Okay so confession. I prefer to listen to an artist’s flop era over their magnum opus, which is weird to a lot of people but I have good reasons. For one I do not view their work as a “flop” because art is not inherently good or bad. It is subjective and what one can find lackluster others can find joyful and empowering. The idea of having an era bombing is extremely dehumanizing and hinders creation. It does not help either that we are in a world where everything is documented and can/will be judged by randoms online. We are so quick to deem a person’s art as a “flop” without understanding the reason behind their creation. I believe the flop era is scrutinized and handled with apathy because of the failure to accept an artist as being human.

Upon my own observation, the “flop” era usually precedes a moment of destitute. A fall from grace due to an unforeseen matter of events, a tower moment if you will. When anyone experiences life’s dark side like this. It leaves one shellshocked, traumatized. To have been able to make it out alive is sometimes surprising to believe. The mind goes through a whole rewiring and operates on a different frequency. Speaking from my own experience I am left feeling weak and barely have the energy to make it through the day. To begin to try to take on life the same way as before is a mountain to that is terrifying to climb. The “normal” we would want to return to is now impossible.

The truth is that the “flop era” is really just the progression of a healing journey. Which we should all know by now looks different for everyone and is not linear. The work that one creates will be, most likely be subpar. But why wouldn’t it be? Healing means a person is not 100%. Therefore the art one creates is going to be made with whatever energy they had the capacity for. Yet we as people tend to forget or choose to ignore this fact. Setting the expectation that the art we create should be gold standard and be just as great, if not greater than our work previously. which makes absolutely no sense to me! If someone breaks their leg and has surgery, would you expect that person to be up and running the next day? No, because that would be insane and crazy for them to even attempt. Their body is healing and needs to process and mend their injury. We can agree that is true but when it comes to our artistic capabilities we take away that humanity and tell that artist or ourselves that we are are nothing if we cannot make “great” art anymore.

Another big fact that is ignored is that because this is healing, there are so many new paths to try when creating. Do these new methods often lead to the best results? Not always. But again, that is okay. Through trial and error we begin to feel like ourselves again. My dear friend Rose brought up a good point to me. That during this experimentation there is such a profound freedom in this moment of forlorn. Essentially there are no rules anymore. Sounds, colors, images, pieces are waiting to be discovered through the absence of prior rigid structure as previous normal doesn’t exist anymore. Personally I find myself creating chaotic messes in this freedom. I think they’re tacky and lackluster. But with different eyes I can see where the beauty lies hidden underneath the chaos. It’s not perfect, but no art ever is which makes me smile. Even when I know that it’s not my “best”. I find that there is an endearing charm in the chaos of rediscovering. If we stuck to the same monotonous methods as before then we would have never experienced such a freedom to explore! Not everyone will enjoy these new terrains that we immerse ourselves in. However, when we create we are creating for some parts of ourselves.

One my favorite examples of a “flop” is the Mariah Carey album Charmbracelet. Apologies for the “lamb” in me that’s about to come out but I love talking about music lol. Coming off the heels of the debacle of Glitter. A movie/soundtrack clouded with a mental breakdown and 9/11—a clusterfuck in short. Not to mention Mariah’s ex-husband who was in pursuit of destroying her career, and yes jlo was involved but we don’t know who that is anyways. This album was slated to be her “comeback”! It was not and was a disappointment but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good in another form. Now was this her best material? No, but that wasn’t the point of the album. Listening to it in all it’s unbalanced production and directionless track order you realize the album was really Mariah just trying to feel confident in her artistic ability again. Learning to trust it even when it wasn’t at it’s greatest. She still carried on which is where the album true strength lies. It’s not perfect by any means, but like the opening track—”Through the rain” it is a representation of hope that she will be her great self once again, one day. Even if that day isn’t today. Plus it gave us her second vocal prime and one of her best tours. It’s a great example of how a “flop” is not a hindrance to an artist’s career just a moment of recuperation and reflection. And if you ever do check out the album I recommend the following tracks hehe: Boy, Lullaby, Subtle Invitation, My Saving Grace, Through the rain (remix).

The true significance of being in your “flop” is not necessarily the art that you’re creating. But the resilience of your ability to still create. To continue finding that spark against. Even if it is not as great as previous work. That doesn’t make it is any less special because it was made by you. You chose to still carry on. When you look at the art with much kinder eyes you realize that art is a masterpiece in it’s own ways. And because art is subjective, it can touch someone in a meaningful because of the story of it’s inception. So really there is no such thing as flop era, it’s just an idea given by someone who set certain expectations without considering the fact that artists are still human. It is all just apart of the process of creating.