International Women’s Day is coming up.

This Sunday (8 March) marks the next IWD. It’s 2020 and the world has significantly changed since the first Women’s Day in 1909, but, unequivocally, more needs to be done. As Gen Y-ers are growing up to be the first true digital natives and Gen Z-ers are still struggling to understand TikTok, sometimes a spot of advice is needed.

For this year’s annual celebration, we asked some of our favourite artists to look back on their younger selves, and tell us what advice they’d give. From when to stop smoking cigarettes to pushing through the fear of failure, here’s what 13 womxn in music said. Scroll down for words of wisdom from Brooke Candy, Jayda G, Octo Octa, Christine Sun Kim, Ciel and more.

Brooke Candy

I’d love to travel in time and say that everything was OK and that it was OK to love myself! That life’s pressures and stressors weren’t actually that big of a deal and that it was OK to relax once in a while! I made so many mistakes partying in my 20s and I didn’t take accountability for my wild choices. I played the victim more often than I needed to and I chose to harp over so many problems that were beyond my control! I’d love to let my younger self know that these choices weren’t the best for my mind or my future! I’d love to encourage baby me to live life with patience and grace! Easy does it, young Candy! Easy does it!

Octo Octa

The advice that I would give to my younger self is that adults don’t actually know what’s going on and are trying to figure out everything on the fly, just like being a kid. Everyone has much less of a hold on what you’re supposed to do with your life than they’d like to admit. Lives change, relationships change, work changes. While you are learning coping skills as a young person it’s not the only time when you have to know what you’re going to do with yourself. All you can do is work towards making yourself happy and move with what this world throws at you.

Ciel

Growing up in a very conservative musical environment, I’m used to living with high ideas of perfection. There are toxic, old ways of thinking about art and artists that, in the music world, we really have to unlearn; it’s this idea of natural born prodigies or geniuses, or that talent is something that you have or don’t have.

A lot of women that I know had an interest in producing or DJing, and other people in the community may have told them things offhandedly that made them think that they’re not cut out for this, that there’s something wrong with them. That [making music] is something innate that they’re not born with. All that is frankly bullshit.

I definitely thought that I didn’t have the ability to be a musician. People had been telling me to make music for years before I started doing it. When my family encouraged me to make music of my own, I thought that maybe I’m not a creative person. The best way to deal with fear is to just face it. Surround yourself with people who know more about these things, and who are nurturing people that you can learn from.

Jayda G

Be more confident and reassured with your own conviction of things. As a kid, I really second guessed my own opinions and thoughts around being in creative and academic fields. In the end I think that it all turned out that if I’d believed in myself a bit more it still would’ve turned out equally as well, and it would’ve helped me later on in life.

Christine Sun Kim

It’s totally OK to be angry. Don’t let people tell you otherwise. Your anger is justified and will take you places, as long as you don’t let it consume you. Get used to rejection fast because it’s inevitably part of the process and be open about it. Document everything because you will actually make history. The more art you make, the more visibility you create for Deaf people in a history that is written by non-Deaf people.

US Girls

I would tell my younger self, “Chin up! You ain’t seen nothing yet!”. Then I’d give her a long hug and convince her to stop smoking cigarettes right away instead of waiting until 30 years old.

Jamz Supernova

Don’t stress about what you can’t control, it’s a pointless waste of energy and time. In my early 20s I was so stressed about getting a show on BBC Radio 1Xtra it made the very thing I loved unenjoyable until I was burnt out. When I decided to focus on what I can control, which is making sure I’m the very best broadcaster I can be and I make radio that I love, everything fell into place. The same has gone for my DJ career; it can be easy to be caught up in what you are not being booked for but often there are so many variables at play.

Afrodeutsche

I started scoring films and documentaries back in 2010. That was all off the back of someone hearing my music and basically saying, “You can do this”. I wasn’t sure if I could, and the first documentary I scored was for Al Jazeera. Then coming to 2018, 2019, another director contacted me and asked if I would score her documentary. At the time I wasn’t sure I could commit to it, I hadn’t seen the film. I had a good vibe from her but it was a challenging time in my life. I didn’t have any confidence in what I was doing.

The film later went on to win lots of awards at film festivals and was nominated for Best British Short Film at the BAFTAs this year. Being brave is the hardest thing but, on a personal level, it’s the most fulfilling when you’ve managed to get to something yourself because you put yourself in that position.

Sicaria Sound

Sancha Ndeko: It would be to always remember that you can get through anything, no matter how bleak the situation seems. I’d then delete The Sims from my computer, install Fruity Loops instead and make sure I wore a better sports bra when running.

Imbratura Lou: Ignore anyone teasing you about your weight and nerdiness – you’ll eventually use this to become one of the strongest and sassiest individuals.

DJ Bus Replacement Service

I was a first generation immigrant growing up in Indianapolis, and until high school my teenage years was a terrible time for making friends, fitting in and avoiding being bullied. I found refuge in Monty Python, Dr Demento and the reference section at my local library. The upside is that these experiences helped develop my independence and resilience to barrel through most challenges as an adult, and maybe also the inability to get embarrassed or self-conscious about doing stupid or crazy shit – as a DJ or otherwise.

Keep enjoying your nerdy and geeky hobbies and don’t worry about not fitting in. What you’re going through now will pay off in unexpected ways and you will enjoy the ride.

Elena Colombi

Do it all exactly like you are about to. All the mistakes, challenges, extreme experiences. All the wrong turns, change of plans, the heartbreaks – those are the real lessons that will forge your truest and best self.

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

When you feel stuck look for the right tool. Try changing your perspective and don’t give up on anything. Anything can be transformed but also let go of expectation. Have an open ear for all thoughts that enter the mind.

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