How Did Kevin Hart Become So Successful?

[Ninjaz In Paris]

It's so many factors that go into any success story but one thing I have noticed with a LOT of people I've seen come & go in pursuing a career in entertainment is that HARD WORK is different for everyone. One person's HARD WORK might be someone else's LAZY. Not only that but it takes nearly a PERFECT STORM of conditions to hit huge & be able to maintain that level of success that unfortunately most people just don't have in them.

Another thing to keep note of is that it's not always about how many moves you make but HOW you make moves. I know cats that have hustled their asses off with talent that are considered complete failures & I also know people who are average to mediocre talented in their craft that have more success than those who hustle 10x harder than them. How? Because they were STRATEGIC in their move making.

For example, I've seen local artists in cities with low visibility hustle harder than anyone I've ever seen. These dudes will stay in the studio, writing verse after verse, making song after song, photo shoots, live performances, songs on radio during regular hours, social media promoting, mixtape after mixtape, etc for YEARS only to burn themselves out completely having done more work in their years coming up than most do in their entire successful careers. Meanwhile another artist will be STRATEGIC & plan out their 6-9 months of marketing & moves they make to go to a city like Los Angeles that has high visibility & within a few months will capture the attention of the right people that can further their career more than anyone in the previous mentioned artist's local scene.

Another factor is PERSONALITY. It's a lot of people that can't perceive the difference between someone like Katt Williams & Kevin Hart until you've been around both long enough. Who you are as a person can also dictate how far you'll go because the people who can move your career to where you need & want to be have to be able to get along with you. I know so many artists & producers who stay smoking in the studio, being lazy when the social media phone camera's are off, have mentality issues as far as business goes & carry themselves unprofessionally. Then want to turn around & wonder why someone else is having more success when that person might be easier to work with, maintains a level head & carries themselves like a professional.

People do grow into Diva's who initially may have been humble & they become difficult to work with & only get work based on their current level of success. Meanwhile someone who stays grounded will have people around them that want to push them further & see them succeed so that plays a HUGE factor. People only see what they want you to see & want you to hear to give you this image that they are so hard working but they could also have shytty personalities & be a headache to be around.

It's a LOT of factors that play into success in Entertainment outside of being directly put on by someone. Kevin Hart has a GREAT reputation in Hollywood & behind the scenes. He's genuine, he works hard, he helps others, stays professional at all times & is overall an easy person to work with. People love him & so they push for him & are eager to work with him, it's simple. If he got big & became a shytty person who was difficult to work with, constantly late to meetings & treated people like shyt he'd have fallen off a long time ago.

It's no different than having a job... Life is what you make of it but unfortunately most people don't see themselves as others see them & it deludes them into entitlements & lack of understanding...

 

[Dave24]

It's so many factors that go into any success story but one thing I have noticed with a LOT of people I've seen come & go in pursuing a career in entertainment is that HARD WORK is different for everyone. One person's HARD WORK might be someone else's LAZY. Not only that but it takes nearly a PERFECT STORM of conditions to hit huge & be able to maintain that level of success that unfortunately most people just don't have in them.

Another thing to keep note of is that it's not always about how many moves you make but HOW you make moves. I know cats that have hustled their asses off with talent that are considered complete failures & I also know people who are average to mediocre talented in their craft that have more success than those who hustle 10x harder than them. How? Because they were STRATEGIC in their move making.

For example, I've seen local artists in cities with low visibility hustle harder than anyone I've ever seen. These dudes will stay in the studio, writing verse after verse, making song after song, photo shoots, live performances, songs on radio during regular hours, social media promoting, mixtape after mixtape, etc for YEARS only to burn themselves out completely having done more work in their years coming up than most do in their entire successful careers. Meanwhile another artist will be STRATEGIC & plan out their 6-9 months of marketing & moves they make to go to a city like Los Angeles that has high visibility & within a few months will capture the attention of the right people that can further their career more than anyone in the previous mentioned artist's local scene.

Another factor is PERSONALITY. It's a lot of people that can't perceive the difference between someone like Katt Williams & Kevin Hart until you've been around both long enough. Who you are as a person can also dictate how far you'll go because the people who can move your career to where you need & want to be have to be able to get along with you. I know so many artists & producers who stay smoking in the studio, being lazy when the social media phone camera's are off, have mentality issues as far as business goes & carry themselves unprofessionally. Then want to turn around & wonder why someone else is having more success when that person might be easier to work with, maintains a level head & carries themselves like a professional.

People do grow into Diva's who initially may have been humble & they become difficult to work with & only get work based on their current level of success. Meanwhile someone who stays grounded will have people around them that want to push them further & see them succeed so that plays a HUGE factor. People only see what they want you to see & want you to hear to give you this image that they are so hard working but they could also have shytty personalities & be a headache to be around.

It's a LOT of factors that play into success in Entertainment outside of being directly put on by someone. Kevin Hart has a GREAT reputation in Hollywood & behind the scenes. He's genuine, he works hard, he helps others, stays professional at all times & is overall an easy person to work with. People love him & so they push for him & are eager to work with him, it's simple. If he got big & became a shytty person who was difficult to work with, constantly late to meetings & treated people like shyt he'd have fallen off a long time ago.

It's no different than having a job... Life is what you make of it but unfortunately most people don't see themselves as others see them & it deludes them into entitlements & lack of understanding...

How do you become strategic in your move making? Is that something you just have to go with your gut?

 

[Ninjaz In Paris]

How do you become strategic in your move making? Is that something you just have to go with your gut?

I honestly believe it's something you just have to have or be able to develop that level of Wisdom. I have friends in the Music Industry that have been in the industry for over 10 years that still struggle to get work meanwhile my friend who broke down to me "it's about HOW you move" has been in the game less than 5 years & has actually had more placements, singles, bigger name social media wise, more success in general, etc because he knew WHAT to do. Some cats just work hard to work hard without actually thinking about the work they're doing if that makes sense.

For example. Artist A does 3 open mics a week at the same club for 2 years straight & has released 5 mixtapes over the course of that time with little to no growth in their fanbase & little movement in their success. Meanwhile Artist B decides to do 1 open mic a week at MULTIPLE locations around the city from the northside to the westside to the southside. Artist B concentrates on 1 mixtape over the course of those 2 years & the songs on that mixtape become KNOWN because people from ALL OVER the city have heard them multiple times as opposed to Artist A releasing music all the time with no effort to push a CONCENTRATED SINGLE.

When someone in a position of power comes to the city & asks who is popping... it's gonna be easier to remember Artist B who pushed the same product all over the city & established a splash in multiple locations as opposed to Artist A who released so much music in such limited space they didn't leave an impression on anybody that lasted.

Makes sense?

 

[Dave24]

I honestly believe it's something you just have to have or be able to develop that level of Wisdom. I have friends in the Music Industry that have been in the industry for over 10 years that still struggle to get work meanwhile my friend who broke down to me "it's about HOW you move" has been in the game less than 5 years & has actually had more placements, singles, bigger name social media wise, more success in general, etc because he knew WHAT to do. Some cats just work hard to work hard without actually thinking about the work they're doing if that makes sense.

For example. Artist A does 3 open mics a week at the same club for 2 years straight & has released 5 mixtapes over the course of that time with little to no growth in their fanbase & little movement in their success. Meanwhile Artist B decides to do 1 open mic a week at MULTIPLE locations around the city from the northside to the westside to the southside. Artist B concentrates on 1 mixtape over the course of those 2 years & the songs on that mixtape become KNOWN because people from ALL OVER the city have heard them multiple times as opposed to Artist A releasing music all the time with no effort to push a CONCENTRATED SINGLE.

When someone in a position of power comes to the city & asks who is popping... it's gonna be easier to remember Artist B who pushed the same product all over the city & established a splash in multiple locations as opposed to Artist A who released so much music in such limited space they didn't leave an impression on anybody that lasted.

Makes sense?

Yeah that makes sense, appreciate it man for clarifying.

 

[RadaMillz]

Hard work, dude probably gets no sleep with the amount of movies his doing. His constantly working.

He doesn't make me laugh, but I appreciate him capitolizing on the oppertunity.

 

[scarlxrd]

Twitter and hard work

 

[WheresWallace]

What about Jerrod Carmichael?

 

[King Poetic]

By divorcing his crazy ass wife in 2011

 

[WheresWallace]

Yall complaining about Kev not talking about race...he doesn't need to. He keeps it neutral and takes the money he makes and gives back to his community.

I rather a celeb NEVER talk about race but give money to black people who need it, than a black celeb who preaches all the time and does nothing substantive for the community. Even worse, he gets ostracized for being vocal and is not in a position to do something for the community even if he wanted to.

Play Chess, not checkers.

 

[Rayzah]

He's getting money but his place among great comedians like Murphy,Pryor, and Seinfield will be a great debate

That's debatable and it doesn Matter if YOU don't think he is as funny as those guys. He is where he is at because he didn't fukk up his opportunity he didn't run away from the lime light. He entertains his core fan base and doesn't worry about who y'all think he isn't as funny as.

The question was why is he the man right now. Because he maximized his moment in the spotlight, he is funny enough to remain on top right now let's discuss his place in history once his career is over

 

[New Username]

Decades of hard work

 

[Doomsday]

Another factor is PERSONALITY. It's a lot of people that can't perceive the difference between someone like Katt Williams & Kevin Hart until you've been around both long enough. Who you are as a person can also dictate how far you'll go because the people who can move your career to where you need & want to be have to be able to get along with you. I know so many artists & producers who stay smoking in the studio, being lazy when the social media phone camera's are off, have mentality issues as far as business goes & carry themselves unprofessionally. Then want to turn around & wonder why someone else is having more success when that person might be easier to work with, maintains a level head & carries themselves like a professional.

Facts.

A lot of internet pocket watchers just don't understand this. Why can't an anti-social guy like me get on?

End of the day there are thousands of people behind the curtain that make the show go. You have to have people like you in order to get by. It's that simple.

 

[International Playa]

Funny how he dumped his overweight wife after he blew up.


Got himself a lighty, model like chick lol

 

[Hyperion]

He's brilliant at marketing in this era. His popularity and influence on social media is almost unparalleled. The Run With Hart shyt he did with Nike was genius.

Level headed.

He did the Will Smith thing - he works every movie or event to the absolute bone. Hits every market. I live in London, every movie he puts out he'll be here promoting it. He's rarely a sole headliner but he will go out and promote internationally by himself.

And then there's the consistency. Every year, a new standup special. A tour. Movies.

It's true. Both Will Smith and Kevin Hart are known for their exceptional work ethic -- something most people can only dream of, but are too lazy to really go and do it. Any Instagram post you see him post, it has the hashtag #HustleHart on it and is very vocal about putting in the work in order to get to where you want to be. He doesn't sell dreams, and neither does Will. They're very grounded and this is how they end up successful.

In the words of Eric Thomas, "Average Skill, Phenomenal Will." You can have all the skill in the world, but if you don't apply it correctly or at all... You're going nowhere. People need to worry more about their work ethic and less about whether they're talented or not. You can develop skills, you can learn new things. Work Ethic is character. That requires a deep change inside of you.

I honestly believe it's something you just have to have or be able to develop that level of Wisdom. I have friends in the Music Industry that have been in the industry for over 10 years that still struggle to get work meanwhile my friend who broke down to me "it's about HOW you move" has been in the game less than 5 years & has actually had more placements, singles, bigger name social media wise, more success in general, etc because he knew WHAT to do. Some cats just work hard to work hard without actually thinking about the work they're doing if that makes sense.

For example. Artist A does 3 open mics a week at the same club for 2 years straight & has released 5 mixtapes over the course of that time with little to no growth in their fanbase & little movement in their success. Meanwhile Artist B decides to do 1 open mic a week at MULTIPLE locations around the city from the northside to the westside to the southside. Artist B concentrates on 1 mixtape over the course of those 2 years & the songs on that mixtape become KNOWN because people from ALL OVER the city have heard them multiple times as opposed to Artist A releasing music all the time with no effort to push a CONCENTRATED SINGLE.

When someone in a position of power comes to the city & asks who is popping... it's gonna be easier to remember Artist B who pushed the same product all over the city & established a splash in multiple locations as opposed to Artist A who released so much music in such limited space they didn't leave an impression on anybody that lasted.

Makes sense?

I understand this. It's basically the idea of an artist choosing to work hard AND work smart. The way I'm interpreting Artist B's mentality is... Artist B understands the fact it's quality over quantity, and that flooding the market isn't going to bring them more fans... contrary to popular belief. People have to know who you are and be invested enough to check out what you have to offer. To maximize their success, they figured that if they want to have the widest reach, logically they're going to have step out of their comfort zone and into different locations and venues. So they go all over the city and do open mic nights all over, and because Artist B is a fresh face, that's more fans they gain compared to sticking to the same club for years without venturing out. Artist B is also able to figure out what their demographic is due to that, and who is more likely to buy their music by having the fans follow them back on their social media platforms after a show or performance. Once Artist B has the social media platform on lock, they can then interact with their fan base even more, in order to get to know them more and get a feel on what they like. Finally, when Artist B is comfortable enough with the feedback in their own fan base, they can then drop a single and then a project not too long after. Due to them already being connected with the fans, they can do even MORE promotion and shows, but this time, they also have their previously gained fans also promoting Artist B, opening the door for them gaining even newer fans, and so on.

I know I essentially just repeated what you said in your post, but I think this breakdown is really important to understand. The answer isn't always to drop a ton of songs and send it out to the world. It's knowing what's going to resonate, and finding out how to maximize that effect. This is essentially why Drake is able to make hit after hit. He has the quality product, he knows which song in particular is going to resonate, and then he boosts that by knowing when and where to drop it. I study artists and how they move a lot, and this is what I came up with. It's definitely strategic thinking, and artists need to be able to think smarter in 2016 and beyond. If they can study people and learn how things work, they can create a following all by themselves. That's essentially what Hopsin did, and look at him now. (I know people don't like him, but he's proof that this works.)

 

[Rollo Goodlove]

Hard work dedication he said it himself