What an Awesome 4 Years

Original in English by Greyson Chance

To my friends:

Greetings, and I guess "Happy Greyson Day". Wow that feels strange to say. Symbolically speaking, today marks something indescribable and the start of a journey that has been occupied by myself and my dearest of friends; all of you. For those of you who don't know why today is special, four years ago, on April 28th, I posted a video of myself performing Lady Gaga's 'Paparazzi'. The video forever changed my life and at certain moments, I find myself looking back with my jaw hanging open. The ride ever since that video has been a mixture of highs, lows, and even some emotional breakdowns (both good and bad). However, now in the present, I began to prepare for the release of my sophomore album that has taken more than two years to grow and create. The truth is, is that it took so long to grow and create, because at the same time I was growing.

I was blessed to be thrust into the business at a young age, twelve to be exact; I use the word thrust because that's truly what it felt like. I had instant success and people all around the country, and the globe, knew my name. It was my dream since I was kid to be a musician and to be someone relatively important within society. And to me, I had begun to reach that goal. However, even at twelve, I was hungry for more and I was ready to put out a record. Throughout the first two years of my artistic existence, I had signed a major-label deal, put out my first album, and toured the world. I was riding the largest high I had experienced in my whole life and I was excited to do it. From these first experiences as an artist, I developed a fan base that I am truly blessed and lucky to have. Kids, just like me, who were eager to find their place in the world and longed to be apart of something important; and luckily, they thought that I was someone of importance. I found myself within these people, within all of you and I continue to relive that feeling everyday. You have stuck with me from those days and until now; and I can't thank you enough.

After my first record was toured-out, promoted-out, and sang WAY too many times (haha), it was time to move to the next. I was around 14-15 at the time. This marks the dark times of my existence in the industry. A little side-note, I have been quite secretive about this part of my career in the past. I have not shared it fully with you all until now. The truth is is that I was slightly embarrassed and didn't want any of you to worry about the uncertainty for the future, because I myself didn't know what the future was going to look like. (Also, I am not trying to depress you with this narrative. I am writing it to fully show the journey that myself and all of you have taken these past four years; and this is a key moment) During the writing of my second record, I got a call from my manager; my label of two years had just dropped me. They did not believe in me anymore and did not think that I was "economically" an asset from them in the future. I was heartbroken. I felt personally betrayed and felt that my friends had just stabbed me in the back. Also, I was angry. I believed that I was doing something special and I sought them for not seeing how special I was. (Now looking back, I am ultimately thankful for that phone call. It gave me a drive and eventually a fire was lit that had never been there before. It was one of the best things to happen to me and I am glad it did; funny how hindsight works huh?) At the time, I did not let the label dropping me affect my career even thought it affected me mentally. I kept on pushing forward with my album and felt strangely confident; still angry though. This confident lasted until three months later, when I got another call. My friend and manager decided it was time that he stepped out of the project and let me go; again, heartbroken. This is when the confidence began to fade and I found myself at a crossroads.

During, as I call it the "Dark Time", I began to value my options. I could keep on fighting for my artistic career or I could say I had a great run and throw in the towel. After months and months of fighting and pushing through and trying to stay strong for my fans and my music, my body was telling me to choose the second option. And for a while, I did indeed choose that second option. I stopped writing music and stayed isolated from the internet, magazines, tv, and any form of social media; nothing about pop culture at the time seemed interesting to me. It wasn't until about two weeks later that I began to scroll through my timeline on Twitter and see all of you tweeting your hearts out. You were all asking for the new record, for new videos, for new anything! I was saddened by the fact that I couldn't give it to you; and that's when my decision turned around. I said "Fuck it, I am going to to do this no matter who are what is behind me," A new form of confidence and determination entered my soul; and it was fueled by you. I began to create again, to think about the new album I wanted to make, and once again I was on a creative high. I scheduled some meetings and found a team that believed in me and believed in my art and my talent. And from then on, making Planet X has been a whirlwind.

As the record is approaching, I found myself constantly looking back at the past and realizing how crucial those dark moments were for me. Even though it was a time of depression, sadness, and heartache, it gave me the confident and drive to write music and to create. I did it because it was my duty as a human-being and to you all. So, as today marks 4 Years of this journey, I am truly grateful. Thank you for your time, your belief, and for you dedication to myself and my art. And do not forget, it is not over. We still have a lot more work to do...

Cheers to another Four Years

and Happy Greyson Day, still feels strange...

-Greyson

Credit to : Greyson Chance