How to Overcome a Creative Block in 24 Hours
Why one-day projects might be your most valuable tool
Creative blocks are the bane of every person’s existence. These ruts could go on for a week, a month, a year, or even decades. After all, life happens, time gets thin, and expectations get higher. The most consistent solution is simple: to set a tight deadline, and to deliver something by that time. And possibly to do this over, and over, and over again. While he might not have been facing a creative block, on August 9, 2021, recording artist Lupe Fiasco tweeted:
Finna do an album from scratch in 24 hours…
1 song in…
9 to go…
Last time I did this Stack was alive…
I appreciated that Lupe Fiasco announced he would be recording an album in such a short time. It reminds me of Kanye West’s genre-bending 808s and Heartbreak was recorded in a mere three weeks. As Kanye acknowledged during its press run, he could have launched it as a mixtape, which a more conventional artist probably would’ve done when they were trying something new.
But, he didn’t. Kanye wanted 808s to hold the weight of an album, so that fans — and critics — would take it seriously and soak it in. He “decided not to worry about what was on [the] radio at that time…
