It’s wild how much of us will be here after we are gone. YouTubers leaving clear trails to how they went from starry eyed prospect to jaded narcissist, there is a clear path to be traveled for anyone looking to partake in this realm called “entertainment”.
How about those of us that don’t want to be put out on front street? Artist who would rather not sell every inch of access to themselves for streams and views? (Which ultimately translated to money) as Tupac said “is there a grave for a g?” The hard truth of the matter is no. There isn’t.
We are only as memorable as what we leave behind. I was discussing Tito Puente and how much he meant to the New York spanish scene with a friend recently who honestly had no idea. The king of manbo, a man so legendary he has streets, music styles, and babies named after him. All that and this Italian girl from Long Island had no idea what he was to us, or why that mattered.
It’s Fucking trippy. Like everything else range is subjective, what’s important to you may vary to me. But with the internet it’s becoming more and more common to have these huge figures take up more space in our subconscious.
I never knew Etika, honestly his presence was sort of an annoyance to me. Black dude screaming about video games, I felt his tendency to were his heart on his sleeve and use it for attention was some how counter productive to what ever stance I held during his run. (Maybe I just had my head my ass and didn’t want to share the space I was in). But his spiral into depression and eventual tragic death honestly annihilated me.
““The drive you need to get what you want? You pull that from yourself.””
*Author note: I’m calling him by his online persona as i did not know him personally i mean no disrespect by it.
A young black man getting ALL the views and respect finally. After being SOO over the top, SO ridiculously himself. How could I not root for him!? When they found him I remember feeling so gutted, I saw him go from annoying online dude to a staple of what would become streamers. A corner stone to a full community And it didn’t matter that I wasn’t a fan, or follower. We shared the same space on the internet and through that I felt connected to him. It’s so fucked how that happened.
We also saw in real time the decent, the erroding of his mental state and the countless vultures who used his frame of mind for self gain. His story will forever be one of triumph and depression.
Both Tito and Etika mattered. They affected a group of people and left an immeasurable impact on those that followed them. What will the rest of our marks be? Will we leave anything worth it?
What will MY mark be? I guess i was mulling over my own mortally and wanted to spill my guts a bit.
I dont know. I just needed to ramble.
<3