Yo. I promise this long post is worth your time. Today, a friend called to congratulate me on voicing the promos for CNNs Black in America for the fifth year straight. He then asked: Why do they only hire you for the Black show? HIS question is interesting for many reasons. I responded: Its a business decision. When someones thinking about hiring a voice for a show, they think about whos going to be the best voice for that particular show. And they dont have much time to wonder if a certain person is right for the job. For instance, I voiced a show last year and watched the promo and cringed. I was forcing trying to do that spot and it didnt sound right. Yes, I was hired for it and grateful for it, but I dont know if I was the right voice for it. And I didnt get called back for that show this year. WHEN these producers hire talent, they have to show their boss the commercial and it just has to work. The more I do this work, the less personal its becoming. We cant force people to hire us. What we can do is try to become the best in the world at what we do. THIS year, most of the voice work I landed was as the voice promoting political candidates around the country on Hip Hop stations. Look, if Kareem Taylor is the first person that comes to mind for that project, Im okay with that. It just so happens that when CNN puts together Soledad OBrien soundbites, beautiful music and clean graphics, Kareem Taylors voice just works. It gets the job done. I love doing those promos. For the record, I have done three other shows on the network. Sure, I would like to join the ranks of James Earl Jones as the voice of CNN. And maybe one day I will. Im just 26. Im in my early Kanye West producer when no one knew him days lol. I attended a HBCU and we talk a lot about inclusion and assimilation, and Black peoples place in society. Its important to think critically and ask good questions, but I also think we need to balance that with learning how business works. Im not trying to change that particular organization from what they do. But what I can do on my end is always challenge myself in my own work to become more. And I cant depend on any organization or anyone for that matter to define what more is for me. I feel like we spend a lot of our time trying to overthrow the system when really change begins with us. I cant spend my waking hours worrying about why Im not picked for stuff. I did that for quite some time and it was emotionally draining. A lot of aspiring voiceover artists ask whats the secret to booking gigs? I always say I dont know. I really dont know why people call me for certain things. All I know is that I put myself out there to do the work. I worked the last six years and continue to work every day to become good at this. I try my best to connect with people and share with them the work. But I dont know why people pick up the phone to call me. One could imagine its the voice, but there are thousands of people with great or even better voices. I dont know what it is, and look, I dont really need to know. I say all that to say this. CNN, please keep calling a brotha lol :)
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 02:31:03 +0000
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