This is a reup. I like this article and I didn’t write one for today because I have the flu so you get a double dose of awesomeness. Read and enjoy!

“I Just Want To Be Successful” is a series here at Michelle-Huxtable.com. It’s not only on how to be successful but how to be a reliable and decent human being in general. To read the rest of the series just click here.

Chris Martin of Coldplay and Jay-Z

Part 3 of the I Just Want To Be Successful is Don’t Feed Into The Hype. This song is called “Lost+” Jam it while you read this. Jay-Z says some pretty deep things in it that will help you be successful.

“With the same sword they knight you, they gon’ good night you/ That’s only half if they like you./ That even the half what they might do./ Don’t believe me? Ask Michael./ See Martin, see Malcolm./ See Biggie, see Pac, see success and its outcome./ See Jesus, see Judas./ See Caesar, see Brutus./ See success is like suicide/…. If you succeed prepare to be crucified/ Media meddles, – sue you you settle/ Every step you take, they remind you you’re ghetto.”

This isn’t really a Hip-Hop site and I don’t claim it to be. However, I’d really like to breakdown this line by line and explain why in order to be successful, you shouldn’t feed into the hype.

1. Because the Audience is fickle.

“With the same sword they knight you, they gon’ good night you.”

Positive feedback is great. We crave it and it affirms what you believe – that you’re doing good. Without it, some of us lose steam and can’t go on. One reason you shouldn’t get caught up in the hype is because of what Jay-Z said, in the same breath that they praise you, they can easily turn against you and hang you. This is for any profession. If you blog, they might love one post and hate the next. As a musical artist, they might love one track and hate the next. Same for writers, artists, athletes, and many other professions. Appreciate the praise when you get it, but don’t use that as the steam that keeps you going.

2. Because the Audience is fickle. And angry. And powerful.

“That’s only half if they like you./ That even the half what they might do.”

If the audience doesn’t like your latest work, it can be much worse than just dislike. They can protest buying your stuff, convince others not to do so, and many other things. Often it can turn into personal attacks. Instead of criticizing the project, they criticize the creator of the project. This can really bother people and it should if you’re normal. But if you didn’t get caught up in the hype in the first place, it wouldn’t bother you as much. If you think about it, this is why child stars often have issues. They’re overwhelmed with positive feedback as a child and when they grow up and aren’t so cute, they have to get that positive affirmation from elsewhere (like drugs).

3. Because no matter how great you are, they’ve done it to greater people.

“Don’t believe me? Ask Michael./ See Martin, see Malcolm./ See Biggie, see Pac, see success and its outcome./ See Jesus, see Judas./ See Caesar, see Brutus.”

Sometimes when people die they are aggrandized like Pac and Biggie. It’s often been said that had they not died so early they would not have been thought of as the best rappers ever. On the flip side, often when people fall from greatness, stop putting out the product that the audience loved, or die, people lose their previous views of them and only look at the bad.

The examples of when audiences have turned on the people they once loved is pretty endless. Michael Jackson – King of Pop by day, pedophile by night? Martin Luther King, Jr. – leader of the Civil Rights Movement when alive, but after he died he’s a womanizer. Jesus faced adversity when he was alive but after he died people doubt his very existence. If that’s not the worst way to turn on someone I don’t know what its. To doubt your existence? Don’t feed into the hype because the audience can easily turn. You see how quickly they turned on Kanye?

4. Because people want to be you.

“If you succeed prepare to be crucified/ Media meddles, [people] sue you you settle/ Every step you take, they remind you you’re ghetto.”

This goes back to Martin, Malcolm, Jesus, and Caesar. When you do attain success, there’s always going to be someone who wants to supplant you. They’ll sue you in some cases, and remind you that you weren’t always that great. People don’t want to take you down just for no reason. They want to take your spot. Just do your best and put out the best product in your field and you have nothing to worry about.

So to recap, if you want to be successful, Don’t Feed Into The Hype. Once you live for positive affirmation and the love and praise of people, you’re not doing it for you anymore. You lose some zeal, some passion. The audience (regardless of your field) can be fickle. If you lose that praise, what are you left with? Exactly. Don’t fall for it!