There's nothing that breaks my heart more than seeing a quality artist fall off. When I say fall off, I'm describing someone who was consistent as hell, dropping songs in timely manners, visuals, had shows, was getting the recognition they deserved simply by working hard.

Then, out of nowhere, everything stops.

It seems as if this artist has fallen off the face of the earth.

Now, as much as I preach consistency, I do understand that life gets in the way.

People fall off for various reasons: management changes, lack of funds, family issues, creative issues, etc. Things happen. And sometimes, there's more to life than recording a song in someone's studio.

But you know what else breaks my heart? Seeing the same artist who has fell off, but can't get back on to save his or her life!

This mistake is due to artists trying to change their image, rather than rejuvenating it.

Rule #1 - Create The Right Image.

To me, the "right" is simply whatever works for you. I'm not a fan of gimmicks, but if a gimmick is what makes you happy and what makes people pay attention to you, then prosper with that.

Rule #2 -  Reinforce Your Previous Image.

I noticed that the artists who follow trends have the most issues with this rule. This is because they are forced to quickly adapt to whatever's popular in music at the moment, without really getting to know themselves as a singular artist. In contrast, for the artists that are in their own lanes, this rule can prove to be beneficial to them.  Reinforcing who you are is simply doing small marketing moves to let people know who you are.  Whether it's starting a trending topic about your latest song or performing some old songs at a show, just remember you want to play on the positive points of your personality.

For example, Kanye West has evolved as an artist, but in our conscious, we still know him as the cocky lyricist. That image of him has never changed, it's just reinforced by each project he puts out.

Rule #3 - Add New Elements To Your Image, But NEVER Change It.

I'll use Nicki Minaj as an example.. when she first came out, we were used to her being the type of artist who could go toe to toe with her male counterparts. Then, she started doing pop music type songs. Many felt that she abandoned her old image, but in reality, she just added new elements. Even over those bubblegum beats, Nicki was still going hard.

For artists, adding new elements to your image can range from anything like broadening your topics to switching up your marketing campaign. Changing an image is not a good move, simply because it's extremely hard to do. As long as you maintain consistency, adding new elements to your image should be pretty conducive for you.

So if you fell off, don't feel bad! Just know that with some work, you'll be back at it again!

Remember: