I got a homie I went to high school with that's still working on "gettin out there". While we were in high school he recorded a track and managed to get it played on 107.5 WGPR in Detroit. In '95 I just happened to be over by his way and stopped by and ended up driving him around Detroit with his freshly pressed EP on vinyl, dropping 'em off at a coupla radio stations and clubs. Lost touch with dude after 2000 or so, but after deep diving down the Youtube rabbit hole I ran cross his acct and videos. Dude is STILL rhyming and making his own beats.
At the same time, ANOTHER cat I went to high school with is still rhyming and releasing music as well as this cat Zo that used to work up at Tel 12 Mall at the same time me and Houseshoes worked there (I posted Zo's shit in the Underground hip hop thread last night)
Truthfully, if you have a job, and hip hop is your passion I don't see anything wrong with jumping on the mic every now and then.