Flow with Korty, a YouTube series by the Nigerian YouTuber Korty, uses an unconventional interview style to get guests to be more open on the show, thereby leading to undiluted and real conversations. The latest episode features Nigerian singer and songwriter, Asa. There were 10 major takeaways from Korty’s interview with Asa.
The episode opens with Asa in what I presume to be her backyard. She says: “I don’t know what it feels like to be heartbroken.” As I watched this episode, I observed how peaceful and easy it was to watch, and how Asa was just dropping words of wisdom. All quotes are by Asa, except otherwise stated.
Here are 10 major takeaways from the episode;
You can have genuine friends you work, and build something with.
Asa talks about how she doesn’t have a lot of friends because she doesn’t want to be disappointed. Janet Nwose, Asa’s best friend and manager, has been managing her for 17 years now. I think their relationship shows the importance of focusing on real and solid friendships over having too many friends.
Being unconventional doesn’t necessarily mean you’re weird.
Asa mentions how everyone always told her she was weird. How they would tell her to just make music that people would understand. She recalls not paying attention to those who would say that, and just did her thing.
You want to have a personal conviction in your dreams no matter what people around you are saying, and whether or not they support you.
You want to be so convicted that you begin to curate the kind of people you hang out with and the kind of things you get up to. Asa was so sure she was going to make it, that she started preparing for the success. She calls it hunger.
Know how to bring yourself to order.
“Parents can discipline but don’t know what their kids are doing.” She talks about when she used to smoke at 17, and how her parents had no idea that she did. She recalls calling herself at 17, and telling herself that the smoking had to stop.
Keep loving, and keep finding the right people.
“How would you know who the right person is if you don’t keep loving, if you don’t keep dating, if you don’t keep finding the right people.”
Seek comfort, but don’t get too comfortable.
“I’m comfortable. I don’t know if that’s a good thing though. Comfort is not always good.”
Don’t compare yourself to others, instead learn from the vast wealth of stuff that has been put out already.
Korty asks Asa if she ever compares herself to others, and she says she doesn’t compare, but that she listens to other songs, to ensure that she isn’t putting out rubbish.
Don’t just have ideas, work on them. Put stuff out there.
“The mind is such a vast well of ideas that if you don’t put them out, you lose them.”
Don’t dwell on the past or on things you can’t change.
Korty asks “From what you know now, if there’s anything you could go back and change from when you first started making music, what will you change?” “I probably won’t change anything,” Asa says. She says she can’t kill herself for what she didn’t know then. She talks about how it’ll be her fault though if she messes up based on the things she knows now.
Keep iterating and don’t be in a hurry to blow.
“As an artist please let people critique your work. Let them help you. See what the crowd likes. Don’t think about fame now. Fame is a side effect of good work.”