Today is all about Motivational Monday with Six Lessons I Learned From Kendrick Lamar’s New Single.

Dreadful Mondays:

Another Monday is here. The weekend has come and gone.

I woke up ready to start a new week of content.

The thing about Mondays is that I am actually excited when they roll around. I am at my best when a fresh week is in front of me. The excitement of knowing I will make something new. I usually don’t know what that will be, but I am excited nonetheless.

Most people dread Mondays and can’t wait for the weekend to come. I can’t live my life that way anymore. Anticipating something instead of living right here – RIGHT NOW! I know that I am the most productive on the weekdays. That shouldn’t be how it is – but for right now that’s the brakes.

The beauty of the unknown – knowing a new week will bring new ideas and new revelations. Articles that have not seen the light of day will be made and brought to the surface.

Weekends:

I won’t lie. My weekends are not as productive as my weekdays. I do have a social life and enjoy my time off from the weekday grind. Taking time to do the things that are important to me besides my own personal brand. I enjoy going out for lunch and shooting the shit with friends over a few craft beers. Having some time to clean the house (I try). Or just decompressing with some video games and a horror movie.

The Inspiration Of Kendrick Lamar:

On this beautiful Monday, I was looking for some encouragement to start the week off on the right foot. I usually find that in blogs, books, podcasts etc.

Today the encouragement didn’t come from any of that. It came from the new single by Kendrick Lamar titled The Heart Part 4.

I had never heard The Heart series from Kendrick even though I have been a fan for years. The first installment dropped seven years ago.

The relationship I have with Kendricks music is a funny one. His first album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City took me at least 3-4 listens before I understood this new era of Hip-Hop. The same is true with his second album, To Pimp A Butterfly.

I am a big fan of progressive music and this was the first time I was hearing progressive hip-hop. The thing with this type of music is that there is so much going on. You need a mandatory couple listens before making a judgment call on the material.

Kendrick is one of those artists where you need to listen with an open mind and an open ear. The more you listen and the more you understand what he is saying – the more you fall in love with his work. With that said, this was one of the first singles he dropped that had me in its grips from the first listen.

Some of the big artists of today are focusing on the come up of artists in their own camp as well as themselves.

On The Heart Part 4, Kendrick comes right out the gate a man on his own mission.

Kendrick has a fire in his soul and other artists in his sights. He even addresses his fans – Saying that they can’t wait for him to come out and crush other artists work.

The Lessons of The Heart Part 4:

The lessons I got from Kendricks new single can be related to any form of content creating.

The lessons I learned were:

• He does NOT give a FUCK about anyone else in the Hip-Hop game or what they are doing.
• He has insane confidence in himself and believes he is the best in the game.
• We know that even though the space we create for is saturated – there is only one of us.
• Stay focused on what you are doing and the art you are creating. 
• Be mindful of others in your field and learn from every one of your peers.
• At the end of the day – The only platform that matters is your own.

When you ask hip-hop fans about their favorite artists, they give you a plethora of answers. Their top 5 may have Kendrick or it might not.

The lesson learned is that there are tons of artists out there for everyone. We all have different tastes in music just like we have different tastes in blogs or YouTube videos.

Remember the vision you have carved out for yourself. The creations you make every day to make those visions reality.

Conclusion:

This is the inspiration I needed on this Monday morning.

I am the one taking the time out of my day to create. To sit down and write every day – To create videos for each article.

My peers in this space are people I am huge fans of and that give me inspiration. But I am the only one with my life experiences. I am the only one who can create something great for myself – no one else.

Kendrick started out in his early days just like everyone else. No one knew who he was or gave a shit. Day in and day out, he put his nose to the grindstone and carved out his place in this realm of hip-hop. Kendrick now sits at the top of that mountain – on his own throne – in his own kingdom.

He stayed in his own lane – creating the music that he wanted to regardless of what was going on around him.

When you put on a record by Kendrick Lamar, you don’t know what you are going to get because he is always evolving. But you know that it is going to be something worth listening to.

That is the vision for me in the long game of creating content. I want to evolve my skills to something great while getting inspirations from others. Ultimately, making a legacy that is my own.

Needless to say, I can’t wait for the new album dropping later this week.

If you have any thoughts on Kendricks new single or about crushing it in your own creative space – Leave a comment in the section below.

Thank you for reading.