Look at the long careers of David Bowie, Miles Davis, Madonna, Prince, Joni Mitchell, or Paul Simon. Each went through sharply-defined phases, treating each album as a project with a narrow focus.

Be sharp as a knife, cut through the pile of apathy, and make a point.

Imagine the world’s attention as a big squishy pile of apathy — so thick you could cut it with a knife. To call attention to your music, you want to cut through that muck.

Only problem is, if you’re well-rounded, you can’t cut through anything. You need to be sharply defined, like a knife.

Let’s look at a bad example first: Your name is Mary and you... See more