Well, first off, remember there are plenty of people out there who will be happy to simply use you up.
Second, I'd recommend you look at other areas where popular and artistic things you like have overlapped in the past, and look for the lessons that can be gleaned from the artists in those areas who you think stood out.
"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso