Technology + Creativity = Everything. Meet Steve Lacy...

...The Hot New Hip-Hop Producer Who Does Everything on His iPhone

So there's another 18 year old who (probably) spends too much time on his phone... but this kid has turned his tinkering into the pretty impressive start of a career. Why do I like these stories so much? Two reasons:

1. Technology Enables DIY Awesomeness

This has to be the best time in history for DIY creators (thank you Moore's Law). Watching my own kids as they program Lego robots for competitions? I'm so excited for them as I think about the tools I was using at the same age (grid paper & a ratty Dungeon Masters Guide). I can't wait to see what all the Steve Lacy's of the world end up creating.

2. Implications Across All Creative Media... Including Video

"Lacy’s smartphone has been his personal studio since he first started making music. He’s working this way to prove a point: that tools don’t really matter."

It's an idea that's been a bit slower to come to the video production business, but we're getting there. Sure, some creative platforms are more technically complex than others, but this same story will soon be written with some other kid's name in there who's breaking into - & breaking up - the film business.

Outside of North America we are already seeing this:

The most recent Vice News includes an interview with a Nigerian director who talks about the cheap & cheerful production capabilities enabling a country to create their own popular culture... & not be as reliant on North American exports.

The most exciting takeaway - whether it's from Nigeria or an LA recording studio - is this:

"He wants to remind people that the performance, the song, the feeling matter more than the gear you use to record it. If you want to make something, Lacy tells me, grab whatever you have and just make it."

So yeah... just start making stuff and remember that your audience probably doesn't care how you did it. That part's probably just you. Thank you Steve Lacy :-)