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Today we’re discussing is it creativity or is it just content?
Ever since I became a Twenty One Pilots fan, my outlook on creativity has never been the same. I look at things (product, music, brand, service, etc..) and wonder is this passionate creativity or content. To put things in perspective, in case you don’t know, twenty pilots have whole lore that connects multiple of their albums and songs. The lore in a nutshell revolves around DEMA and the bishops and the main character Clancy trying to escape. (Of course, it’s more and I recommend reading the below by u/Topismyname on Reddit if you’re interested in getting the 101 crash class on the TOP Lore) here
So basically every song and album with TOP isn’t just a simple album to listen to, there are clues, media pictures as easter eggs, and new additions to the Lore unraveling here and there throughout the music and everything else dropping with it, even music videos and interviews. Now as far as my modest knowledge goes, I haven’t heard of a band that’s doing this in our current times, other than probably BTS. Now I’m sure there must’ve been many of them years back but I’d assume the lore is unraveled and understood by now, whereas with BTS and TOP it’s ongoing. I say that given that I’m not a BTS Fan, nothing against them, just an observer.
What I keep coming back to is if you look at other musicians you either see the passion in their lyrics or recycling of what’s working in that time period for other musicians. An example of our times is viral sounds such as “skrrr” or songs with simple dances for “TikTok” or poppy beats. Some of you hear after each other you’d assume they’re the same artist or song but it’s not. If that’s what the artist wants (exposure) then by all means well done, but it has an overlooked side, maybe ones even artists don’t find out about till years later after those initial years and releases.
Russ (a rapper and musician) has a clever few lines about this in his song “Exposed”
“So the song became bigger than the artist
People know the song but they don’t know the artist
Not enough songs to become their favorite artist
Not enough songs to be a headline artist”
Russ, Song “Exposed”
So I sit and wonder whether TOP don’t or didn’t look at what’s working, or they actively chose to do their own thing regardless (which I’d assume is the case). It seems that TOP writes and creates what they’ve been envisioning and wanted to put out there, despite what’s considered successful in the current times. It seems trivial when your read it or think it out loud as everyone says, “yeah of course do what you want, not what others see right” however when it comes down to work and even creative work we look at “mentors” and “advisors” and get bombarded with “this is not how things are done, or this is not professional” which leads a lot of professionals and artists alike to steer the common path and even when they do things that are seen as not the usual norm they’d mention it as a “here and there trials along the journey” not as the art or journey or work itself. I love how TOP sing about it in the “Lane Boy” song, part of the blurry face album which was their first mainstream success. (As in you’d turn on the car radio and hear a song by them, whereas they’ve had a loyal fanbase before that)
“Regardless, all these songs I’m hearing are so heartless
Don’t trust a perfect person and don’t trust a song that’s flawless, honest
There’s a few songs on this record that feel common
I’m in constant confrontation with what I want and what is poppin’
In the industry it seems to me that singles on the radio are currency
My creativity’s only free when I’m playing shows
They say, “stay in your lane, boy, lane, boy”
But we go where we want to”
Twenty One Pilots, Song “Lane Boy”
So whenever there’s a discussion about “oh look how creative this thing was done by that person is” I pause and think “is it?” Perhaps creativity is used too often and for everything that it has lost its ability to portray the freshness and wow effect we encounter.
Perhaps these small changes in things are creative and the big ground-shaking ones are rather innovative. This is not to bash anyone doing creative or small changes to things or music or whatever field no. This is to draw light on the possibility that you can and maybe even should produce things you’re driven to even if they’re not out there and excepted or have a track record of working.
The same thought process hit me when Adele was talking about her new album in an interview and how “if everyone’s making music for the TikTok, who’s making the music for my generation?” (interview snippet link below)
A very simple example so I don’t keep mumbling, if you want to write a blog there’s thousands of advice out there such as “keep it medium length”, “don’t do short posts, who do you think you are? Seth Godin? only he can do that cause he started with longer posts and now has a fan base” “cater to each platform if it’s medium write about self-help if it’s FB write about what’s trending if it’s WordPress write about funny everyday life things” and it goes on and on and on. Whether it’s writing, music, dance, work advice, school, uni, social media marketing, youtube, TikTok, and more there seems to be a standard advice CD that gets played to every new joiner.
It’s possible that you try and ignore it, but as a newbie, you wonder are you making a mistake? You wonder is there merit in the advice?
I guess now maybe this question will help both of us “are we creating the lore we’ve been so passionate about and driven by, or are we just pushing out another song?”
Let me know what you thought in the comments and which artist or creator gets you going “wow”? As I love to hear about this stuff! Don’t forget to follow “@weekendcoffeechats” on Instagram to get notified when a new post drops. Till Next time 🙂 !
Disclaimer: None of this information is to be used as advice, it’s just for entertainment purposes. Additionally, all information used is publicly available.
References:
Adele interview snippet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phLUSQtsGRA&ab_channel=EntertainmentTonight
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