Still getting caught up (fuckin', obviously) for the end-of-year stuff. So much flames. Let me crack a beer and rant for a minute here.

First and foremost, the scene has grown a lot in the past 24 months. We have *multiple* leaders of the pack, multiple spheres of influence, multiple scenes within a scene -- all within a very, very small state.

These are all overlapping virtuous circles -- google it -- where networks of talent encourage each other to excel, and even more important, where their output encourages other artists, and the next generation coming up. There's no other way to build a scene.

Five years ago, when we were talking top ten for those 12 months -- albums, single, artists, whatever -- there really wasn't much of a spectrum to choose from. Since '18, '19, you can have completely different top tens, and they're *all dope* -- it's all good, creative music

This is all exciting and encouraging and good ... you know, from a distance. For individual artists, though, it's still a cut-throat struggle in a small fishbowl, in order to break into a bigger aquarium that's even more cut-throat than the 802. This sucks & this will not change

You are investing time and money and blood into your own music and getting very little back from it. Friends, family, loved ones are asking you if it's really worth it. This is Hell Itself, and nothing, locally, is going to save you from it.

But you can hustle smarter. Successful local artists are:
* building teams who all benefit from their success together
* networking way beyond our tiny state
* clarifying their goals & sound, not trying to do everything
* working months in advance for big, multimedia rollouts

I got a lot of heat for telling people in the big annual roundup last year that this website DID NOT and DOES NOT matter in terms of your career, your future, your growth as an artist, but it's fuckin' true. The fans who will make you money aren't here. I'm not in your way.

Not only that, there's a lot of people here who will help you work out a roadmap. Talk to @BigHeavyWorld - say hello to @JibbaTheGent - and for fuck's sake, submit your singles to local radio. It's insane how few of you take advantage of that opportunity.

And remember - this exists. Facebook is garbage but people share gems here all the time. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1204596136266161/