When it comes to many different types of art, people are completely fine, and totally normal about you being an artist. It’s like, “oh you paint? Cool. That’s nice, you paint in your leisure time, that’s really nice for you.” You know, that kind of response. But if you’re a rapper, or a singer, it’s as though you automatically must consider yourself as the best in your genre… or that you aspire to be the best in your genre.  Like you have to be the Van Gogh of rap.

And I gotta ask, do you aspire to be Van Gogh?

Cool, if u want to get to that stature… that’s awesome, but to be honest I don’t even think he got the cred when he was alive.

So now there’s exhibitions of his artwork lit up from the background, immersive experiences of Van Gogh, traveling the world.

My point being, if its okay for a painter to paint, why can’t a rapper just want to rap?

When I put out my music, I’m not thinking to myself, this song has to get 100,000 listens. I don’t even get 10 sometimes. Sometimes I release a song and people don’t listen to it at all. And that’s cool. Because I didn’t create that music for the sole purpose of getting streams. I created it because it was on my heart to do so. Just like I would a painting.

I dig Van Gogh, but I don’t aspire to be anyone else besides the best Arielle London I can be.

Y’all slept on “4 Me”.

“Queen Ice” nice with it too.