We recently connected with Assata Amani and have shared our conversation below.
Assata, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I am much happier as an artist. Although, I think the common misconception is that you don’t get burned out. It is quite easy to not know when to cut off the art and sometimes it does in fact leak into your social life as well as your home life. I think it’s important for artists to learn to be more strategic and actually plan out their days with a schedule. It is hard sometimes to do this. I recommend paying attention to when your mind is most creative (morning or at night) and schedule your life around that. There are times when I compare myself to my peers who work their regularly scheduled jobs but then I remind myself that I have to really define success by my own means. Success isn’t always living the normal lifestyle. Experiment with your life, with your art, and your perceived notions and stop comparing yourself. You’re loved, you’re successful, and you’re brilliant.
Assata, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I got into art at a young age. I started out drawing well, innately, when I was around 6. Then I started to read more books and started typing up stories on our old computer. I always been quite the visionary when it came to telling a story and depicting life through my own lens. Once I was in high school I learned photography on my own after not being able to afford a modeling career. My parents bought me a camera and it was from there I started taking photos of my friends and family. I turned that into a photography business in undergrad at Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC. Yet, the passion for music begin taking over in my senior year. There was just something about being able to pull together the story telling, visuals, and audio together. I would stay after all my classes and go into our mass communication room and record myself into a microphone. After that, I couldn’t stop recording. Going to recording studios from North Carolina to Atlanta.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn the need to control. Life is what you make it. You take the good, bad, and ugly. Then you turn it into a beautiful work of art. Controlling every little thing about your life just makes it hard because it’s quite impossible to do. Things happen and things can change at the last minute. Be resilient and be as experimental as you want to be. I would want to control every little thing about life and it just doesn’t work like that. The only thing you can control is what you put into your body and who you choose to associate with.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
My best advice for building an audience on social media is to really learn to define your target audience. News breaker- it will not be everyone. Although we want to be able to have everyone listen to our music and enjoy our art- they won’t. Learning your target audience changes everything. Once I got my Digital Marketing Master’s degree I really started focusing on who I make art for. What they look like, how much they make a year, what they enjoy. If you want to start a social media career make sure to not be afraid to try new things. Your community will take time to build but once they’re there- they’re there. They will support you in whatever you choose to do. Stay focused.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beacons.ai/assataamani?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYfzn_-p-to3vFfuFFzAO05i6XpwuyE8kEy3c9qhyH60I5PW7q5sjclWWQ_aem_bX9NTnmAGAbuwbJqtWe_Iw
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ASSATA_AMANI/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AssataAmaniOfficial
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AssataAmani
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6D7SZCdf5ZUVWK9w9hzmSI?si=MC7JGu5aSAa-POGsnFn2GA
Image Credits
Jamaal Pegues
(https://www.instagram.com/totalmedia_/)