One becomes a true artist when one has..

Skill.
Technicality.
Creativity.
Content.

A message.

A message that is unheard of.
A message that transcends the five senses and touches the heart.
A message that has the potential to revolutionise.

But if the audience doesn't get the message, are you still an artist?

If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it fall?

I do not have a problem with this concept.
What I do have a problem with is this.
The above assumes that the artist is misunderstood and is hence deemed unaccepted.
What if though, the artist is accepted.
But on grounds other than for his message?

Take Lady Gaga for example.
Hordes of people listen to and love her.
Yet how many consider her a dark and demonic cult?
Blind followers who tag along with the trend just cos she's different and debatably weird.

If the message she sets to convey is lost in the fame, is she then, an artist?

This is random ramble. I was bored...