I received an email a few days ago asking to share my thoughts on dealing with criticism, specifically caustic, lazy critique with the sole objective of hurting and bringing down. It’s out there - oh man is it ever - especially in the music world. Handling potentially derailing negativity’s a daily reality if you're committed to sharing your art, and honestly my thought process is pretty straightforward and unoriginal.

Firstly, it's important recognizing that having your soul flattened like a pancake when first encountering this kind of thing is normal and, indeed, necessary. The sad reality is that some people suck, plain and simple. That's not your problem. You're doing great. Keep sharing.

All haters are failures. 100% of the time. No one who’s truly brilliant at anything is a hater. As I’ve written about before, if Stevie Wonder is nothing but love and positivity, what excuse do we have? If I receive a buffoonish email or DM, I empathize with the sender’s collective neurosis - they’re no doubt unhappy for god knows how many reasons, and that’s a bummer. I feel for them, I really do (kind of). Honestly, I welcome silly, mean bullshit, 'cause what it does nowadays is crystalize my only real goal: surround myself with funny people, have fun and work really hard. If I do that, I know I’m bullet proof.