🏆 TREE 576: You on your worst day

Some days you show up to create full of inspiration and energy. Some days you arrive with nothing.

I love the way Little Simz sets herself up to do great work no matter how she’s feeling:

I'm Jay-Z on a bad day, Shakespeare on my worst days

That’s a line from Offence. It’s on Grey Area, her fifth album and the album before the internationally acclaimed Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. At some point before the world started paying attention Little Simz thought to herself, You know what? On my bad days still I’m as good as one of the greatest, most successful rappers of all time and on my worst days, I’m the bard himself. Then, just so it’s clear that your opinions on the matter are irrelevant, she says:

I said it with my chest and I don't care who I offend, uh-huh

Give it a try:

I’m [person in your area of work who you think is the greatest in your lifetime] on a bad day, [legendary greatest of all time] on my worst days.

Now say it with your chest.

And maybe crank Offence at high volume while you do it.

If you have followed my work for any length of time, you will know that I am repeatedly compelled to try and capture the majesty of the horse.

Fanny were an all female rock band in the early 70s. They were the first to be signed to a major label and achieve any level of success. If entering the 99.9% male world of early 70s rock wasn’t a big enough hill to climb, two of them are Filipina-Americans and two of them are lesbians. Until recently, they’ve been mostly forgotten. Let’s join the growing crowd who are unforgetting them. There is a wonderful documentary about them called Fanny: The Right to Rock. (In the UK, it’s free on BBC iPlayer. In the US, you can stream it for cheap.) To ease you in with something familiar, here’s their cover of Hey Bulldog.

Grow slowly
Jeff