the luxury of bad art - by Rona Wang - return on net assets

Recently, I’ve been trying to record music. I have a mic setup thanks to the rap class I’m taking this semester with Lupe Fiasco; my living group has a piano keyboard, and I’ve downloaded MuseScore. It’s my first time approaching music as a creative outlet, and to be honest, I’m not very good—some of it comes from a lack of experience, but I also suspect I don’t have the voice to ever become better than a mediocre singer. I became interested in songwriting after listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour album and realizing how wonderfully she captured the pains of first love, first heartbreak, teenage insecurity. Her songs climbed the Billboard Hot 100 because they resonated with so many people, because they bridged the distance between souls in crisply-produced three-minute bundles. Her music reminded me of what I’ve tried to do for a long time, with my writing, with my fiction, with this Substack. Life is less lonely when somebody sees you. Feelings become more manageable when they exist so

Recently, I’ve been trying to record music. I have a mic setup thanks to the rap class I’m taking this semester with Lupe Fiasco; my living group has a piano keyboard, and I’ve downloaded MuseScore. It’s my first time approaching music as a creative outlet, and to be honest, I’m not very good—some of it comes from a lack of experience, but I also suspect I don’t have the voice to ever become better than a mediocre singer. I became interested in songwriting after listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour album and realizing how wonderfully she captured the pains of first love, first heartbreak, teenag