Lessons from The Queen

Happy belated Father’s Day to all of the dads out there. We spent last weekend in Vegas checking out Erykah Badu’s incredible show.

Unfortunately, Yasiin Bay was a no show, but that meant my guys The Pharcyde were brought in as a last minute replacement.

And as I was leaving the show with my son, we ran into Erykah’s agent, who invited us to attend her meet and greet. When he told me it was more of a spiritual experience than a typical meet and greet, I didn’t know what to expect. But I’m so thankful to him for the experience.

First, everyone gathered around the outer walls of a small room. We were given instructions; and when Erykah entered, she sat in the middle of the room on the floor, and everyone circled around her.

She told us stories about the beginning of her career and dropping out of Grambling State to become a “star”. Her fans hung on her every word as she began to delve into the philosophical and spiritual worlds.

Then she opened it up for questions, and that’s when some of the real gems came out.

There were a lot of young creatives in the room, and with each question, you could see the nervousness, insecurities, and also strength from each of her fans as they gathered the courage to speak to their hero.

When fans told their stories, she just listened intently and supported whatever dreams they intended to pursue. One woman asked if she could sing to her. Another young man told her he wanted to create a clothing line.

Eventually, a fan asked how she reaches her peak level as a creative. I’m paraphrasing, but she told the fan that reaching your peak as an artist means being 100% true to yourself, and being completely unaffected by the way others see you.

Another fan asked about how to deal with imposter syndrome, and Erykah turned the question over to Slimkid3 from The Pharcyde. Tre gave a well thought out response. Again paraphrasing, but he said you shouldn’t overthink it. As an artist, sometimes you’re just a delivery system, and you have to let the message run through you. The mailman just delivers the package, he doesn’t read it.

Finally, a supporter asked about how Erykah deals with writer’s block. She said she doesn’t believe in writer’s block, because it’s a product of deadlines, not of the creative process.

She added that sometimes you’re not supposed to be creating. Sometimes you’re supposed to just be digesting information, and that inspiration will strike when the time is right.

When I forget about the importance of energy, it’s moments like these that bring it back to my consciousness. I’m sure Ms. Badu is human like the rest of us, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of our GOATs over the years, but have yet to meet someone who isn’t human.

That being said Erykah has a different energy to her. Her light shines bright, and she has a powerful, genuine, almost enlightened presence that attracts people to her. And she definitely became the star she set out to be.

“Ive learned the people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

Thanks for tuning in y’all. Til next week.