The other side of Success

Do you listen to a song and the lyrics make so much sense? You can’t help but wonder if the artist took a peek into your life and wrote the song as every word in the song screams your story. This is how I feel whenever I listen to Hustle by Teni.

Hustle is a track by Teni a Nigerian artist, it is part of her Wonderland album and it was released in 2021.
Hustle depicts the untold stories behind success, the behind-the-scenes of one’s fame, and the pains associated with being successful.

For the very first time we are forced to see SUCCESS differently, we are introduced to a world where success and its baggage co-exist.

Behind the fame, the achievements, and one’s success lies the pains and struggles of not just being successful but staying successful as well.

When you feel like you’re beginning to get it right, you’re beginning to get your acts together then comes the real challenge, the fear of failing, the criticism, the expectations, and the pressure can be too much to bear sometimes.

Teni in her song Hustle touches key issues a lot of successful people do not talk about, she becomes vulnerable and every word strikes a chord as the plight of this young artist is relatable to all categories of people.

Hustle is not just a mere song but a song that speaks volumes to the soul.

The song tackles the misconception of stardom, fame, and success. From this song, we get to understand that successful people do not owe us anything. The fact that I am successful doesn’t mean I’ll have to automatically play the role of a messiah.

And sometimes it feels like people don’t understand
Cos the pressure e plenty and expectations high

The pressure successful people go through is nothing to write home about. The pressure stems from trying to manage other people’s expectations while in real sense, you might not have the capacity to please or satisfy everyone.

Pressure from family, friends, and loved ones who think you are on the top and should be able to cater to all of their needs because you are doing well in life.

I am not yet as super successful as I have always dreamt of being in life but oh boy I have had my fair share of the baggage that comes with being successful and in all honesty it hasn’t been funny.

All of a sudden no one wants to believe that you are incapable of helping them, no one wants to believe that you are struggling with your own demons and when they are tired of overanalyzing why you are refusing to help them, that’s when the name calling begins and some of them go to great lengths to ruin your reputation.

Successful people are sometimes forced to feel a certain way and their only crime is being successful and this is really sad.

Successful people are humans too and they have their own problems but the difference between their problems and others is in the way they handle their problems as they do not go around parading their problems or rubbing their problems in people’s faces.

This song will forever inspire and soothe my soul.