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What a lovely story, Stephan 🖤 I wonder how many of us stop doing things in our teenage years because of this -> What good is playing when you just don't have talent, right?

Anyway, I don't want to be too pessimistic. I was talking to my best friend yesterday, who is a musician. He has been making music since he was a teenager and never had a big breakthrough. But he said last night that he doesn't care. He still loves it and can't imagine a life without music. We laughed that the older you get, the less you care about people's thoughts. Thank goodness!

Thank you, Stephan, for always taking the time to read and leave a thoughtful comment 🥹 Have a wonderful Sunday!

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Oh, that's another important aspect, but I'd say it's a slightly different case.

Your friend is probably not bad at making music; he just never found commercial success. Those things are often not even remotely connected to each other. Just wanted to point that out.

Have a great Sunday too! Love your posts.

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Exactly! This is precisely what I mean: social media has intensified these pressures. The idea that you are only a good musician, artist and writer if you have commercial success reflects how deeply capitalism runs in our veins. Despite our reluctance to acknowledge it, we often start believing it deep down 😢

By the way, I came across a couple of days ago a book on my Kindle that I bought in February; I think you may like it too https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571363254-where-we-come-from/

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Oh, that sounds great indeed. I was very into grime back in the days. I've basically checked out of UK rap since drill took over though (I've basically checked out of mainstream rap for a good decade by now).

Will look into it, thanks for the recommendation!

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