“Yo, let’s collab” has been dropped into my DM over the years so often that I actually don’t even know the actual count. From artists, from models, from clients, coffee shops, small businesses, food trucks, and musicians alike - all asking for a collab that had always left me scratching my head.

What even is a collab?

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As someone who loves clarity, my first inquiry is whether or not the person messaging me even understands what it is I do, or what I’m good at. If I counted 100 times of me being asked to do a collab, I’d say that about 70 of those requests came from people who either just clicked “Follow” and then “DM” or didn’t follow me at all. Of those 70, about 60 would go on to unfollow me if and when I had follow up questions, and then 1 would go on to block me. This article is going to have some pieces to it that will sound a bit snobbish (and I accept that), but I’ll kick it up a notch and say that I actually don’t like the idea of a collab at all. And when you look at the reasons and experiences why, you realize that “collabs” have died and most creatives killed it.

THE WORK

I’m going to nerd out and say that the root word of collaborate is “labor”. Two people, splitting or even double-teaming the labor is really the idea behind the concept. Think of a creative and a strategist. A swordsman and an archer. One person’s got short-range covered and the other has long range. It’s supposed to create a balance in the labor to bring the finished product to life, which is where most creatives get collaboration wrong, in my opinion.

What is the finished product? What is the finished work we will be producing?

Far too many people looking to collab actually don’t have anything in mind at all and, in my experience, haven’t really wanted to stay around for the ideation process at all. So, the work begins for me at the moment of the request. If an artist has a song they’d like to bring to life, it isn’t collaboration, it’s actually booking me to shoot a music video - for free. If a business has a product they want me to shoot, then they’re booking me for a brand/product shoot - for free. If a model would like me to shoot a video for them at one of their favorite locations in town, then they’re booking me for a video shoot, for their portfolio - for free. The labor isn’t split because when they go home and sit waiting for the collaboration request on Instagram, I am actually going home, reviewing footage and beginning the editing process to create the product - for free.

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THE PROXIMITY

In 2017, Issa Rae (Capricorn, Jan. 12th) dropped a gem that I do think was highly valuable and game-changing.

“Who’s next to you? Who’s struggling? Who’s in the trenches with you? Who’s just as hungry as you are? And those are the people that you need to build with.”

Issa Rae

Here’s the thing, I agree with Issa Rae. We all have the opportunity to network and collaborate with people around us who are at our level and in the same environments as us. When you think of communities, places, and people, it’s impossible not to be in awe and wonder of the level of talent, vision, and execution in those places and everyone is literally missing the one puzzle piece to make something great. When I think of great duos, I think of Chris Nolan and Hans Zimmer. I think of Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson. I think of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. Kid Cudi and Dot the Genius. Visionaries and their yangs. One behind the camera, the other feeding the frame music that carries. One with the musical intelligence and the other withe vocal aperture to make things that sound like nothing into something great.

In the 2021 documentary, A Man Named Scott, Dot the Genius spoke about Kid Cudi’s process of making music in the early Myspace days. Dot had produced music “underground” for otherwise street artists making gangsta rap about selling drugs and then Cudi ended up living with him in Brooklyn and gave him direction on how to make “Day ‘N Nite” sound more, melodic.

When you think of how university systems work to randomly generate room and boarding, the universe put Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson as roommates in 2007. They now have multiple Oscars together. When Issa Rae mentions “the trenches”, she truly means the networking, creating, growing together, and going together. The wins are shared just as much as the losses are.

In 1982, Sam Raimi shot Evil Dead on a $15,000 budget with Bruce Campbell and the rest is fucking history.

Collaboration has to be treated as a true relationship, not just the eyes emojis in the DMs for a one-night creative booty call.

THE LACK OF BALANCE

Creativity is an energy, and it’s not conductive in the way people think it is. It doesn’t just rub off onto you if you’re in the same space as other creative people. I find that sometimes we want to be in the space and watch the magic happen, but we may sometimes have very little to offer. I have always been very interested in metal work. I admit that’s one of those things randomly on my YouTube and TikTok algorithm; people forging metal out of furnaces, hammering them and then making swords, hammers, shields and random stuff. In the trenches, I probably have nothing to offer but complaints about the heat, questions, and a 5’11 body that’s in the way probably causing safety concerns.

And then comes the greatest imbalance, sometimes: feedback.

In a world of microwaved consumption, comes microwaved feedback.

“I don’t like it.” - Why?

“It’s not working for me?” - Why not?

What don’t you like? What’s not working for you? Do you understand what we were aiming for?

If two creatives didn’t organically birth the project, and there was no scope, then how can we even say it’s not hitting a target that was never established in the first place.

For the artist who crawled into the DMs and asks for a collab, you simply haven’t been around long enough to understand the targets and what’s important to me at all, other than seeing a reel with 30,000 views and my 3900 or so followers. There’s a lot of seeing where I am, but not seeing where I see myself going. Between the work and proximity, we easily create an imbalanced relationship that produces a thing that may not be an actual product for anyone at all.

When I launched my Discord community, one of the primary channels that were immediately created was Content Haus. It was designated to be that digital space where we could share and receive feedback on our respective content, the build that working relationship to grow into collaboration. We’ve been sharing resources, news, insights, and also giving people the inspiration from our own finished or in-progress works to get theirs going. It was also a hub to ask for help.

Asking for help is fucking hard, especially if you’re still very early on in the ideation phase. Ideation is just too early to think about collaboration sometimes, and that’s because some people need an explanation while other need an example. Some people need the vision explained while other need to see a tangible framework - something. That presents a challenge because some creatives have all the ideas in their minds, while others can work through communicating those ideas into presentations, briefs, etc., so knowing yourself - whether you’re an explainer or a presenter - is just as important as knowing who you’re collaborating with.

SO, WHAT IS COLLABORATION

When I think of collaboration, I actually think of Content Haus very often, but in deeper respects to MRVL WRLD’s theme of Collective Effort.

If everyone is actively working on their own projects and there’s an actual feedback loop, then familiarity and relationships give way to proper collaboration. It’s a potluck of expertise and experience. Real-time execution actually becomes on-the-job learning. Think of Lil Yachty and Drake in the gif. It’s constructive feedback that also finishes the puzzle, but ultimately collaboration has to happen in real-time.

My perfect vision for collaboration would be a collective of creatives, artists, musicians, dancers, MUAs, hair and makeup, lighting specialists, photographers, models, technicians, and strategists all together who can take up a physical space where creation can happen as suddenly as someone can sneeze. Because creativity is an energy, and in order for it to be conductive, it has to be present. Videographer and photographers talking about lighting and lenses; writers and directors talking about framing; and everyone taking their place in the arms and legs to bring Voltron upright.

With respect to the development of projects like "Left on Read”, I think about this often. I admit to reaching out to high-level supporters to be part of my vision, especially seeing that many of them are creatives as well, but I’m also recognizing that it’s time for me to practice this very sermon and start working with a designated circle of creatives who are doers, who are executing, and who can bring value on both the front-end and back-end of projects.

I’ve done many projects alone, and it’s gotten me to a good place, but I also know that going further would also require more hands on deck to steer the boat clear. From “The Perfectionist”, “The Capricorn Season Shoot”, and more - working together looks like it can all be done that easily, but the truth is, every creative can use this level of feedback, rather than operating in a vacuum, or worse - depending on AI.

Comment below on your thoughts and let me know what is more important to you when working on collaborative projects with other creatives.