Thoughts on Jon's journey from virality to responsibility...

[alicciardi96]

Guys I gotta be honest, I think at this point I might be a bigger fan of Jon's MORAL stance on music (and the industry) than his music...

And his music don't even get me started.

I'm in no way trying to deify the guy, but he might be one of the few influential artists in TODAY's music scene WALKING THE WALK.

Let's face it, virality and the attention economy are ruining our minds, especially those of our youngest and brightest.

Being an artist and sustaining the craft these days—in the aforementioned context—often means SHILLING YOUR SHIT. Selling your soul. Cozying up with the man.

We learn it almost as soon as we start creating. Your own parents might've even been the ones to break the news to you themselves: "Not so sure you can make a living doing that, pal."

It RUINS us, and creates deep-rooted self-doubt that often causes the best art to remain unseen, unheard, unwritten.

Jon lived it.

He could have bowed out quietly and moved on with his career however he saw fit.

He had no responsibility to his audience, in fact, he only faced more struggle due to his candor.

But he chose to be honest with us about how he was manipulated.

How it almost defeated him.

How he got out.

And while I don't think it's appropriate to idolize anyone, I think his story is extremely poignant today for ALL creatives. We should be talking about this shit in every salon, in every studio, on every stage.

This internet age is all about digital democracy. We can de-centralize the power.

We—the creatives—ARE the power.

To me, the message behind this forum is that we don't need algorithms telling us what we "want".

The best part of the Human Condition is that we're imperfect, only we know what we really want, and that's GOOD FUCKING ART.

Fuck the algorithm.

Fuck the man.

Let's spread some good fucking art.

I'd love to hear how others in this community are responding to his journey and his struggles, and I'm curious if others have found his outspoken-ness to be influential or thought provoking?

This whole community feels like something COMPLETELY untapped.

I really hope people feel the way I do, because my biggest hope is that we can, as a society, create a healthier environment for artists. There's absolutely no reason we can't with the resources at disposal in first-world countries.

Anyway... I guess...

#FUCKALGORITHMS #SPREADART

[GabbyW0205]

This right here is why the human condition album is my absolute favorite. Because jon himself always is real and true and if you think about it humans are conditioned to not be real or true. And with everything you said he is about one of the only artists who just wants to make music. not be famous. because being incredibly famous nowadays seems so demoralizing

[Zeonder]

This right here man, such a pure honest and genuine soul and so dope that he has a fanbase that appreciates and recognizes it, I mean look at all of us here on this forum