Super U Podcast | Adele

On this episode of the Super U Podcast, Adele, fifteen-time Grammy Award Winner, eighteen-time Billboard Music Award Winner, and singer/songwriter, gives us insight on how she handles fame and where she gets inspiration for her music.  Click here to subscribe to the Super U Podcast. Need a sneak peek? Below are the main takeaways from the episode.

Super U Podcast | 7 Super Tips with Adele:

[2:30] Success On Your Own Terms

“[After the] success of 19 there’s like kind of shocked everyone involved with it, because like I said that I signed for no money in the UK. I mean, there was nothing riding on it. I think if I’d sold like 10,000 records worldwide, then they’d be really rushing me not to go quick. Let’s do another record. Like he didn’t make much of an impact so you can follow up with whatever. But because I’ve because of the success I feel like people are like take your time and I find that debut artists and bands get really frightened about losing little niche that they’ve created for themselves and they’ll get scared that people are gonna forget about them and they rush their album and then kind of constantly want to stay in the limelight and even when they’re not performing, they’ll go on like tacky chat shows and tacky game shows and stuff like that. And it does sell and sell out and do like adverts and stuff like that was I think you’re only as good as your next record. And I don’t care if the whole world forgets about me if it takes me five years to write a second album if you come back with that like amazing single and wicked record and people will remember you”

[3:45] Take Control of Your Art

“I’ve always been a control freak from a very young age. And I would have credit my management for that. Like when I’m really really tired, I’m like, “Can you just decide I can’t be bothered right now?” I’m now staying up till 5am until you understand everything and then you can give me yes or no. With a good reason and stuff like that. So definitely my good management. Yeah, although my management are great, [they] also like they want me to make the decision on everything small things, big things, wherever I mean, so that and it’s my music, and I’m the artist so why someone in a boardroom who’s never written a record in their lives should be making decisions for me. No, we are the artist and we should be able to decide in every aspect.”

[5:01] Create Boundaries

“It’s more innovative than saying like, Oh, don’t take your work home. Mine is more like, I’ve got to really switch on to go to work. Like my personality is the same as being in a headspace of being a mum to being me is like, it’s quite a big shift.
And you have to be strict about drawing those boundaries. I’m really in charge with everything that I do with my career. You know, and I have a, I have a very firm stance on that. Whereas at home, I’m like, I’m a hot chocolate, like, I’m just a little puddle. You know?”

[6:43] Be Vulnerable & Keep Perspective

“In order to move forward, you have to deal with things. You can’t just hide them and I feel like my whole life I’ve swept things under the carpet and stuff like that. Whereas by dealing with it all, which is because I was a parent and only have so much capacity for junk. Now, I had to do those things but it was great because it made me realize that actually all of the things I was holding on to good and bad, weren’t that good and they weren’t that bad. And it was just life you know, so it sort of made it a lot easier to let go.”

[7:52] Surround Yourself With People Who Support You (and distance yourself from those who don’t.)

“My life is so wonderful and it’s still blossoming and all that but I just feel like the bigger your career gets, the smaller your life gets. And I remember seeing in this [in]… Devil Wears Prada the film, when like, she’s breaking up with her boyfriend. Everything to do with everything I ever do is based on a film like literally I have little snippets of film that Rolling in the Deep was about Mark Wahlberg floating in the sea during The Perfect Storm when he’s reading the love letter like that’s what that’s about. So yeah, that’s what I envisioned when I was singing it… But like the saying of, you know, the bigger your career gets, the smaller your life gets in Devil Wears Prada and her boyfriend’s getting annoyed. And someone else says to her like when your whole life goes up in smoke, he drew a promotion. And I’ve been like, what does he mean by that? And then I just as my career got bigger on 21 my life didn’t go up in smoke at all. And I love the opportunity and my life. I love everything about it. But it’s, you know, some people get quite fazed by someone’s success. So I had to sort of  distance myself from a lot of people that I’ve known my whole life and just make my circle a bit smaller.”

[10:49] Be Authentic

“I did feel like with 21, that I didn’t save anything, any part of me for myself. But, you know, I think the key to it this time is I haven’t just gone “there, this is what it’s about.” And I’ve skimmed the surface of what the song means to me. And what I wrote them about, just literally just skimmed the surface completely. And I think I would like everyone else to decide what the songs mean to them, rather than me telling them what they mean to me completely, or what it should mean to them. When I wasn’t giving very much of myself at all, that’s when I was writing the songs that were rubbish. So I think it’s just the sacrifice you have to make. And my worst fear is not being believed. That’s my worst fear. So if that means I will give all of myself and that’s fine.”

[11:40] Know Your Core People

“I haven’t changed my circle of friends and my circle has definitely got smaller. But in terms of the core people in it, they just they take the piss out. I’m a laughingstock to them. And I run everything past them, you know, and I mean, I’ve just, I’m not tempted in the slightest, by anything that like being famous has to offer, like, it’s really lovely. And it’s a great luxury to dip in and out of it and to experience it. And I’m forever grateful for that. But it ain’t real. So I don’t feel like you can get attached to something that’s not real. So I’d rather live a real-life and be a real person.”

Connect with Adele:

Website: https://www.adele.com/

Instagram: @adele

Twitter: @adele

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The Super U Podcast is hosted by #1 bestselling author and Motivational Speaker Erik Qualman.