so public high school huh
I graduated from one also so who here
wants to be an artist raise your hand
okay we’ve got a lot of you what about
the principal I want to go this bag
wants to keep me in the principal
alright so how to make it as an artist
well it’s not easy in New York City if
you’ve seen the recent rent prices here
what is it like in 50 million dollars
for a studio now painted this hand
Russia the mural so basically where my
art is is that me and my wife we travel
the world and paint peace and love
murals because the more money we spend
then the less money we have to pay in
so we just keep traveling traveling you
know IRS is like hey you have any money
and my main phrase uh well I’ve read the
things that people remember the most of
the first thing you saying the last news
you say so I’m going to say to really
make it as an artist a dancer
a painter you know any type of art
architect you know of course everybody
can say yeah you can’t make it as a
singer you can’t make it as this you
can’t make it at that but you only fail
when you give up if you say oh you know
I can’t make it as an artist I can’t I
can’t make it as a dancer my rents not
paid don’t worry by you right not being
paid your landlord probably got another
thousand apartments he’s getting he’s
going to put you down as that artist
living they’re always late with the rent
forever so you’re gonna be on that wage
don’t worry about that if they tell you
you move out when they roll down the
so basically never give up just never
give up if you want to be a artist you
want to be a dancer just keep dancing
you want to be a singer just keep
singing you know sing in the shower sing
on the train on the way to your day job
if you have one just keep singing and
singing and singing people may look you
like you’re crazy you’re singing all day
there was a guy walking down the block
or girl is singing all day yeah you may
you may look a little crazy but what’s
more crazy is if you’re not singing and
you want to sing and you’re just getting
on the train going to some job every day
that you don’t want to be at that that’s
more crazy than just keep on singing you
know if you’re a drummer like this guy
just keep playing those drones until the
police show up and the police shot and
their life is too much noise right and
you know that you can you played the
so basically just never give up and this
is very important this is another very
important one you got to surround
yourself with great people if you
surround yourself with losers trust me
you’re going to be a loser you need to
find some winners out there and hang out
with them
and if you have other artists that you
like you know you can go volunteer with
them you could you could learn something
you know when you when you volunteer
with a successful drummer or musician or
artist or a singer or whatever you’re
going to learn you know you’re going to
learn real world experience you’re going
to learn from from real people who
haven’t made it you know yeah you know
if your family has hundreds of thousands
of dollars to send you to a Harvard or
Yale then you’re going to learn there
also but you know it’s going to cost you
a little bit more and if you don’t have
the money and you’re paying you know you
got it on loan you know when you get out
you’re going to oh I don’t know how much
money yeah whatever interest the bank is
trying to give you you know what I mean
I’m sure some of the teachers here still
have that mortgage from them from those
banks third right there but the bank
stirs is a good though if they’re buying
your artwork then those those are just
the ones that buy an art you know so go
out and get things done basically I left
New York you know as always the artists
in New York I started as a street artist
as a little kid from like seven years
old just looking at the bubbly letters
on the wall colorful pink and blue and I
always I always loved it even like a
little kid so we come home and then just
try to draw them and just just try to
you know basically remake all the art I
saw on the walls it was like early
Street or at the start of New York City
but then in New York you can’t really
have space to make art so I moved to
Miami and then got a huge place because
it was it was
after the crash everything was cheap out
there so I was like I want to make like
40-foot paintings 20-foot panes like I
know nobody is ever going to buy these
are never going to sell who’s going to
buy a 20 foot painting by 5 feet high or
a thei height I took you know a long
time to make and you know who even has
room for that especially in New York but
what story happened is it worked out
because people who were like building
big mansions they’re like as crazy as me
they’re like oh now I need a 25-foot
pain he’s like really rich people’s like
behind my art that’s a hard show I’m in
New York I just basically you know just
filled up the whole gallery we are just
like you know a lot of galleries are
like it would put five paintings up I’m
like no we’ll put like 500 paintings up
so just like you know that’s this that
that’s just the way used to hang my
friends in the old days all right this
is very very important also if you want
to be an artist you got to look like a
artist just looking artist just looking
like a artist will get you things you
know like you walk into a place with
pink hair and graffiti all over your
jacket like you have to show them your
artwork together always gonna be like
yeah yeah we’re going to give you a show
right now
hang him right up on the wall that has
happened so you can ask my wife like I
know I tell a lot of stories that she
write kidding
[Applause]
basically don’t be boring like and it
doesn’t you don’t have to go you know to
the most expensive storm by five hundred
dollar sneakers and you know the latest
the latest out for latest is even better
than that you can you can get a needle a
thread you can go you can buy fabric for
like $3 a yard $5 a yard and you can sew
your own shirts so your own pants make
your own outfit you know because then
you look original it won’t be like
something from H&M where another million
people have it you know and they saw
another million people wearing they’re
like all you know just get away from it
you know anyway
you got I’ve gotten gallery shows just
because just because I had like spiked
up blue hair in Miami the gallery owners
like like yeah we’re gonna give this
kind of show I can’t even have to show
my artwork saying it’s the same with
with music you know people basically
musicians you know like the whole adidas
thing that’s starting to make a Queen’s
you know we run DNC and now it’s like
all over you know this whole this whole
style basically all the style everything
starts in New York and gold goes to rest
of the world but we’re in New York so I
could say that right so basically just
don’t be born be exciting you know
people look to the arts for excitement
for something different you know the
rest of the world they’re at their 9:00
to 5:00 old day they’re bored to hell is
Friday they want to go out they want to
see a good band they want to see a good
singer they want to see a good painting
they want to see something different
they want to see something exciting so
don’t be boring be be exciting even if
you’re a boring person just and pretend
like you’re excited by somebody exciting
all right this is another one you have
to develop your own style like it’s it’s
it’s great to say or I love this artist
I love that artist I love classical or
Ilona
I love whatever I love this type of
singing that type of singing but
eventually you know you can use all the
styles to build up you know your own
encyclopedia inside but eventually
you’ll have to you know develop and this
is like your style where people know oh
that to them you know and that just
takes a lifetime like you could ask the
other artists here who are old like me
and they’ll tell you you know it took
your whole it’s going to take your whole
life you’re not just it’s not going to
just like happen overnight like all
right like you know tomorrow I’m going
to be a rich and famous artist it’s
going to take years and years and years
and years and you’re going to have to do
it every single day there’s no it’s not
9:00 to 5:00 right it’s it’s every day
seven days a week you know that it it’s
not it’s not full time it’s overtime all
the time like every it’s like every
single day especially you know in this
type of business where they’re just
cutting everything you know there’s no
when he was a kid he said it could take
take home the music the instruments and
practice you know when I was when I was
a kid I went to Bryan high school we
were basically on the same street as the
Woodside project there was no art class
like people asked me like did you have
art classes there I was like well we had
graffiti art that was our art class like
I never even knew so I was like went to
college about painting on a canvas to me
it was like you know you get the paint
then you go find a wall you’re paying a
mural you know and you hope like you
don’t get arrested you hope yeah
you know and then like later on I was
like oh wow it’s like this Candice thing
this is like this is much easier I’ll
have to run want the jumped Olympic fly
ball by faster let the fall off a moving
train it’s not as exciting though you
know like I remember like just well I
started young from like seven to like 17
I was doing more of the street arts
though it was a lot of running a lot of
job bearing a lot of climbing and then I
went to college and was in the studio
and I’m like trying to paint with oil
paint like I’m trying to paint all fast
you know and spray paint it dries quick
and then you could put another layer
another layer and then you know a couple
hours on your god you know with oil
paint it’s like I’m looking at the other
students they’re all like painting all
slow I’m like trying to paint all fast
at the oil painting and then I’m like
I’m like why is everybody so calm in
this room and I’m like and I’m like so
nervous and I keep looking behind me I
realize I have like PTSD from street
artists like being all you know and then
the oil painter wasn’t drying like a lot
of artists here you know oil paint it
takes like a couple of weeks to dry and
it just it was like I was like trying to
do a fill-in and then do the outline
like a rounded it wasn’t dry was like I
was it wasn’t for me you know but I just
the part where I could just be more calm
and you know we’re not don’t worry so
much as I used to but but with that you
definitely just want to keep doing your
craft everyday like you have to sing
every day if you live with roommates and
they’re like stop saying like you’ve got
to kick them out and get some new
Mantor like yeah I love that song
alright so this is very very important
to I know a lot of people don’t want to
do sales you know that’s like all
business gotta learn how to sell gotta
you know but if you do have to get a day
job you know to pay your bills while
you’re waiting you know for the show
Friday night that you’re gonna go sing
out or play out or your next art show
get a job doing sales because you may
think oh I’m a singer I’m not going to
have to sell anything yes you are you’re
gonna have to sell yourself every single
day you’re going to have to look the
part you’re going to have to deal with
people and you’re going to have to sell
yourself to them like for them to want
to work with you you’re going to have to
tell them basically what they want to
hear you know you can you know be one of
those you know crazy artists it’s just
like oh I don’t want to tell me what
they want to hear or come up with a
style and then it’s salad and they’ll be
like oh I don’t want to do that style no
more or less than that
and I know a lot of artists with a lot a
lot of talent who are just difficult to
work with and they don’t get anywhere
you know so the conclusion room and it’s
already as hard as not trying to be
ordered so let’s see and this is very
important also because especially in the
music world more there’s a lot of you’ll
see later there’s a lot of politics
let’s call it where you’re trying to do
one thing and the record labels trying
to do another thing you know so they’re
going to try to get you to change what
you’re doing change the style basically
there you’re going to they want to be an
artist so but they’re not they’re like a
business person executive somebody with
money you know what I mean but they’re
going to want to project everything onto
you but you’re trying to keep your art
pure you know and that’s what you wanted
to
they’re going to like try to force you
to change something then don’t do it
because if you look at like early early
rap or hip-hop or graffiti or
breakdancing or street art it was happy
it was positive it was we came from some
of the worst ghettos in the world the
Bronx was burnt down to the ground it
looked like after war – it looked like
it just got bombed by the Nazis or
something and that’s basically where
these art forms came from breakdancing
rap which is they change the hip up now
and graffiti which is Street or now and
all these all these styles are around
the whole world right now you can go to
the end of Asia the end of Russia the
ends of u Europe and you’re going to see
all these styles that started in New
York all this started in New York before
this the stuff was coming out of France
we’re Impressionism but now all this
stuff is coming out of New York and all
the all the art is cut everywhere it’s
like one of the last schools that have
you guys you kid guys and girls you’re
away the last of Mohicans over here so
just if you want to be a sing you want
to be a painter just never give up just
that’s what you have to do you just have
to never give up forget about the rent
forget about the landlord complain and
just just keep doing it you know I mean
just you just got to keep doing another
day what what really made me successful
is at first is like I just got out of
New York because the rents serious are
just too damn high here so if you’re
coming out of high school if you don’t
want to go to college or if you are
going to go to college or if you just
want to become a singer or music you got
to survive basically you’ve got a final
way to get that rent paid or you know
get your get your food get your electric
bill get your fire instruments buy your
paint buy your everything you know I
think a great place now to do that
be if you wanted to go a couple years
and like you know make your album and
then come back to New York and and just
run around and say this is my allo I’m
going to play it everywhere but you know
it takes a couple years to make that
album or to make those paintings d’etre
right now you can get a house like a
hundred dollars you can bring all your
equipment there you can call all your
friends and just like you know I got a
big house for a hundred dollars yeah
trust me you’re going to have like all
your friends in New York they were
looking at their rent five thousand
dollars for this red space here you’re
gonna have like 100 people help you
build your house or it fix it you know
you paint on walls without but there’s
[Music]
[Applause]
kind of a main point trying to get
Brewers just never give up just keep
playing those drums keep singing keep
painting keep doing it keep dancing just
dance dance and dance and that’s it you
know
just don’t be dance at one of those
clubs you know where make you take your
clothes off
[Applause]
[Music] [Applause]