Last night I went to go see a concert at the Stern Grove. Two bands performed SiSe and Bajofondo. Both bands were good, but one was great, and judging by the title of this post I’m betting you know which one was great. I should preface this by saying that I like many genres of music ranging from classic rock, to progressive trance, to jazz, to classical, to rap. So what made Bajofondo so great that I decided to write about them? Simple, their music doesn’t fall into any of the genres I like! In fact they don’t even have a genre.
During one of the song transitions one of the musicians thanked the crowd and said “we don’t know what kind of music we play, there is no name for it.” That’s what made it so great, it had no category and no classification, it wasn’t labeled or constrained in any way, it was just music. If I had to describe it I would say it was a blend of Argentinian and Uruguayan tango, techno, and a bit of classical, but even that attempt at a description does not do the band justice. Bajofondo is on the fringes, they are not trying to labeled and they are not trying to be good. They break musical boundaries and strive to be great.
So what can we learn from Bajofondo? Don’t be scared to make your own genre or your own category, you don’t always have to follow in the footsteps of competitors or predecessors, if you do then you lose your authenticity and unique appeal. Be eclectic, be different, and be unique. This doesn’t just apply to music but it applies to anything and everything in life, including business. When Amazon and Netflix first started they were their own category, nothing existed like them before and that is what makes them great, they are eclectic and they are unique. A lot of time can be spent trying to be the next Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc. Why not spend that time trying to be the next _________________ (fill in your idea here).
Thanks for reading and check out Bajofondo!
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