Skylar Grey Turns Her Rejection Story Into Celebration Of Art

A singer/songwriter behind one of the most successful songs in history is planning to go live with her songs that got rejected by others.

Even an artist as talented and successful as Skylar has to deal with rejection. Sometimes it is too much.

Earlier this year Skylar made a decision to only write songs to yourself. Now she shared the story that became a turning point in her career:

I’m not having fun anymore.
This industry leaves me in a constant state of confusion about myself, my art, my abilities, and what I’m doing.
Is it just me or does every artist feel this way?

Everyone’s an expert only no one is…
We are supposedly making art but sometimes it feels more like we’re actually trying to create a shampoo that appeals to the masses… Strategy, branding, platforms… we are corporations.

I’m supposed to feel inspired… to be creative and make art. But hat it’s not “on brand” ore doesn’t please the “expert” I pivot and turn… Until I’m lost in a sea of total uncertainty about what I’m doing and who I am… It’s so goddamn confusing bro…

It feels like nothing I do is ever good enough.

I never set out to write songs for other artists, it happened by accident. And I went with it because it paid well. But I always just wanted to be an artist.

This year I made a decision to stop writing for other people and follow my artist dream. The writing industry was spiritually unfulfilling… worked on a lot of music I didn’t enjoy.

Also I dealt with A LOT of rejection. Too many times, I’d spend weeks and money and energy on a song, then turn it in just to be completely GHOSTED.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was earlier this year. I got asked to work on a song for Idina Menzel in the new Cinderella movie that’s set to drop next year. I was so excited, got in the studio with Idina, and made a really sick song. Spent WEEKS on the intricate production of the song.

The director gave me some notes which I spent additional time fixing… Then out of nowhere the director Kay Canon just stopped responding to me. I reached out and offered to write another song if she wasn’t happy with it…
GHOSTED

At least Idina was nice enough to call me and let me know they made another song. And I’m not trying to come down on Kay for ghosting me, I’m sure she’s a very busy lady.

Point is, I said enough is enough. All the time I spent on that song could have been spent on a song for ME. Why am I sacrificing my brain power and talent and time for this shit?

But now, after focusing since then on my own art, I’m faced with new challenges. And I’m just about ready to say fuck it. Fuck the whole goddamn thing.

I’m not strong enough for this industry.
Not confident enough.
My skin isn’t thick enough even after all these years.

After that Skylar’s DMs got filled to the brim with messages of support and encouragement. Skylar posted some of them together with the words of gratitude to her fans. Also, she came up with an exciting idea:

It felt sooooo good letting it all out… there’s so much I hold inside in fear of getting in “trouble” for speaking out and I just can’t do it anymore… therefore…
Who’s down for an Instagram live listening session where I play you songs that have been rejected?

That would be an interesting session for sure.