Why I Don’t Use an Artist Name

When you think of musicians and artists you usually refer to them with a pseudonym. A fake name that they give themselves to be identified throughout their career. I have nothing against it’s use but, personally it’s not for me and here’s why.

1. I’m Proud of My Name: James Revels III. I love it. It’s unique(ish) and like the the way it rolls off my tongue. James was passed down from my granddad to my uncle and now me, so it’s like a passed torch. I also love my last name because it’s a memorial  to my (very) distant uncle Hiram Revels, the first African American senator. With that much history behind my name I have a lot to be proud of.
2. Pseudonyms as Alter Egos: I prefer to use my name because when I create my art I feel I’m at my realest. A lot of artists describe themselves having an alter ego or separate personality when they create, I feel the opposite. I feel like this creative side is the true me and when I work my day job I’m putting on a mask. Some artist put on a certain “image” while the only image I wish to portray is an accurate portrait of myself.
3. Google Friendly: Because my full name is relatively unique it’s easier to corner my own niche of keywords to google.  Type” James Revels” and the second auto-suggest is “James Revels the Composer” the third is “James Revels WordPress”. Typing in “James Revels” in general, provides links that fill the entire ever crucial 1st page. This saved a lot of time that would have been wasted on thinking of an SEO friendly name.

So those are the reason’s that I use my real name instead of a made up one. Stay tuned for updates on my upcoming Hip-Hop Project “Escapism EP”. It’s a 5 track original EP that is an escape from the current norms of hip hop. I also released the album cover yesterday (also designed by yours truly) Check it out. If you like it hope you stay tuned as I get ready to release the first single “Genesis” in the next couple of weeks.

 

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Two Types of Intelligence: Analytical v.s. Abstract

There are many types of intelligence that exist in this world. There’s social intelligence and academic intelligence, but I want to focus on two I am intimately familiar with; analytical and abstract intelligence.

Analytical Intelligence

We’ve all heard the saying “Think outside the box”. Well, analytical intelligence is the exact opposite of that. Analytical people will look inside the box, describe and break down every thing inside the boxes. They may even get lost in the boxes inside the boxes! This type of intelligence is great for understanding the nuances of specific objects. It’s like taking a magnifying glass and notating all the like cracks, crevices and colors. This lends well to math and science. The problem with this intelligence is that getting lost in the details is all too easy.

Abstract Intelligence

Abstract intelligence is the counterpart to analysis. Theses are the ones who “think outside of the box” and realize that all ideas are in one big box with infinite smaller boxes. Stated simply, abstraction is the act of generalization; stripping away the specifics and focusing on the similarities. For instance, “Color” is an abstraction of the specific colors “Blue” and “Orange” or “Sport” is an abstraction of the specific sports “Soccer” and “Baseball”. An abstraction is, like a big box that you fit other smaller boxes in to connect them together.  This lends well to poetry because you can abstract two unrelated words like, “bullet” and “shark”, into a simile such as “The shark swam like a speeding bullet”.  Abstract minded people usually are good at creative writing, art and music. The problem with abstract thought is that if the relation between the two ideas is too loose communicating the thought could be disastrous.

Final Thoughts

No intelligence is better than the other. I’d say analytical intelligence tends to be more practical, but abstract intelligence tends to be more beautiful. Although, in practice we use both simultaneously, there tends to be a preference for analytical over abstract. There’s nothing wrong wrong with this but without understanding the balance we miss one half of the equation that makes subjects like math interesting. Math is the analysis of an abstract concept called numbers. While writing composition classes are the abstractions of multiple pieces of writing. By framing school work or problems in this way it could help with finding solutions. If you know all the details and are still stuck, try to find a loosely similar situations that you relate to and try to tackle it that way (analytical to abstract). Or if you are confused on a dense concept, try to ground the idea in a metaphor, by relating the parts you do understand to something familiar. (abstract to analytical).

What do you think? Leave a comment. Thanks for reading.

Check out the new song I composed for the game I’m working on.

 

On Being Grateful

by: James Revels III

The paradigm has switched from “Less is More” to “More is Less”. In a culture where we have worn down the soles of our shoes trying to keep up with the Jones, take this second with me to sit down, untie the laces and relax. Don’t worry that your iPhone doesn’t have an ‘S’ at the end. I won’t judge you for it.

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. –Epictetus

Today, we live in an amazing time where we can have anything we want mail ordered to our homes or pre-ordered for pick up thanks to our magic plastic boxes in our pockets. We have more connections with friends and family via the internet and the social media it has spawned. We can swim in and drink clean water. (Well…99% of the time, sorry Michigan) Our cabinets are (for the most part) stocked with food, even if it’s only ramen noodles and canned goods. We are surrounded by so much cheap and accessible entertainment. We have video games, movies, music and, of course, everyone favorite, Netflix and Chill. Don’t get me started on the beauties of nature. This article would be a million words long so I’ll truncate it here.

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Are Current Attitudes on College Healthy?

On most articles on about the pros and cons of college, money is usually the main focus. That will not be the case here. I want to discuss the idea that our hype about college can sometimes harmful to kids who aren’t ready to handle the responsibility.

I have not graduated or currently attend college due to both immaturity and lack of vision upon leaving high school. In high school, I knew I was destined for greatness. I had the highest ACT and second highest SAT score in my class by a distance of 50 points. At one point I had a principal make a home visit and tell my parent I had Harvard level potential. What happened? My answer is naivete and external pressures.

Every year, students are told that they should work hard to get to college and it’s implied that if you don’t you’ll become a social degenerate; a failure. The concept of college is awesome, but the way in which we execute it is flawed and stressful. In my opinion, college isn’t as important as vision and education, but we sometimes stress the idea of “getting into college” more than the concepts of the maturity, independence and goal setting that college allows us to explore in a more controlled environment. This leads to many otherwise promising students dropping out of college, not from lack of intelligence, but lack of maturity that only time and experience can give.

In my case, my father stressed college heavy from day one and after high school he wanted me to get into school ASAP. He didn’t care where as long as it was college. I felt differently I wanted to wait, but I was convinced otherwise. I should have stood my ground because I ended up wasting a load of people’s time including my own. I didn’t have a vision for my future since I didn’t stand for anything I fell for everything. I would got to a bigger college campus and party with my best friend at the time. I would go to class and interact, but I wouldn’t do the homework due to its perceived irrelevance to my life. I was naive, immature and lacked vision resulting in a lack of motivation and my eventual drop out from college.

I also found it interesting how many people expects children who were once raising their hands to speak and potty to be able to manage and plan out their entire life within the several months between graduation and fall semester.College isn’t for everyone and sometimes those people just need time to mature so, to the parents and teachers out there: Do you emphasize college as a life investment that one should take time to consider or do you add fuel to the hype and emphasis college for colleges sake?

 

 Check out some more content

My YouTube channel

NEW MUSIC – Game Changer

 

Free write – Simple Man

So I’m trying to get into the habit of writing daily, so everyday I’ve decided to write 16 lines of poetry/lyrics and if I create something I’m proud of I’ll post it here for you to enjoy. (Ps. subscribe to my YouTube channel for more content)

Simple Man

by: James Revels III

 

Simple man with a difficult goal,

I would sell my soul but it’s invaluable.

I would sleep but I live my dreams

so insomnia doesn’t bother me

Attention focused, Laser beam.

Trying to grow up from that lazy teen.

So, I woke up at 6 turned on a beat

while simultaneously turning off the T.V.s

Intercourse with discourse.

I get my release from speech.

Mutilate my competition.

Move along there’s nothing to see.

Put greatness on the GPS,

Don’t deviate from the plan

Here’s a laxative, I know it’s hard to digest

these complex thoughts from a simple man.

Here’s the instrumental I listened to inspire the verse.

 

Freewrite (1/3/2015)

So I’m trying to get into the habit of writing daily, so everyday I’ve decided to write 16 lines of poetry/lyrics and if I create something I’m proud of I’ll post it hear for you to enjoy.

by: James Revels III

Surf on a sea of serotonin,

Chemically Imbalanced.

Everyday’s a challenge so watch me hop a hurdle.

Moving steady like a turtle although my mind’s racing like hares.

Walking on opticals the way I climb these stares to heaven.

After exiting the interstate to hell. I park.

Blood thirsty for success like a pack of malnourished sharks.

Thoughts they spark.

No Tony Stark but Hip-Hop I’ll Avenge her

Although, someday I fall outta love with her, better download Tinder.

Burn the past to cinders and scatter the ashes like Rayleigh

Too logical for promises.

I only take “Yes and No”s keep your “maybe”s.

Lately waking early so I can be on time for destiny

Kill the old me in effigy, my psyche gave the eulogy.

Fueling me is rocket fuel propelling me to new heights.

The futures kind of fuzzy like a rear view adorned in dice.

Kites envy my flight due to my aviation pedigree.

Sick of this.

Pencils, papers, songs are all the meds I need

Here is the instrumental I wrote to for inspiration

Please Support My Content

I’ve been making music for 6 years and running this blog for 4 years. I appreciate all the support I’ve gotten over the years. That support and my love of creativity is what keeps me going, but I must keep it real with you. I don’t get payed for any of my content and haven’t for about upwards of 8 months. Now, money isn’t the main goal, but I need to survive. It’s affecting my life, relationship and well-being so this is why I am writing this. My loved ones are worried I’ve been investing all my time and money ($1,000+ over the 6 years)  into this dream without any returns and think I should rethink my life choice. I disagree and I hope you do too. If you’re convinced please support financially or, at the very least share the content with people (Which I posted at the bottom of the post) . The hardest part hasn’t been making content, but getting people to see the hard work. I am a one man team, humbly asking for your assistance. If you’re not convinced the stay tuned because I’m about to do a brief breakdown of my investment into my dream over the half decade.

• A $400 Desktop computer to upgrade from laptop because it had horrible RAM (2gb) and no storage space (200 gb).
• A condenser microphone, stand, interface and cables (Approx. $300)
• A drawing tablet ($100) So I could work in Photoshop to create my own album covers and now animations.
• Instruments ($300) – This includes my acoustic guitar, keyboard, and MIDI keyboard.
• Reason 8.3 ($400) when I first started out I have a pirated version of Reason 5 and after a couple year of that for studying I decided to invest in craft and upgrade to the recent version,
• Multiple Cameras ($300) due to some breaking over the years from use or accidents.

That alone is $1900 investment over the last 6 years and I’ve only made maybe a tenth of that back.

My equipment

MY keyboard

List of My Content

On this blog. I post original content such as How to Overcome Writer’s Block  or the Death of the Facebook Like Page. I even post poetry such as Man in the Mirror. Speaking Man in the Mirror did you know I made a music video for that song. (embedded below the paragraph). While we’re on the topic of poetry I’ve also published a book  of poetry earlier this year titled Yesterday’s Tomorrow.  I even made an accompanying Soundtrack for my book.

On my YouTube channel I post a music semi-daily and have been working on a daily music making challenge where I try to make a short 1 to 2 minute theme every day or two. I also occasionally post music theory/mixing tutorials (embedded below this paragraph

I’m thankful for anyone who has read this in its entirety and I hope you continue to follow me on my creative journey. Thanks for the past support. Let’s make something great.

 

Bonus! Here’s a short compilation of clips from my animation practice

An Idea

The following is me brainstorming an idea so please forgive any grammatical mistakes. Feel free to leave your two cents as well.

So, I was reading “Think and Grow Rich” and there’s a chapter about the “Mastermind”, which is a group of experts you gather to augment any weak points in your own expertise. I’ve always been into S.A.M.M. (Science , art, math and music) and writing. I’ve always had dreams (literal dreams) of me gathering expertise in those fields and we create a network of artists and geniuses to help up and coming talent obtain jobs or collaboration with each other without all the binds of formality and bureaucracy that normal corporation impose. In a way like mentors because we not only have the knowledge but the connection that an artistic master usually had. The only think is a couple of road block occurred that I haven’t wrapped my head around quite yet.

1) Where do I go to find these people and how do I approach them? Especially since this idea is in it’s infancy. The most I can say is I’ve gathered some friends to collaborate musically, but I also need to figure how to get the non-artist mathematicians and scientist. (I’m well versed in both for a laymen so talking technical isn’t an issue)

2) What do we do once I get the initial batch of people?Assuming the initial batch of people I gather aren’t well connected or financed like myself. What do we do to get the attention of those who do. What kind of projects do we create? When I think on this and try to flesh out the idea, I feel like there is a Gate. Like I need a key from someone else or an idea I don’t know really. I know if together we can help solve a problem maybe I need to pin point said problem, but I don’t want to be over-zealous on the first project since I want to prove to concept successful in the early stages.

3) How to get every to work together? This may be something out of my control, but with something like this it’s possible for leeches to emerge or people to disagree. What do I do to mitigate or prevent tension and conflict?

NEW MUSIC VIDEO – Man in the Mirror

Today is day 48 of my music making challenge and I decided to do something different. Instead of just a short music composition I decided to add lyrics and do a full scale music video all done since I woke up this morning. It’s based on my poem I posted earlier today of the same name. Enjoy!

 

How to Overcome Writers Block

By: James Revels III

After making music daily for about 40 days for my YouTube Channel writer’s block was inevitable s here 3 things I try to do to overcome it.

Ignore the Initial Quality

Most people get stuck in writers block because they are trying to hard to make the Mona Lisa when they aren’t capable of it yet. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming big and grand, but be aware of your limitations and go with the flow when something doesn’t come out how you want it initially. You can refine later. Use this as a first draft to at least get a first draft going so you have a springboard to jump from when inspiration does return.

Try Something New

One reason we fall in a rut artistically that we find a groove and stick with it. The way to counter this is to try something knew. Come at your work from another angle. Do you hate writing in first person perspective? Write a silly story that is in 1st person. Not only will it be good for practice, but it could inadvertently inspire a new idea.

Do  Something Else

Sometimes you just have to know when to quit and do something else. If you’ve tried and tried and it’s more frustrating than productive. Take a break and relax. Start another project or just go and play for a little while you calm down and let inspiration take its time. Inspiration is like a finicky girlfriend and you never know when she’ll be in the mood 😉

There we go another one bites the dust. If you liked this article check out my other articles linked below or watch an embed from my YouTube channel. Thanks for reading. James Out!

Further Reading

The Death of the Facebook Like Pages

Weird Genres: Abstract Hip-Hop?

Pros & Cons of Mass Media