Bar for Bar: How Friendly Competition Can Elevate Your Creative Genius
Hey Queen!
QQ: What inspires you to be great? Is it your ambition? Your goals? Your passion? Your family?
What about your rivals?
Last week the internet was ablaze with rap bars and betterment so today, we’re dissecting the lessons that can be learned from the beef of the week: Kendrick Lamar v. Aubrey “Drake” Graham (Yes. “Aubrey.”). The now viral rap feud between these hip-hop heavy hitters has sparked today's discussion topic: the benefits of friendly but fierce competition.
Often, business owners or creative entrepreneurs are told to ignore their competition, but we’re going to poke the bear a bit and ask: if you ignore what others in your industry are doing, how can you properly gauge yourself? Walking around with blinders to the trends and top performers in any field is a recipe for ignorance and professional disaster. We’re challenging our resident queens to rewrite the narrative on competition and find ways to make your industry rival the secret sauce you need to get active with your ambition.
By viewing your competition as a source of empowerment, you’re giving yourself another avenue of inspiration that can be used as fuel on your journey to personal growth and success. A healthy rivalry can be a driving force for any business or brand, no matter the size or the industry.
One of the best benchmarks for your success is evaluating what the top people in your industry are doing.
Who are the “big three” in your sector? Do you like what they do? How are you different? How are you the same? A savvy queen is always aware of how they stack up against the competition. Keeping tabs on your rivals, as well as their successes and failures, can help you gain valuable insights into what works and what doesn't in the ever-evolving landscape of personal branding. Drake is learning this lesson the hard way.
For years, Drizzy Drake seems to have been focused on maintaining his own pop-culture popularity; playing checkers, if you will. If “6:16 in LA” by Kendrick is any indication, Drake’s rivals have been playing chess, simultaneously working on their success while keeping tabs on his. What’s the end result? The Canadian rapper is reportedly scrambling, fishing for tools and information to level up his jabs at Compton's favorite emcee, while Kendrick is dropping tracks that indicate he was prepared for a potential takedown.
The takeaway here is to be a constant student of your friends and your supposed foes. Studying trends and learning how to improve yourself and your business is a positive practice but don't miss the opportunity to go beyond the traditional sources of information. Your rival is a real-time benchmarking tool. Maintaining a high level of industry and situational awareness can help you stay two steps ahead of the curve and the competition.
Healthy competition will keep you on your toes, queen.
Have you ever worked on a piece of content that you were sure was going to go viral, only for someone else in your industry to get more credit for seemingly less work? This is a tale as old as the World Wide Web but we’re reminding you not to waste that feeling. Use that fire, that hunger to be the best in your field, to help you push the envelope even further.
When you're up against a worthy adversary, it forces you to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to stand out from the crowd. It’s a unique system of accountability that can help creative entrepreneurs and solo business owners ignite the spark of innovation. Allow your competition to inspire your growth as you brainstorm new, enterprising business ideas to help your brand ascend to new heights.
.Sometimes self-improvement just isn’t giving.
Daily affirmations are wonderful but we all have days where our Meg the Stallion morning mantras just aren’t doing it anymore. On days like this, having rivals nipping at your heels can be a reminder that on the road to success, there's no time for complacency. Every setback is an opportunity for growth, and every obstacle is a chance to push ourselves further. So, while it may not always feel like it, having that competition in your field of vision can be a blessing in disguise and a surprising catalyst for upward mobility in your career.
Finally, before we wrap up and get back to Twitter to check if #Drake or #Kendrick is trending again, we must pause and remind the queens who follow TCQ that we’re a collective of women who embody empowerment. Competition can be a fun and healthy source of inspiration, so we’d like to make our message super clear: toxic competition, or tearing others down, is a bop we can’t get behind. It’s important to ensure that your competitive spirit doesn’t come from a place of disdain.
Even with the bar-for-bar public sparring we’re watching between KDot and Aubrey, it’s worth noting that both artists are signed to the same label Universal Music Group. At the end of the day, their businesses and their physical and mental safety will take precedence. We’re old enough to know public personas, in marketing, social media, and otherwise are not indicative of how relationships form or operate behind the scenes. If you decide to take our advice and use your rival to fuel your fire remember: Mental warfare is real sis, so keep your head and your integrity above water. Use your competition as a source of uplifting inspiration, not vitriolic vengeance.
We’re not rappers after all.
We’re content queens, remember?
And we’re still in your corner.
With love,
The Team at TCQ.
