, make your resolve wane or ruin your day.

Sometimes NO also means what you are pursuing isn’t yours or it isn’t your right time yet. It also can be your stepping stone to motivate you to reach further or hustle harder. But if you allow it to affect your productivity or progress you have given in and allowed others to determine your life/destiny. In the Bible, Jabez was given a cursed name but he didn’t allow it to hold him down; instead, it served as a catalyst to propel him to change his life and life path.

As an artist, you have to constantly seek ways to engage your fans & prospective fans. The sky is wide/big enough to contain all birds big or small the same way we all have our niches. Once you find your target market/niche you will begin to make more impact and see more results.

Everybody has something to offer, we can’t all be Kings/Queens or winners. If that happens then nobody will be the gate man or the barber or the garbage man. All the fingers on our hands are important and have their purpose and what they do, but you will not realize it until you lose a finger or some fingers.

As an artist, stay in your lane and do everything within your power to push and promote yourself. Nobody can promote/hype you the same way you can yourself. Do whatever is positive to bring attention to yourself and your career/craft. You can’t just wake up on social media ONLY when you’re releasing music.

Fan growth can be achieved via social media but not if you’re constantly pushing just your music⁠ on your platform. Instead, create content and find a theme(s) that is fitting to your personality, target audience, and objectives. It’s good to find ways to infuse your music in any content you create or to push the narrative to suit you but too much of this then you risk boring your fans and/or prospective fans. You also stand the risk of the content becoming predictable and monotonous so much so that you start losing followers and fans too.

As an artist, always have a plan, a long-term plan because sometimes a year will turn 5 and you are still an upcoming act. Whatever you do should be a reflection of your musical career and where you aim to be in 2/5years. You should always have in mind that branding is everything in entertainment and showbiz. So everything you do should be a mirror of your brand. How you see/treat yourself is how people will tend to see or treat you.

Most artists make the mistake of assuming that once you release your music or have made plans for the promotion of your music you are good to go (ask any established artist you know how they strategize & plan every release even when they call it a freestyle). Some artists will fold their hands & wait for the label/PR/media person to do all the work for them.

Some assume that the universe or God will miraculously or magically make everything align and work in their favour. If you don’t put in the work nobody will put it in for you. You’re your best rep/ambassador so always put your best foot forward at all times. Don’t wait till you blow or get attention before you start putting in the work. Sometimes the work you put in speaks for you even before your music is heard.

So when you put out music, promote it like your life depends on it in any way you can. Post about it in your stories, TikTok, Snapchat IG Reels & all your platforms. Make sure you do whatever you can no matter how little to promote/hype yourself. It’s not about hundreds of people seeing or hearing your work but about the right person, the right ear.

In the final analysis, it takes just one person who hears, likes, or loves your music to change your life. So be intentionally strategic with whatever you post or put up. Do not post other artists’ music or works because you are hoping they will post or promote yours (unless they will actually post yours). Remember nobody came to this world together, even twins that shared the same womb are born separately one after the other. We all came alone and will all die alone.

No established artist wants to stop being in the spotlight or on the A-LIST so what makes you think they want to relinquish their spot for you? So do all you can to push yourself and your music and no matter what anybody tells you, you need finances to be able to promote and push your music so if you have to, get a job or have a side hustle to help tide you over or support you.

Remember, “NO” doesn’t mean it’s over, it simply means you still have work to do and a long way to go. Know your strengths and weaknesses so nobody will use them against you, and never give up on your dreams.