I keep pondering two performances from the Grammy Awards a few weeks ago. One was Adele the other Nicki Minaj. I have never lost my love for music from my days as a teenager attending every concert I could afford through the years I worked in the music business. I still love a great song, from the arrangement and production to an incredible delivery I still find enormous pleasure. So watching the Grammy’s was and is a given.
But this years Award show left me contemplating more than music. It made me wonder what a girl thinks will earn attention and respect. Is it who she is, her abilities, talents, personality, intellect, compassion, character? Or is it what she has created around her, her presentation whether it is wardrobe, possessions, imaging, or distracting entourage? I think two examples of this dichotomy happened the night of the Grammy’s.
Adele took the stage with a simple set, front and center without all of the staging, special effects that can come with set production. She only surrounded herself with top quality musicians to help her deliver her song. And deliver it she did, the stage was hers. She showed an entire room of lofty musicians talent with ability to perform a song that ended in a standing ovation.
Nicki Minaj on the other hand relied entirely on wardrobe, special effects, entourage, drama and shock value. If this had been the only opportunity a person had to listen to her music there would be no way to know if she possessed any musical ability at all. She relied solely on her production to get attention not any talent she may possess.
You may not be Adele or Nicki Minaj but I think this premise applies to all females. If we want long and lasting respect we need to demonstrate that we possess the qualities that earn that respect. If we want short-term attention we create a production that has absolutely nothing to do with the life character traits that endure.
The performances in this show demonstrated a talent that will endure and one that will fade. I am pretty confident that should we have another discussion a few years from now we will find that may very well play out in the lives of these ladies. You can look through musical history and find artists that relied on special effects to garner attention. Their star soon faded. You will also find a number of artists that relied on their music. Those songs have endured from generation to generation.
So I guess the moral to my observation is this ladies. Present yourself in life as a one that is unique, talented, smart, and compassionate. Rely on your abilities not your presentation to create respect. Then the relationships you build from that platform will endure. That is what every girl really wants.