Master class is a documentary series that cover the journey of influential people today, what lessons they have learned on the way. Upcoming episodes consist of Condallezza Rice,r, Maya Angelou, Sidney Poitier, Diane Sawye and more..
Last night I couldn't sleep(but whats new) and I was surfing the channels and decided to jump OnDemand and check out the new Oprah Winfrey Network(OWN) shows. Right away I saw Master Class: Jay-Z and had to watch it. I fell in love right away with the show and as well with Jay-Z and how he made his way to the top. I'm a big fan of his music but it was good to see and hear about how he dealt with everything and what he has learned along the way. What really interested was his response topics from success, relationships, excellence, life.
On Success
I’ve learned more from failures than success and it can be paralyzing….failure and the fear of it…If I was going to be successful I had to be successful at myself. I couldn't be successful doing what other people were doing. I had to do what I believed in and what felt real to me and true to me. The worst thing to be, is successful as someone else. That’s a very difficult thing to up keep and it’s very tiring. I feel very sorry for someone who has to walk out of the house everyday as someone else to make this art and to make something that people connect to and whatever you've made is not you and you’re not happy about it but it’s successful. Just to maintain that level of success has to be very draining and sad in existence. At some point, you have to go home and when you go home, all the lights are off and you have to look in the mirror, you have to look at yourself and say “Man, I like who I am” or “I’m not very happy with who I am.”
On relationships
I think any relationship inspires creativity, especially when it’s a great relationship. The people around you inspire you in certain ways..be it something they’ve done, or something they’ve said. I think any good relationship inspires you. Well, sometimes bad relationships create great art. In the case of Marvin Gaye and Usher’s “Confessions” album and I guess Justin’s “Cry Me River” came out of bad relationships. I guess relationships in general inspire music..be good or bad. My pain, your entertainment.
On excellence
I think excellence is being able to perform at a higher level over and over again. You can hit a half court shot once. That’s just the luck of the draw. If you can consistently do it, through eleven championships like Bill Russell, then that’s excellence. Having success for a year or two that’s called being hot. That’s being in demand for a short span of time.
On Life
I believe everything that happens in life is there to build character, to be learned from [and] is some type of energy returning back to you. Everything that I’ve based my life upon is worked out that way for the most part but I don’t know.
I think the most important lesson for me would be, be true to yourself. It sounds like a very simple thing to do but it’s not, it’s not simple to do with all the pressures to succeed and all the pressures to (once you succeed) stay there. Belief in oneself, in knowing who you are is the foundation of everything great.
Jay-Z is such a wise man..
xo-Ashly
*Interview responses from necole bitchie.
