did you watch justin bieber's grammy performance?

if you missed it: he walked out in boxers and socks. a purple guitar, loop pedal and a drum machine. that's it.

no backup dancers. no pyrotechnics. no band. no screens or set pieces or choreography. just him, alone on that stage, singing “yukon.”

it was his first solo performance in four years.

i watched it 7 times that night.

i've been thinking about it since.

bieber has access to everything. any production he wants. any budget. any feature. and he chose to strip it all away.

just the song, his voice, and the moment.

there's a version of that performance with lasers and dancers and a 40-piece orchestra — and it would’ve been dope.

but it wouldn’t have hit the same.

sometimes the bells and whistles don’t add to the work. sometimes they distract us from it.

where am i hiding? what looks and sounds good, but doesn't feel good?

what's essential vs. what's noise i'm used to?

i don't have the answers, but i know this:

if the work can't stand on a stage butt naked and do what it was made to do, there’s more work to do.

talk soon,

<3 santi