Madonna: "F*ck You" Energy
At nineteen, Madonna dropped out of college.
She moved from Michigan to New York with thirty-five dollars and a delusional sense of opportunity.
She didn’t fit anywhere.
Too punk for the pop crowd.
Too pop for the punks.
Too sexual for the feminists.
Too ambitious for the misogynists.
No one gave a shit.
On her first night in the city, she was robbed at gunpoint.
Her first band failed.
When she shopped her demo around New York in the late ’70s and early ’80s, multiple labels rejected her.
Record execs said she was “too raw,” “too sexual,” and “lacking depth or sophistication.”
Discovering Fuck You Energy
Madonna had no “fuck-you money,” but she found her “fuck-you energy.”
We talked last week about the power of being told you can’t achieve a goal.
“It was the first time in my life I felt sure of something.
I wasn’t the best at anything, but I was fearless.” — Madonna
It’s not about talent.
The artists I managed who sold millions of albums or became top-ten global DJs, selling out arenas, weren’t the most talented.
They were the most delusional.
They were driven.
You need talent, but it’s delusional optimism and aligned action that is key.
Reprogramming Reality
That was the moment Madonna divorced her perception of reality.
She stopped auditioning for approval and started curating the algorithm to see her.
When no one would give her a gig, she gatecrashed a club night at Danceteria.
She convinced the DJ to play her demo.
She jumped on a table and performed uninvited.
The crowd loved it.
The DJ became her manager.
He took the demo to Seymour Stein at Sire Records.
Seymour, recovering from a heart attack, met Madonna in his hospital bed.
She was so charismatic and delusional, he signed her on the spot.
Turning Weirdness Into a Religion
Madonna didn’t fit in.
She was a weirdo, a creative misfit.
The moment she stopped chasing approval, she started shaping pop culture.
And that’s the real art form: turning weirdness into a religion.
You’re weird.
I’m weird.
All truly creative people are weird.
We’ve never fitted in anywhere.
Madonna was the same.
It was her weirdness, her ability to stand out, that saved her.
She built her entire career on it.
Madonna realised her creative power was standing out.
Every time she was written off, she reinvented herself.
How?
By being more weird. By leaning into controversy, religion, sex, whatever it took.
She was the pop priestess of reinvention and “fuck you energy”
Why You Never Fit In
This is why you never fit in anywhere.
You’re not meant to.
You’re meant to stand out.
I used to think multipotentiality was the thing.
Now I realise it’s just part of the thing.
The reason we never fit in is that we’re multi-talented and multi-intelligent.
Recent studies of gifted adults show we’re gifted in four areas:
IQ (Cognitive intelligence)
EQ (Emotional intelligence)
CQ (Creative intelligence)
SQ (Spiritual intelligence)
Multipotentiality is one of the indicators.
We have depth and range.
Of course, these are academics studying other academics for academic papers.
There are no real studies into creative or spiritual intelligence,
but they recognise we are gifted in these areas.
The Real Problem
Our problem isn’t a lack of intelligence or talent.
We desire to blend in rather than stand out.
The Solution
There are plenty of people who doubt you.
Leverage it.
Prove them wrong.
Get some fuck-you energy!