On a serious note: What's wrong with just being yourself and admitting you are a struggling artist who's trying to make it? That's the way it was & people were more prone to support.
Now a days everybody is "Hustling," "Trying to eat." "Have kids to feed," "Doing it big" etc. The rap game is not welfare or a charity. You got kids to feed? Get yourself a fuckin' job Homie. Don't tell me how famous your going to be or how tight you are for me to pay you. Or your selling verses because that's how you eat and feed your family. I give two shits about that. Believing your time is valuable and you should be paid for it is hilarious. Your not famous or have shit to do. That hustle is shallow & played out.
Nobody wants to admit they work a regular job to survive. Everybody is a rapper or musically inclined. They've been into music since they were kids. Everybody is talented, but the reality is, they're not musically inclined, they're not talented & being into music as a kid is the norm. That doesn't make you an inspiring artist from day one.
Of course there are some artist who are cut from that cloth & were born to be into music & be performers / entertainers. But since the rap thing came into play and it was accessible to record & make beats on your home computer, everybody & they're mama became rappers and producers. Even the ones who don't rap or produce all of a sudden became managers. Having no knowledge of what is the exact job description of a being manger is all about.
Everybody is seriously going out of their way to portray an image of having money. From the broke ass rapper who's trying to sell his verses & his Cd's to the regular John Doe on social networks like Facebook & down to the underground barber who cuts hair out of his garage. Everybody is supposedly making money & doing it big.
Nobody wants to admit they're struggling now a days. Swap meet chains, Phantom kits, money stacks & a whole lot of gum bumping do not make you a famous rich rapper. They're showing everything, but the hit record as I've stated before.
The excuse of not measuring success by being on T.V. or the radio etc. is a crock of shit. Many will claim they don't need or ever do that, but I've watched a whole lot of people turn bitch & ride coat tails to get their 15 minutes of fame. Anything to get famous. They claim they won't sell out, but if they're Homie or someone they did a song with becomes semi famous they're the first to turn bitch and ride that man's dick.
This is happening everywhere. The music is fading, the rich image is what's in & what remains is a whole talk of how much money everybody is making. In reality everybody is broke or highly in debt for trying to keep up with the Jones'.