the real question is how much of the art is their own and how much is outside expectations and their reactions to it.

And it's not always giving in to those voices, sometimes it's going in the opposite direction specifically to subvert those voices and expectations even if that ends up going against your initial instincts as an artist.

With someone like A$AP Rocky, there is a lot of money on the line wrt the record execs but even small indie artists playing to only a hundred people a night have to contend with audience expectation and how that can exert an influence on their creativity.