Life long lessons can be taken from
every aspect life as long as we take the time to observe and learn. I gained
some life long lessons through my last working opportunity that I was afforded.
For the last six years I have been an on and off intern with Ujima Sound
Productions, an entertainment production company located in New York, NY, and I
was asked to represent them on a gig for their new client The Dream. I've taken
the last five years to study and enhance my formal education and gain valuable
knowledge and experience in the entertainment industry, and now I was ready to
show the world what I’ve got. Well, at least that’s what I thought.
The show was on
July 7th, 2012 in the middle of London, England’s historic Hyde Park, which is one of the largest parks in central London, roughly half the
size of New York’s Central Park. On this day seven years ago, the city of
London was attacked by a suicide bomber, similar to the 9/11 attacks; but this
year the city was hosting the men and women’s Wimbledon finals, London’s gay
pride parade, and the incredible Barclaycard Wireless Festival. I was there as
a road manager for The Dream who performed on the second day of the festival.
The Barclaycard Wireless Festival is owned and managed by Live Nation, which
was previously known as the O2 Wireless Festival; but switched names
in 2009 when Barclaycard became the main sponsor.
The festival has
housed some of the greatest musical voices of the past decade, such as Jay-Z,
Kanye West, James Blunt, Moby, and The Black Eyed Peas to name a few. This year
show hosted The Roots, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, J Cole, plus many more and
was no less than incredible.
Even though the
venue was located in the middle of Hyde Park, this gig was no walk in the park
for me. It took a lot of hard work and dedication to perform at my absolute
best. Although, it was a great experience and will look great on my resume, the
personal knowledge that I gained is of greatest value to me.
From this
experience I’ve developed a new sense of motivation and drive. There were many times during the day when I just wanted to give up, but I could not, I was fearless. I
gained many lessons; the first being that you cannot please everyone, and
second is that the entertainment industry can be a thankless job. But the greatest lesson gained, is that everyone may not see the hard work and dedication that you exhibit, but
it does not mean that there are any excuses for performing at you absolute
best. There will be many times when we must endure to raise to higher heights and achieve personal success.
I’m extremely
grateful for the experience and lessons learned.
Peace &
Blessings
-RB
A few pictures from my day trip to London...
