Hate & Resentment leads you nowhere fast — When I lost my deal, I spent an insane amount of time feeling stuck. Life and progression in my experiences first come with acceptance. Even having the opportunity to speak with you now came from admitting to myself “I’m lost, but how CAN I move into a direction to achieve my goals.” There’s no such a thing as something being impossible or too late. Also, wrath leads to an endless circle because no man controls the act of Karma.
As a part of our series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist” I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Seuss.
Michael Seuss is an Emcee, Artist, and Mogul. He is the owner of Golden Age Media & Entertainment which is the umbrella for several ongoing projects. Originally from New York but moved to Florida at a young age, where he currently calls home. Some claim he is a visionary or a genius while others have a vastly different opinion, all the same he is humble but proud of what he has accomplished.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Absolutely! Thank you for having me. I grew up between New York and Pine Hills in unincorporated Orange County in Central Florida. One aspect of my early childhood was perfect, the other portion was filled with isolation and survival. I had few friends, music and video games kept me from getting too involved in the streets. I was either around nerds or people who were involved in gangs, very few in between. My home life encouraged education, with self-taught knowledge, practically receiving a borderline separate home-schooled education, while still being in public school. I have traveled a lot since I was young and exposed to various cultures and places. An original NY-FL boy.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
One of my biggest aspirations when I was young was to be a celebrity chef. I was accepted to a culinary program at Mid-Florida Technical College. There were many circumstances that led to my unfortunate expulsion that fully pushed me into pursuing my real dream of music. When this happened Two close friends (One formally being Sean Da Rookie) gave me some perspective. I was 18 and had nothing to lose with not being in school anymore. They reassured me on my talent and drive, so I did everything possible to start my music career.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
In my early 20’s I was recognized for my talents and got a record deal with 5pm Records which was a subsidiary of Sony. I was so excited; however, it didn’t pan out exactly the way I thought it would. While it was a great deal there were a lot of situations and activities that I was a part of that ended up being detrimental to both my career and my mental health. Music, the thing I loved doing the most in the world, was giving me angst. The environment I was in and the people I had around caused me to have a love/hate relationship with music. I decided to push pause on my music career for a while to get in a better headspace.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
My album has been done for a long time; due to its age I’ve added a second disk making it a double album. There will absolutely be an EP this year, and I’m figuring out which stand-alone singles to drop in between. There will 100% be new music this year and I am planning a big launch party to celebrate my full return to the music scene.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
One day I had an intense conversation with Pete Rock on Twitter. We had very strong opposing opinions on certain things in the music industry as a whole. He is one of my favorite producers. During that conversation he had made a comment about not wanting to click on a link and listen to my music, but he wanted to be exposed to it in passing by a third party source. We went back and forth arguing about semantic details. I don’t know if he ever ended up listening to it but just knowing he had a chance to and refused made me a bit upset. The interaction did end on a positive note though.
Where do you draw inspiration from? Can you share a story about that?
Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, and of course Dr. Seuss. As I child we used to visit family in CT. I was young, maybe 4 or 5 years old when my cousin first introduced me to the Nas Illmatic album. From then on, I was hooked. As I got older, I began to dive into the music deeper. I studied and took notes on the artists, the lyrics, the music. It was fascinating to me, and I wanted to learn as much as I could.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
For right now, I do my best to bring goodness through my music and energy to the people around me. As I grow my platform and notoriety, I plan on achieving some philanthropic goals. One I’ll be outright open about is providing grants to Black & Latina single mothers and providing opportunities for children to record music from grade K through 12 and providing scholarships to those in said program.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- Hate & Resentment leads you nowhere fast — When I lost my deal, I spent an insane amount of time feeling stuck. Life and progression in my experiences first come with acceptance. Even having the opportunity to speak with you now came from admitting to myself “I’m lost, but how CAN I move into a direction to achieve my goals.” There’s no such a thing as something being impossible or too late. Also, wrath leads to an endless circle because no man controls the act of Karma.
- Do not compare yourself to others — Success is relative and subjective. You and I may agree on the terms of what may make one successful; however, God is in the details. Anyone in a position where their hard work is paying off must continue said work to maintain it. No one besides said person, fully knows the details of what those entail. When we focus on what we’re doing with knowledge of self and a clear goal in mind we carve our own path.
- Focus on your business and make sure to have a high enough source of income — In my youth, I taken advantage of my skill sets and networking abilities. I didn’t pay for really anything and was signed without any social media. Young Michael was ignorant and arrogant to think this was an advantage. Every time something went wrong in my early career, it could’ve been solved within days if I had humbled myself to get a job. Also, it would’ve eliminated the need to rely on those who contributed to said certain issues. Also, releasing music without your business in order (for free) was in my opinion foolish. I sold myself short and with all that hard work you should see a return on your investment of time, passion, and art. Royalty checks that come in can also help on a rainy day. It also helps bigger names and companies take you seriously, especially as an independent artist.
- Blind loyalty is a figurative car wreck waiting to derail your career — Appreciation is vital in maintaining good relationships, but all parties are responsible for keeping said relationships healthy. Even if you’re working with a significant other or your best friends, make sure your obligations don’t become toxic. The only person you owe loyalty towards is yourself, because if you aren’t healthy mentally and physically you cannot help anyone else. Your career cannot flourish if you aren’t improving and getting what you need done. Get rid of anyone or anything that blocks your progress.
- Take time out for yourself- This is the simplest yet important out of the five. Self-care and keeping yourself mentally and physically in shape will place you in a position where you cannot fail. Explore hobbies and build a life outside of work, separate from who you build with. Rarely mix them and set part time to allow yourself to have fun. I didn’t have fun outside my music for a decade and missed out on a lot of potential fun.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Great influence, Ah you’ve made my day! One day I hope to inspire a movement of self-improvement & reliance. In a world where our focuses are our similarities, and not petty differences that divide us. I mentioned earlier that I have a huge aspiration to start a music scholarship program for young children of minority mothers. This resonates with me personally and it is very important to me.
We have been blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she just might see this.
Seeing how much the music industry has changed since I was younger, streaming and content taking over, I feel as if some of the industry leaders have a huge opportunity to make big changes. I have many ideas that I would love to discuss with music industry leaders if I ever had the chance.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
IG- @Seussthaalphamc
Twitter — @MichaelSeuss
Facebook — ThaEmceeSuess
YouTube — @MichaelSeuss
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Michael Seuss: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.