Jay-Z Validated Me

His words resonates deeply with me, it might with you too.

Jay-Z's words at the 2024 Grammy Awards resonated so deeply with me and I thought to share it with you. 

So, Jay-z (Mr. Carter himself) was called on stage last night to receive the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award and he accepted the award with his daughter Blu Ivy right there on stage with him.  

VALERIE MACON//GETTY IMAGES

There was plenty to unpack from his speech but for the sake of this article, I will be focusing on just one…

“Keep showing up until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve.

Until they call you chairman. Until they call you a genius. Until they call you the greatest of all time"- Jay Z

Let me TELL you when I heard that part, I cried. Yup! I did. You know something touched you deeply when the floodgates opened up? Yeah! That!

It reminded me of so much and if you follow me on Threads, you would have seen a snippet of it there

You see, starting in my career as a marketing and media strategist, coming out of the corporate world (a story for another day), I was undervalued. It felt like with every step I took, I was shut down and told I wasn’t good enough. 

I kept going back home and all I heard was,

“You need something stable, you need a proper job”.

Yeah, I don’t blame them at all because being a freelancer comes with its many challenges with the first as yeah! You guessed it —----- “unstable income” 

So, whenever I felt like this was it, I went home and although I got words of encouragement, I never got one that said “Keep pushing”.

I ALMOST gave up! 

Until a friend told me in his exact words

 “Keep going NOJ, just keep going. I’ve seen your work, you are going to get there” 

This was like the catalyst for me because it not only validated all the years I have been hard at work, it also made me feel seen and understood. Believe me, that very month, I got my first gig in an industry I love and it’s been up from there. 

So, yeah, Mr Carter’s word is as true as it comes, keep going, and don’t stop until you get the accolades that you seek.

…and hey! I’m not saying I am there yet, far from it, but, you and me? We will get there, we will get the accolades that we deserve. 

Keep going…

NOJ