On October 21st, Rookie is publishing its third Tavi Gevinson-edited Yearbook, and Claire Boucher bka Grimes wrote an essay for it, which Elle has now published to the web. In it, Grimes deploys a Dolly Parton anecdote to stress the importance of copyright and just generally offers up some clear-headed and quirky tips for 'hanging in there' while also getting shit done. Here's a few of them:
1. Résumés aren't everything: "We live in the age of technology, so you can Google anything you don’t know how to do. The only thing you can’t Google is how to be creative and unique. Your thoughts have more value than a degree or a parent in the same field or whatever "
2. Choose lovers wisely: "Try to date someone who is good at cooking. It will save time."
3. Explore coffee alternatives: "If you are tired and you need to be peppy, drinking a bit of straight hot sauce really works."
4. Don't be too nice: "In order to get things done, sometimes you need to be mean. I’m really bad at this, but you absolutely need to let people know when something is unacceptable, or they’ll keep doing it and you’ll resent them."
5. Weird is good: "I wasted a lot of time trying to do things I was told were “important for every professional musician” to do, without realizing that as a fan, I am far more interested in things that I’ve never seen before. People are judgmental about everything—often because they feel threatened. Ignore them. I think this applies to any business or creative thing, because tomorrow’s world will not look like today’s. Doing something different is probably better than doing the same things that other people do."
6. No bad vibes ever: "As time has gone by, I’ve noticed that the crappy people have been phasing out and I’m surrounded more and more by people I trust, and with whom I share mutual respect—which, by the way, breeds real confidence."
Read the whole thing right here. For more, check out Grimes' GEN F profile from back in 2011 and watch her video for the controversially great dance track, "Go."
