Creative Honesty

[James R.]

So in the past like week or so I've heard from a couple different people that they don't visit the site as much or are considering being less active because of the dick riding that goes on. I knew there were people that were more popular than others obviously, but upon speaking with these people about it more deeply I realized that they're completely right.

What happens backstage, or in the random forums is w/e. You can do what you want, but I'm going to ask anyone that frequents the creative sections of the site from the bottom of my heart to be as honest as possible. There have been more than a few times that I've felt as though my tracks got 9's or 10's just because people like me on here or because I gave someone good feed on a track that they wrote or something like that, and I'm not the only person that feels that way. Also on the other side of the I feel as though there are some people that feed other artist's tracks far too harshly, and it becomes more about insulting the person than helping them improve.

There are a lot of people on this site that have a lot of potential, but will NEVER realize that potential if they're not given honest feed. If you're going to give someone feedback on their work then you need to do 3 things.

1.) READ/LISTEN TO IT- Don't go in, look at everyone's feed and then quote someone or say "I agree with everyone here" because that doesn't help anyone. You don't get better at giving feedback and they don't get better at doing what they're doing. If you read through and can't see anything wrong at first glance then read through it again and nitpick. Find words that don't make 100% sense, find rhymes that could be more crisp, find lines that could be more creative, find shit you hate about it, but don't forget to mention what you like/love/enjoyed about it.

You need to say fuck people's feelings and be honest. If they can't handle that then they don't need to post. The same goes for audio. You need to listen to a track at least 3 times before you can give accurate feedback on it. It's only 15 minutes out of your day. If you're going to give someone feedback on their work then do it right. I'd rather get 3 real, honest feedbacks on my tracks than 20 half assed responses.

2.) KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT- If you can't tell the difference between flow and delivery or multies and vocabulary then you don't need to be giving feedback on anything until you understand it. Ask me, or maybe, or sticcy, or anyone that you know is active in audio or creative writing and we'll be able to help you (even if sticcy insults you while doing it). The worst thing you can do is give inaccurate feedback. If you're telling someone they have good multies when they're just rhyming long words with other long words then you need to take a couple days and get your shit right. If you tell someone their flow is off, they ask about their delivery, and you have the urge to say "they're the same thing" then you need to reevaluate yourself. When you better understand the mechanics of giving feedback it will also help you take the most when receiving feedback as well.

3.) BE HONEST- I briefly mentioned this in #1, but this deserves its own thing. You need to be honest. If you don't like the person and it's going to get in the way of unbiased feedback then just shut the fuck up. Likewise if you DO like someone, but feel it could cause you to give unfairly good feedback then save it. You need to read it like you don't know the person at all so that you can be completely honest with them. I don't care if I helped you go from whack as fuckin hell, to sick as shit, don't tell me I'm ill just because you like me. In the end we should all be writing/recording music that's for us.

Other people's inputs are important but in the end it's how YOU feel about YOUR work. If you like a line that someone else hates, then keep the line. But if you're questioning something in your piece and someone mentions it to you, then consider revisions. Or if 30 people tell you your flow is choppy then you should probably check it out, but if it's written and people need to hear it to get it then obviously don't take it as much to heart as you would an audio version being critiqued as off flow.

The point of all that is to say that if you tell me you don't like something I'm either going to agree and change it or disagree and not change it. Once you state your opinion your part in the process is finished. Also to people being critiqued, if you don't understand, or don't agree with something, or think something has been misconstrued in some way then please ask people to further explain their feedback so that you can both benefit from it.

Anyways, I'm not going to be able to make anyone change how they give feedback, but if we want TR to be a place for beginners to grow and possibly become more serious we need to be honest with each other. Not everyone is going to like everything you write. Not everything you write is going to be perfect. You're not going to like every critique you get and people aren't going to like every critique you give, but in the end it's going to help everyone in giving and receiving advice and growing as artists whether it be to become serious or just learning how to express ourselves in the best way possible.

And just for the record I'm guilty of doing all of these things at one point or another, so I'm not preaching from some high horse on the horizon, I'm just letting people know what I've learned from experience.

[<Stiiccy>]

thank James...

And people listen to the man...this forum is becoming a mutha fuckin joke...

[MC Anonymous]

[James R.]

I've did it to you without reading your thing one time and for that I am gay

but hey it probably was dope

Hey man it's not about what we've done, it's about what we do from here on out. EVERYONE on this forum is guilty of it to some extent. We just gotta do our best to do better in the future.

[Tash8]

Was this whole thing written because I told you and Maybe that this site is just a bunch of dick riders, that won't give their opinion but rather agree on the opinions of the "cool" people on the site?

[James R.]

Was this whole thing written because I told you and Maybe that this site is just a bunch of dick riders, that won't give their opinion but rather agree on the opinions of the "cool" people on the site?

That, a convo I had with maybe, and a convo I had with Sticcy. I hadn't really been paying much attention to it before, but when I looked for it I saw that it was in pretty much every single creative writing thread that's been posted on the ENTIRE 1st page.

[Tash8]

Was this whole thing written because I told you and Maybe that this site is just a bunch of dick riders, that won't give their opinion but rather agree on the opinions of the "cool" people on the site?

That, a convo I had with maybe, and a convo I had with Sticcy. I hadn't really been paying much attention to it before, but when I looked for it I saw that it was in pretty much every single creative writing thread that's been posted on the ENTIRE 1st page.

of course, it just took me to stop posting so much for everyone to realize that though

[James R.]

^Lol yeah you were the main reason I stopped and took a look at shit man. So good job on stopping posting. Now get active again.

[gutawafang]

Thanks James. Good one man. Respect.

[Requiem]

AMEN, brotha!

TR take notice of this, cuz my first ever album is coming out wednesday, and i want honest feed on it

[Darkblade44431]

I'm honest.
And honestly, i think most people here suck. And a lot of people will say they're good, when really..i'm pretty sure nearly no one will give them a listen for more than a second if one at all. I'm not pointing anyone out. But if i give you feedback that says you aren't good, don't take it like a little bitch
And btw, i never said i was so great either..so don't bitch at me about this..
Good day to you all

[James R.]

^I don't think I've ever even seen you post actually

[Darkblade44431]

^I don't think I've ever even seen you post actually

ha, i don't get on toooooo much. But i do have 947 posts now, xD!

[James R.]

I mean in creative writing. I've seen you around in the shady shots I think, but I don't think I've ever seen your posts in creative writing or audio.

[Darkblade44431]

I mean in creative writing. I've seen you around in the shady shots I think, but I don't think I've ever seen your posts in creative writing or audio.

Oh. Yeah i've hardly been in shady shots. And that was only recently anyways. I used to put some stuff up in creative writing, and rarely some stuff in the audio section. My first songs in audio were SHIT though, i'd say i'm a lot better now. I've gotten feedback from people, including a good underground rapper, and i think i'm doing well on my progress. Also, i have a lot of shit written that people haven't seen on here. It'll come out when my mixtape does. Also, i just don't typically write that much, ha ha.