Music has always been a way for artists to express themselves and share their stories with the world.
With music, people can feel others’ real-life situations, whether it be their pains, joys or lifestyles. Most music listeners can relate to their favorite musicians after following them from being one-hit wonders to being household names.
Now, with the help of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, fans are constantly able to get a glimpse into the everyday lives of their favorite artists. Social media brings fans closer to musicians on a personal level.
However, sometimes fans also come across disheartening information. Although musicians can communicate their life experiences with others through a track’s vibes, not all musical artists come up with their own music. Usually there are unseen collaborations between artists and teams of producers who help create their music.
However, music listeners have recently been awakened to the fact that some of the world’s more popular artists don’t create their own music. In fact, they’re barely involved with the music’s creation process.
This past summer, one of this generation’s greater musical artists, Drake, was confronted by fellow artist Meek Mill about not writing his own music. In other words, Drake was accused of having a “ghostwriter” write rhymes for him that he later recreates without giving credit.
I think it’s normal for an artist to have someone write and help them with some of their music. That’s usually how it goes in the music industry: Someone writes a good lyrical song, a producer likes it and passes it to an artist and that artist records it with better sound. Then, the song is sold to a popular artist who remakes it, adding his own twist and calling it his own.
However, there is a big difference between collaboration among artists and having someone else create music that you later recreate and call your own. For some time now, some of the worlds bigger artists, such as Beyoncé, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, have been known to have help from songwriters. These are some of the more famous musical artists the world has seen.
Although they didn’t write all of their music, does this take away from the authenticity of their works? Does it change their artistic integrity?
After this summer, I think it’s safe to say social media answered this question: Twitter completely bashed Meek Mill for attempting to ruin Drake’s career for “allegedly” having a ghostwriter. An artist as big as Drake has to receive some help because of the large amount of music he has released.
Seeking other contributions to his music doesn’t make Drake any less of an artist or downplay his personal contributions to his music. After the Drake-versus-Meek-Mill beef this summer, it doesn’t bother music fans if artists don’t write all their own music.
As long as the finished product sounds nice and creates a positive vibe, fans will be satisfied.
This article originally appeared in the Nov. 18, 2015 print edition of The Echo.
image via bet.com
