embrace experiments - Issue #27
Dear you,
I have spent most of this week watching On Netflix Afrobeats: The Backstory Documentary by Ayo Shonaiya. I am currently watching it as I type this letter to you.
As this documentary takes us on a journey of Nigerian music's evolution, Ayo interviews several Nigerian (and African) artists pivotal to what Nigerian music has become. Amid the nostalgia I was feeling, two things kept coming up:
Experimentation
Opportunity + Preparation
Let's break these down
Experimentation: A lot of the artists said they were trying random things just to see what happens. If I mix x and y, what happens? If I mix fuji with hip-hop, what happens. Most times, they were not expecting virality or expecting someone huge to notice them. Sometimes, they were even shocked by the reception. This applied to producers, managers, singers, and even the tv presenters. They were just trying different things.
I was thinking about my life as I watched the documentary, and I realized that so much started to happen for me immediately I embraced experimenting. Accept that most people do not know precisely what the result of their actions is because there are so many factors happening outside you beyond your control. You need to focus on what is within your control and do the best you can. Throw things into the world, and see how the world reacts. Laws can be broken; laws evolve, and nothing is really set in stone. It's experiments that move the needle to prove what becomes law.
Try. Test. Refine.
Experimenting forces you to rethink your ideas, trade your ideas for better or embrace older ideas with better conviction. You never learn if you don't try. So experiment, fail fast, take the lessons, and move on. Experimenting is a journey. My favorite thing about experimenting is that you know where you are, but you never know where you will end up. So you move forward in the face of uncertainty and prioritise progress over perfection.
Experiments lead to the next thing, which is opportunity meeting preparation. I remember Niniola sharing her story where she made a song, and South Africans mistook it for something else, and they invited her to perform in SA. KC talked about how he randomly sang "Limpopo" based on a comment someone made on social media, and the next thing, a whole different country felt a level of association with it and jumped on it. Reminisce chose to experiment with a sound Naeto C had rejected, which went a long way for his career! Joeboy shot a video on his phone and posted it on IG, and Mr Eazi found it. Next, they did a video together; the rest was history. Even Fela was experimenting with Jeun K'oku when he fused Highlife and Jazz and a promoter named it Afrobeat.
All this to say...
Life is waiting for you to experiment, and make it happen. Stop sitting and doing nothing. Do something. You don't know what will come out of it but put it and leave it to the universe. Mistakes will happen. You would definitely make mistakes and fail sometimes. The world isn't kind to mistakes, but that's how great ideas are born. You must be brave enough to make mistakes and change your mind.
I know I have said this many times, but here I go again: the goal of an experiment is not to be right but to discover.
What is your next experiment, and what do you need to make it happen? Tell me.
With Love,
Blessing Abeng.