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12/16/15

73: In-Q – How to Build a Career as a Poet

The more you stretch as an artist, the more space you have.

Have you ever heard a live spoken word performance? The kind that makes you nod your head and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up?

That’s how I felt when I first heard In-Q. This man is an uber talented spoken word poet, and he is incredibly skilled as both a writer and a performer; So skilled, in fact, that he has performed with Cirque du Soleil, on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam, and even for the president. But he’s not just a poet. He’s also a talented songwriter who has written songs with Miley Cyrus, Aloe Blacc, Mike Posner, and Selena Gomez.

What I love about In-Q’s poetry is that he writes about the human experience, encouraging people to ask questions about themselves, their environment, and the world at large. Listen in to our conversation to hear us talk about not only art, commerce, and making a living as a spoken word poet, but also about In-Q’s writing process and why he encourages people to express themselves.

I want people to realize that they’re all poets and they’re all storytellers.

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/in-q” title=”How to Build a Career as a Poet” artist=”In-Q” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/73_IN-Q_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • How he realized he was more of a poet than a rapper [3:05]
  • How he jumped into the music world [3:55]
  • The value of thinking outside the box [4:30]
  • How poetry became his outlet [7:20]
  • Why he loves the Matrix movies [9:20]
  • Why he encourages people to express themselves [11:50]
  • What his day to day life is like [17:10]
  • How you can experience time differently [18:10]
  • Why he wants to break poetry into popular culture [21:30]
  • Why you have to know your why [22:50]
  • Why he doesn’t seek validation from anything external [24:20]
  • How art and commerce should coexist [26:50]
  • Why we think growing up means we stop learning [36:10]
  • Why he wants to do stuff he’s not good at [37:20]
  • Why capitalism and the priorities of society need to shift [41:00]
  • Why it’s not just about growth, but about how you grow [45:00]
  • What his writing process is like [54:50]

Links mentioned:

Connect with In-Q Instagram | Twitter | Website

LET'S CONSPIRE & CREATE

CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION

The more you stretch as an artist, the more space you have.

Have you ever heard a live spoken word performance? The kind that makes you nod your head and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up?

That’s how I felt when I first heard In-Q. This man is an uber talented spoken word poet, and he is incredibly skilled as both a writer and a performer; So skilled, in fact, that he has performed with Cirque du Soleil, on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam, and even for the president. But he’s not just a poet. He’s also a talented songwriter who has written songs with Miley Cyrus, Aloe Blacc, Mike Posner, and Selena Gomez.

What I love about In-Q’s poetry is that he writes about the human experience, encouraging people to ask questions about themselves, their environment, and the world at large. Listen in to our conversation to hear us talk about not only art, commerce, and making a living as a spoken word poet, but also about In-Q’s writing process and why he encourages people to express themselves.

I want people to realize that they’re all poets and they’re all storytellers.

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/in-q” title=”How to Build a Career as a Poet” artist=”In-Q” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/73_IN-Q_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • How he realized he was more of a poet than a rapper [3:05]
  • How he jumped into the music world [3:55]
  • The value of thinking outside the box [4:30]
  • How poetry became his outlet [7:20]
  • Why he loves the Matrix movies [9:20]
  • Why he encourages people to express themselves [11:50]
  • What his day to day life is like [17:10]
  • How you can experience time differently [18:10]
  • Why he wants to break poetry into popular culture [21:30]
  • Why you have to know your why [22:50]
  • Why he doesn’t seek validation from anything external [24:20]
  • How art and commerce should coexist [26:50]
  • Why we think growing up means we stop learning [36:10]
  • Why he wants to do stuff he’s not good at [37:20]
  • Why capitalism and the priorities of society need to shift [41:00]
  • Why it’s not just about growth, but about how you grow [45:00]
  • What his writing process is like [54:50]

Links mentioned:

Connect with In-Q Instagram | Twitter | Website

12/16/15

73: In-Q – How to Build a Career as a Poet

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The more you stretch as an artist, the more space you have.

Have you ever heard a live spoken word performance? The kind that makes you nod your head and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up?

That’s how I felt when I first heard In-Q. This man is an uber talented spoken word poet, and he is incredibly skilled as both a writer and a performer; So skilled, in fact, that he has performed with Cirque du Soleil, on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam, and even for the president. But he’s not just a poet. He’s also a talented songwriter who has written songs with Miley Cyrus, Aloe Blacc, Mike Posner, and Selena Gomez.

What I love about In-Q’s poetry is that he writes about the human experience, encouraging people to ask questions about themselves, their environment, and the world at large. Listen in to our conversation to hear us talk about not only art, commerce, and making a living as a spoken word poet, but also about In-Q’s writing process and why he encourages people to express themselves.

I want people to realize that they’re all poets and they’re all storytellers.

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/in-q” title=”How to Build a Career as a Poet” artist=”In-Q” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/73_IN-Q_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • How he realized he was more of a poet than a rapper [3:05]
  • How he jumped into the music world [3:55]
  • The value of thinking outside the box [4:30]
  • How poetry became his outlet [7:20]
  • Why he loves the Matrix movies [9:20]
  • Why he encourages people to express themselves [11:50]
  • What his day to day life is like [17:10]
  • How you can experience time differently [18:10]
  • Why he wants to break poetry into popular culture [21:30]
  • Why you have to know your why [22:50]
  • Why he doesn’t seek validation from anything external [24:20]
  • How art and commerce should coexist [26:50]
  • Why we think growing up means we stop learning [36:10]
  • Why he wants to do stuff he’s not good at [37:20]
  • Why capitalism and the priorities of society need to shift [41:00]
  • Why it’s not just about growth, but about how you grow [45:00]
  • What his writing process is like [54:50]

Links mentioned:

Connect with In-Q Instagram | Twitter | Website

12/16/15

73: In-Q – How to Build a Career as a Poet

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It’s an ongoing creative partnership focused on bringing your personal brand identity to life.

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All shaped as a direct extension of who you are. The work also includes a bespoke process of identifying and aligning the right experts when needed, so nothing gets built out of sync with your core.

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A long view over changing terrain, the difference between a static rulebook and a living Brand Brain

Brand guidelines are static rules for the surface. A Brand Brain is a living codification of identity a team or an AI can generate from. The difference, defined.

Mountain terrain stretching in every direction, breadth before depth in choosing a practice

We trained six styles of kung fu in one month. Sampling that widely taught me how a creative actually finds the practice worth years: breadth first, the pull as data, then depth.

An unfamiliar landscape seen at full attention, travel waking up a creative eye

Travel makes you more creative because unfamiliar places wake up your perception. Why the effect works, and how to bring the sharpened eye home with you.

Elevated Realism portrait of Nick Cannon at ease in a light blue suit, brand photography that matches who the subject has become

Your brand photos lag behind you because you kept evolving and the images stayed frozen. Why the gap opens, how to spot it, and what closes it.

A mountain path with fixed edges, the chosen container that makes depth possible

The kung fu school had rules: locked-in weekdays, dawn starts, push-ups for lateness. A month inside taught me that constraints you choose are what make depth possible.

Out in the field making the day's work, a daily creative practice in motion

A daily creative practice is making one real thing every day, however small, to stay in a proactive state. A working definition, and how to build one that lasts.

A traveler standing clear of the crowd, one coherent identity the machines can read correctly

AI describes your brand by averaging your public record. How to codify one identity, repeat it everywhere, and get the machines to echo you back accurately.

A performer's world stripped to essentials, artistry carrying without production

I’ve photographed Justin Bieber several times and seen fame up close. His stripped-down Coachella set showed the thing I keep relearning about creative work: production amplifies, and only artistry carries.

Calm Jamaican coastline, a nervous system coming all the way down in creative burnout recovery

You recover from creative burnout by treating it as a nervous system state: build real down-cycles, read your own signals, and return to the work you love.

Mountain landscape in New Zealand, one clear thread running through a magnetic personal brand

A magnetic personal brand comes from coherence and one clear through-line. Here is how entrepreneurs build one, in order, and the trap that keeps most brands scattered.

Hiking a New Zealand mountain trail, learning at your own pace in midlife

I spent a month training kung fu in Wudang at 47, the oldest and slowest learner in the room. What being a beginner again in midlife taught me about pace, comparison, and starting anyway.

Photographer walking a snow-capped mountain ridge in New Zealand, the long practice of seeing that develops taste

You develop taste through thousands of reps of looking closely and deciding what works. A photographer’s honest answer on how taste gets built.

Silhouetted figure leaping from a sea cliff at sunset, committing to one coherent personal brand identity

You make a personal brand more coherent by naming the identity underneath it, distilling a one or two word through-line, and bringing the four layers into agreement. The full path, in order.

About the Blogger

I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here. 

I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here. 

NICK'S STORY