THIS IS NOT A PROMO!!!
(although I genuinely wish it wasš)
Iām so UP this morning. Shout out to Netflix for doing this fr.
āwtf is this babe even talking about?ā I know thatās what youāre saying in your head. Rudeš
Okay okay okay Iāll tell youš¤š¤
I have been listening to hip hop from the womb and I say this without an ounce of exaggeration. My mum has 10 siblings and only 4 out of those 10 schooled in Nigeria as the rest schooled in the United States. This means that they were introduced to the Black American culture at the peak of its global evolution.
big English but they were there from around the 80s sha
My mumās siblings influenced her and she raised my siblings and I with a lot of hip hop and r&b. Something music does to people, at least me, is that it opens up their minds and inspires. The music I have listened to through out the course of my life has really impacted me in a lot of different ways and shaped some decisions Iāve made.
Iām sure youāre like āitās not that deep babes chillā but then it actually is. Let me explain.
I was a fantasy books and Trace Urban junkie in primary school.
well a general music channel junkie but who gon check me?š¤Ø
I was just starting to expand my literature intake the summer before secondary school and I was borrowing books from everywhere.
this such a sophisticated way of saying I was bored out of my mind LOLšš
I went to my friendās house and her sister lent me her copy of Americanah.Ā She was like āyeah this book just came out, youād love itā. I had no idea who Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was and what feminism was at the time so I just read the book and kept it stepping.
It was a great book btw, but me I was chilling for my other friendās brother to order the Kane series so I could read itš
I didnāt bother opening Wikipedia or read about her or YouTube to watch her interviews.
Yesš itās not today I started this interview watching rubbishš I have been doing it since I just became a double digit, come and flog meš
In December of 2013, Beyonce released Flawless. As a baby bee and trace urban junkie, I hoped and prayed that theyād play it again. And they did. I read the name tag and I saw āChimamanda Ngozi Adichieā. Her speech from āWe Should All be Feministsā was featured in the song. The first thing that came into my head was āomg sheās Nigerian and sheās Igbo AND sheās on BeyoncĆ©ās songā. I canāt begin to describe how unstoppable that made me feel for literally the rest of my life. It just showed me there are really no doors I canāt open for myself regardless or my race or nationality. And as added bonus, a feminist was bornš¤.
Yes, I most definitely went back to watch the interviews and now I can say that I have watched almost all her interviews and TED talks (including the ones in other languagesš)
Something similar happened with Missy Elliot. See, I appear to be a social butterfly because Iām really friendly but Iām and extremely shy person.
I know, I too big abi? Iām trying to get over it I swearš
Like I used to giggle at every little thing. Nothing would be funny and Iād be laughing because I was so shy. Right now, I can be on stage or in a room in front of hundreds and thousands of people saying shitĀ and I wouldnāt care. But the minute Iām in from of like 5, 10, 15 people, itās sweat and shivers. I get the craziest anxiety sometimes, you wouldnāt believe it.
Growing up, I always thought I made it up in my head because I didnāt like certain people or I was being dramatic or something. But then I watched a Missy Elliot interview once and she spoke about how sheās so shy that sheād giggle at the littlest things and her anxiety was so bad that no one has ever seen her record. That is completely insane because you need like an engineer or something when your record. But for the the past, almost 20 years she hasnāt had one in the studio with her because sheās shy. She could be on stage in arenas and stadiums and would be fine, but once sheās backstage, sheād be looking for where to hide herself.
She also spoke about how sheād make some weird sounds in the booth sometimes (if you listen to her songs youād getšš) and she didnāt need anyone judging her, and I was like I can so relate because i weird tooš¤ twinziesš¤
This was a thing for me because, first of all it made me see that I wasnāt making things up in my head. Then it made me realize that, though overcoming my anxiety was a good and necessary thing, I didnāt have to rush it before I could do big things.
Why am I saying all this? Netflix just announced that thereās a new docuseries to premiere on the 9th of August 2023 called āLadies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hopā. Representation is very very important but nothing is more important than sharing the story of your journey
Thatās why they make us give testimonies at church, because they inspire people. Iām really happy Netflix did this. I donāt even know how to express how happy I am tbh.
August 9th, I will be will right in front of a screen to watch it because those are my day ones and they donāt even know.
Just a sidebar to the radical barb. From a barb to a barb, Nicki is incredibly sidelined and underrated, yes. I genuinely donāt understand why people donāt want to see her win so bad. But some times, artists see certain opportunities and say no to them for whatever reason they see fit. It may be because they feel it doesnāt represent them or itās not in their place to be a part of such (like when nipsey was asked to play snoop in a movie and he turned it down at first) or they just donāt want to. Not everything is a fight or a negative thing. No artist can be in every space and that fine.
Well till next timeš
wow this is so good. I absolutely enjoyed every bit of it!