No wo(man) is an island. We admire those that have fought their way from the bottom into a more comfortable space. But no one is actually self made. Help comes in many forms. We are all standing on the shoulders of giants. Those that came before us and paved the road with their blood, sweat and hard work so we'd have a smoother ride.

Being a creative/entrepreneur is a 24/7/365 painstaking process of making mistakes, learning, researching, planning, executing, taking losses and counting your blessings when you win. Doing it alone would mean to wear all the hats and, though not impossible, is a move many of us literally cannot afford to make. We need a team. Not just a crew of rappers that all do the same thing and can't figure out why they aren't progressing. A team of creatives where each person has a different skill set that contributes to the advancement of the individual as well as the whole.

I've seen and experienced first hand the difference a team can make in ones career. From photographers/videographers that give you impeccable visuals, engineers for those quality records, producers that can help shape your sound, stylist for the fresh look, marketing strategists that implement plans to promote music, merch, shows, etc. and so on. These are the people that help shape you as an artist and create your content. This can be the difference between achieving ones goal and failure.

So dear artist, if you have these people on your team, or you employ them when needed, make sure you appreciate them. Shout them out, tag them in work that they've done for you and for the love of God, don't use the IG filter on their work.