A great artists usually isn’t a great business person. And a great business person is usually not a great artists. This is not to say that an artists cannot successfully dabble in business or that business people cannot enjoy taking part in the arts. It’s just that being great or exceptional at both simultaneously is very rare. Art uses a different hemisphere of the brain than business does. And it usually takes many, many years of practice and failing to get good at even one of those disciplines.
But every now and then you come across a person who seems to have a great handle on both. Most recently I was pleasantly surprised by 50 Cent. Yes, the gangsta rapper 50 Cent. You’ve seen him on music videos wearing bulletproof vests and rapping about the thug life. He’s buff, wears the bling, lives in Mike Tyson’s old mansion, rolls with Eminem, and has multiple bullet wounds from past attempts on his life. He has truly mastered the image of 50 that he has created for himself. So I was pleasantly surprised to see a much different side to 50 in this CNBC Business interview. Perhaps Curtis Jackson’s 50 Cent is more akin to Sasha Baron Cohen’s Borat. That in reality, 50 Cent is more a character created and believed to be real than the actual, true man himself. Makes me think twice about judging a book by it’s cover. Who is someone you assumed you knew but totally surprised you with a hidden side?
Back in the days when I was a young, full-time journalist, I found myself on some CNN program with Pat Buchanan. I think we were discussing/debating some report that the Human Rights Commission had put out. I expected him to be a far right conservative asshole, but the guy was really cool and blasted all of my expectations. When we talked during the break, it was clear he had a firm grasp of all sides of the issue. I wondered if he was a closet liberal, but also learned an important lesson that day–if you want to put out an opinion about an issue, you better really understand and, in a strange way even empathize with, the opposition’s stance.
Not surprised by Pat Buchanan, who is a vocal opponent of the Iraq war, and whose book “A Republic, not an Empire” called for limitations on American imperialism. But a closet liberal? think not.
I can’t think of a perfect example off the top of my head, but I was surprised by a book I found in the library. It was a collection of writings (mostly music reviews) by Debussy. From his music, I would have thought he was a gentle, peaceful man. His writing is actually kind of biting and cynical. Now when I listen to his music, I have to acknowledge he’s a real person and not just some pretty notes on sheet music.