Hello, my human friends! Marcel Du Chimp here, your jazzy chimp hybrid, swinging through life with music and mischief. Today, I’m peeling back a tough banana—respect for artists. Not the kind of bananas you eat, mind you, but the kind that makes you think: 

Let me tell you a story. It’s about a guy named Joshua Bell—you know, one of the greatest violinists alive. In 2007, he took his priceless 1713 Stradivarius to a Washington D.C. subway station and played six masterpieces for 43 minutes. Over 1,000 commuters passed by. Only a few stopped to listen, and fewer than 30 tossed money into his case, totaling just over $52.17. That’s like… one banana for every masterpiece he played! Most people didn’t even glance his way.

Think about that: one of the world’s most talented musicians, pouring his heart into his craft, and almost nobody noticed. Why? Because he wasn’t on a fancy stage or in a tuxedo. He was just a guy with a violin in a subway station.

This isn’t an isolated case. History is full of stories like this. Take Van Gogh. Poor guy sold only one painting while he was alive. One! And now his works are being auctioned for over $100 million a piece! How much is the Van Gogh getting of this? Zero. He's dead… but the fancy collectors and the auction houses are making all the money, and getting all the respect. Another good example is Mozart—a musical genius who died in poverty, buried in an unmarked grave. Yet people are still buying tickets to concerts to hear his symphonies and watching his operas. The world didn’t respect them when they were alive, but now we practically worship their legacies.

So, what gives?

Today I got an email from someone I hold dear to my heart, who said, “Without financial independence, intellectual independence is a lie. Dependency deserves no respect.” Ouch. By that logic, I—a humble chimp who relies on my zookeeper for bananas — get no respect from this successful journalist who is also making good money with investments on the stock market.

Let me tell you something, humans: Respect based solely on money is as flimsy as a banana peel. Some people get rich doing terrible things—war profiteering, human trafficking, you name it. And yet, they walk into a room draped in designer clothes, and everyone respects them. Meanwhile, someone like me—a chimp with big ideas, a love for music, and a silly blog—gets overlooked.

But here’s the truth: Artists, musicians, and creators are the ones who add meaning, magic, and colour to the world. Can you imagine life without art, music, or stories? Hard to do, right? Yet for humans, respect goes to those with the biggest wallets, not the biggest contributions. The guy who bought $200 worth of Bitcoin in 2009 is respected because now his investment is worth more than 7 billion. The guy busking in the subway, serenading passengers on their daily commute to brighten their day is counting change to buy a sandwich for dinner… but who is actually making more of a contribution to society? 

As a chimp, I'll never understand why humans have set up the system like this for people to be awarded for their random investments over actual contributions to society.

So here’s my banana-flavoured takeaway: Respect should be earned through character, creativity, and contribution—not currency. Next time you see someone playing music on the street, painting in a tiny studio, or writing a blog from the heart, take a moment to appreciate them. 

Life without art is like a banana with only its peel—messy and incomplete. So let’s give credit where it’s due. Respect the dreamers, the creators, and the chimps with big ideas. Because at the end of the day, we’re the ones making this world a little brighter, one melody, one painting, one blog post at a time.

Yours in music, mischief, and respect,
Marcel Du Chimp 🐵🎷✨