III. Stop looking for an iPod 4 at the Apple Store
Lessons from Ye | Kanye West |
Stop looking for an iPod 4 at the Apple Store
We value some things when they get older (like wine), and other things when they’re the newest (like technology).
The mental process to value newer or older things is sometimes rational: you probably want the newest technology so you have faster internet, and if you speak to a sommelier, she will tell you that an old whiskey or older wine will most of the time taste better. Fair enough, we all can understand that.
But it’s not that simple. We often put a value on old things only because they are familiar and not because they are necessarily good for us. This preference for the familiar is based on our fear and resistance to change. We go to the same supermarket and buy the same things over and over again. We rarely decide to try new things because it is quite a hassle, so we stay on what we know, it’s easier, not risky so we stick and press: repeat all.
Other times we put a value on old things not because we are afraid, but because of how they make us feel. Nostalgia takes over. That perfume we use is old, it does not smell good but who cares, it brings good memories. We love that song, we know the lyrics and make us feel good, so we stick and press: repeat all.
Big Boy: “We hear: We miss the old Kanye”… “When I go to a concert do I hear N*** in Paris? what does that do for your old catalogue that we enjoy so much?”
Kanye West: “Well, when you go to the apple store, I won’t be seeing an iPod 4”
Artists create. If you are one of them, you love learning and exploring new ideas, you push away what you already created and use it just like a trampoline for the next creation but not stick to it. Plenty of artists do not want to look back to what they did, instead, they want to look forward.
On the opposite side, most fans and critics love the old familiar, if The Bettles were to have a concert today, fans would demand to hear “Let it Be” but rarely, they would like to hear new songs. And the critics will base their critics on the past, only by comparing to what they have at hand; the last album, the last song.
We are in love with the past, We want to stick to it and especially, we want our idols to repeat all we know, but this is the enemy of creating something new. Some people want us to be the same. They wish we never change. But we must.
As when we go to the Apple store and look for the latest products, we should also look for the latest art from our favourite artists, even if it is uncomfortable and unfamiliar.
It is not that all new things will turn out better than the past, but we must make room for the possibility to keep creating things that might turn out better than the past.
Sometimes we should sacrifice the nostalgia for the opportunity to see something new.
