all I’ve ever wanted to be was a rock
star and I’ve never wanted to fail but
I’ve been knocked down more times than I
can remember and I have failed painfully
and miserably I’m pretty sure I’ve
become the poster child for keeping your
dukes up not just as an independent
musician
but also as a business owner when I was
16 I started my first music business but
my journey as a tortured artist begins
well before then here’s me looking all
cute around age 12 and while I quickly
discovered that I was pretty good at
modeling early on my true calling was
music and I am classically trained in
instruments like piano and cello and a
couple others but I started writing
original music when I was 13 and I even
had my very first performance at the
mall about 14 here’s me rock and my
black onesie and my Britney Spears
inspired microphone and I remember even
signed my very first autograph and
instead of writing to my number-one fan
I wrote to my one number fan which was
clearly just a work in progress so then
fast forward a couple of years I started
college when I was 16 but I was facing a
tough situation my parents had just
split and so my dad was now out of the
picture and my mom bless her heart
having raised and homeschooled all five
of my siblings and myself didn’t have
the money to pay for my schooling so I
just need to figure it out and besides
starting to apply for scholarships like
it was basically a part-time job I also
saw a flyer that you could win
scholarship money competing in pageants
now side note at the time I thought
pageant girls were less than smart but I
was quickly proven wrong competing
against these women who were not only
highly intelligent but skillful
articulate and I had to become this
chameleon to even be able to keep up but
then something amazing happened I
started to learn the rules of the game
and I did start winning scholarship
money and then everything taken together
I was
able to get out of college loan and debt
free but then over the years I didn’t
notice something I noticed that a lot of
these women seem to almost give up after
they stopped being miss whatever fancy
title and I remember thinking oh hell no
I’m never gonna let some flimsy little
crown to find who I’m going to be so I
became Miss crystal and over the course
of the next decade or so I was signed to
a plethora of record labels and
management deals to the tune of hundreds
of thousands of dollars I you know
played to sold-out audiences of
thousands of people I also played many a
show at a dive bar to to little tiny
audiences of ten half of which were my
family and the sound guy and through it
all I’ve learned quite a few rules three
of which I’d like to share with you
today rule number one be resilient
resiliency just means that regardless of
what the world throws at you you get
back up and you just keep going and for
me one of the first times I had to deal
with this was in my teens it’s the
eleventh hour my new hit single is about
to be released and then mr. rock star
producer decides to basically try and
extort money out of me money I didn’t
have money we didn’t agree on and
certainly not money we had discussed so
safe to say my entire project fell
through now today I am an entertainment
attorney so yeah that’ll never happen
again
but nonetheless being in my teens and
having all of my hopes and dreams vested
in this one project I was crushed like
truly devastated but nonetheless I had
to get back up and I had to keep going
which then roll it brings me to rule
number two embrace your fears and play
your own game when I was 16 I also
decided I was gonna go to law school and
for no other reason than I just wanted
to be able to protect myself
in my own career but then when I
actually received my letter of
acceptance from law school I remember I
just had this unbelievable fear about
what would happen to my identity as a
musician if I went because quite frankly
I couldn’t think of anything worse than
being perceived as an attorney
but I did go I went to Carl I went to
law school I graduated I stopped for the
sake bar and was lucky enough to pass
the first time but then for the second
time in my life I lost someone who had
become my entire support system so here
I was with this big fancy degree but no
money no job and no idea what I was
gonna do now I did end up getting a job
eventually and I was making $12 an hour
working in a law firm I’m just doing
administrative work and that’s how it
stayed for a while now when you kind of
weigh making $12 an hour and now you’re
just trying to survive and support
yourself but then also fund a music
career now you actually do have $200,000
of student loan debt from law school I’m
not you know I guess we all don’t have
to be a mathematician to see where I’m
going with this but nonetheless I
decided to stop crying about my
circumstances and I changed them and so
I decided to start delgado entertainment
law and besides the fact that this
actually helps me in my career as a
musician today I’m very grateful because
I get to be on the ground floor in an
industry that I’m so passionate about
making some of the biggest deals today
which then brings me to rule number
three be patience patience is so
difficult especially when you are young
and I’m very much so guilty of this but
throughout the majority of my twenties I
have felt so much anxiety and
frustration and no one’s gonna ever
discover me but nonetheless the goal
here is that we are building long-term
sustainable careers based on a game with
our own rules which is also why I
decided to start Duke’s up records so it
was not only about now having a record
label a company and a team around my
goals and my dreams but with almost 20
years in the entertainment fields now no
one can better represent me than I can
myself and also I’m in this wonderful
position where I can help other
like-minded independent artists which is
also why I wrote a book set for release
early next year and the book is
essentially
a guide on how to navigate strike that
crush the music industry and besides
going through all the industries
best-kept secrets I also provide some of
the most essential contracts that
musicians need but otherwise cost
thousands of dollars to get from a law
firm now I don’t know if I’m getting
into putting myself out of business next
year but I don’t care because someone
needs to be looking out for independent
artists so if I can just leave you with
something today
it’s regardless of your industry type or
business the same rules apply you have
to be resilient you have to overcome
your fear and you have to be patient
because we are all just as equipped as
any professional business to meet the
challenges of our careers and I guess if
you can just keep one thing in your
minds when you leave today it’s that
victory is inevitable but you’ve got to
keep your dukes up
and in fact I wrote a song just about
never gonna hold me back I can take care
of me and I’ve been don’t want me you
see what you think about that baby
every now
that’s Oh everybody knows I go
stay greedy so too
city I go
Annamarie to prove
so I gotta keep them to accept but I
I’m ready to prove
[Music]
call me you’ll not do it died I stayed
oops up Omega just another game to play
so everybody no come on so everybody
back
go
I’m ready to roost
[Music]
so I gotta give’m do
what I won’t I’m gonna take I’m gonna
take what I want I’m not gonna way
[Music]
through
so I gotta keep them Jim’s never gonna
hold me back I can take care of me
and up until Oh me see
[Music] [Applause]
star and I’ve never wanted to fail but
I’ve been knocked down more times than I
can remember and I have failed painfully
and miserably I’m pretty sure I’ve
become the poster child for keeping your
dukes up not just as an independent
musician
but also as a business owner when I was
16 I started my first music business but
my journey as a tortured artist begins
well before then here’s me looking all
cute around age 12 and while I quickly
discovered that I was pretty good at
modeling early on my true calling was
music and I am classically trained in
instruments like piano and cello and a
couple others but I started writing
original music when I was 13 and I even
had my very first performance at the
mall about 14 here’s me rock and my
black onesie and my Britney Spears
inspired microphone and I remember even
signed my very first autograph and
instead of writing to my number-one fan
I wrote to my one number fan which was
clearly just a work in progress so then
fast forward a couple of years I started
college when I was 16 but I was facing a
tough situation my parents had just
split and so my dad was now out of the
picture and my mom bless her heart
having raised and homeschooled all five
of my siblings and myself didn’t have
the money to pay for my schooling so I
just need to figure it out and besides
starting to apply for scholarships like
it was basically a part-time job I also
saw a flyer that you could win
scholarship money competing in pageants
now side note at the time I thought
pageant girls were less than smart but I
was quickly proven wrong competing
against these women who were not only
highly intelligent but skillful
articulate and I had to become this
chameleon to even be able to keep up but
then something amazing happened I
started to learn the rules of the game
and I did start winning scholarship
money and then everything taken together
I was
able to get out of college loan and debt
free but then over the years I didn’t
notice something I noticed that a lot of
these women seem to almost give up after
they stopped being miss whatever fancy
title and I remember thinking oh hell no
I’m never gonna let some flimsy little
crown to find who I’m going to be so I
became Miss crystal and over the course
of the next decade or so I was signed to
a plethora of record labels and
management deals to the tune of hundreds
of thousands of dollars I you know
played to sold-out audiences of
thousands of people I also played many a
show at a dive bar to to little tiny
audiences of ten half of which were my
family and the sound guy and through it
all I’ve learned quite a few rules three
of which I’d like to share with you
today rule number one be resilient
resiliency just means that regardless of
what the world throws at you you get
back up and you just keep going and for
me one of the first times I had to deal
with this was in my teens it’s the
eleventh hour my new hit single is about
to be released and then mr. rock star
producer decides to basically try and
extort money out of me money I didn’t
have money we didn’t agree on and
certainly not money we had discussed so
safe to say my entire project fell
through now today I am an entertainment
attorney so yeah that’ll never happen
again
but nonetheless being in my teens and
having all of my hopes and dreams vested
in this one project I was crushed like
truly devastated but nonetheless I had
to get back up and I had to keep going
which then roll it brings me to rule
number two embrace your fears and play
your own game when I was 16 I also
decided I was gonna go to law school and
for no other reason than I just wanted
to be able to protect myself
in my own career but then when I
actually received my letter of
acceptance from law school I remember I
just had this unbelievable fear about
what would happen to my identity as a
musician if I went because quite frankly
I couldn’t think of anything worse than
being perceived as an attorney
but I did go I went to Carl I went to
law school I graduated I stopped for the
sake bar and was lucky enough to pass
the first time but then for the second
time in my life I lost someone who had
become my entire support system so here
I was with this big fancy degree but no
money no job and no idea what I was
gonna do now I did end up getting a job
eventually and I was making $12 an hour
working in a law firm I’m just doing
administrative work and that’s how it
stayed for a while now when you kind of
weigh making $12 an hour and now you’re
just trying to survive and support
yourself but then also fund a music
career now you actually do have $200,000
of student loan debt from law school I’m
not you know I guess we all don’t have
to be a mathematician to see where I’m
going with this but nonetheless I
decided to stop crying about my
circumstances and I changed them and so
I decided to start delgado entertainment
law and besides the fact that this
actually helps me in my career as a
musician today I’m very grateful because
I get to be on the ground floor in an
industry that I’m so passionate about
making some of the biggest deals today
which then brings me to rule number
three be patience patience is so
difficult especially when you are young
and I’m very much so guilty of this but
throughout the majority of my twenties I
have felt so much anxiety and
frustration and no one’s gonna ever
discover me but nonetheless the goal
here is that we are building long-term
sustainable careers based on a game with
our own rules which is also why I
decided to start Duke’s up records so it
was not only about now having a record
label a company and a team around my
goals and my dreams but with almost 20
years in the entertainment fields now no
one can better represent me than I can
myself and also I’m in this wonderful
position where I can help other
like-minded independent artists which is
also why I wrote a book set for release
early next year and the book is
essentially
a guide on how to navigate strike that
crush the music industry and besides
going through all the industries
best-kept secrets I also provide some of
the most essential contracts that
musicians need but otherwise cost
thousands of dollars to get from a law
firm now I don’t know if I’m getting
into putting myself out of business next
year but I don’t care because someone
needs to be looking out for independent
artists so if I can just leave you with
something today
it’s regardless of your industry type or
business the same rules apply you have
to be resilient you have to overcome
your fear and you have to be patient
because we are all just as equipped as
any professional business to meet the
challenges of our careers and I guess if
you can just keep one thing in your
minds when you leave today it’s that
victory is inevitable but you’ve got to
keep your dukes up
and in fact I wrote a song just about
never gonna hold me back I can take care
of me and I’ve been don’t want me you
see what you think about that baby
every now
that’s Oh everybody knows I go
stay greedy so too
city I go
Annamarie to prove
so I gotta keep them to accept but I
I’m ready to prove
[Music]
call me you’ll not do it died I stayed
oops up Omega just another game to play
so everybody no come on so everybody
back
go
I’m ready to roost
[Music]
so I gotta give’m do
what I won’t I’m gonna take I’m gonna
take what I want I’m not gonna way
[Music]
through
so I gotta keep them Jim’s never gonna
hold me back I can take care of me
and up until Oh me see
[Music] [Applause]
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