Kane Brown recently sat down with TODAY‘s Willie Geist for a new interview, discussing his successful career and some of the ups and downs that have come with it, including imposter syndrome.
Opened Up About His Struggles With Imposter Syndrome
Brown revealed that he struggled with imposter syndrome, which is the feeling of experiencing doubt about whether you are worthy of the accomplishments you’ve achieved, when his career began to grow at an exponential rate.
“When I f–ing started playing bigger places I got, like, imposter syndrome of it moving too fast,” Brown explained. “I wasn’t the greatest on stage, I wondered what everybody thought about me.”
Overcame Imposter Syndrome With “Iconic” Performance At Fenway Park
The father of two noted that the feeling eventually went away, and a major turning point was when he brought his Drunk or Dreaming Tour to Boston’s Fenway Park this summer, becoming the first Black artist to headline the venue solo.
“When I did Fenway, I knew that I was supposed to be there,” Brown said. “Fenway was very iconic to me. And when I got out there, you know, there were no nerves. There was no, ‘Oh my God.’ It was like, ‘It’s showtime and I’m going to put on a show and let these people know that I’m so glad they’re here and that I’m so glad to be here.”
In addition to his own self-doubt, Brown, whose mother is white and whose father is Black and Native American, faced criticism from others early in his career when he began sharing videos of himself singing on Facebook.
“They’d be like, ‘Just look at him. He’s not country. That’s not what country looks like,’ yada, yada, yada,” he recalled. “But I feel like it’s also what made me blow up on Facebook. ‘Cause, I had a lot of people that clicked my video and they would be like, ‘I thought you were going to rap, excuse me.’ And then I started singing. So it kind of shocked them and they wanted to share.”
After going viral on Facebook, Brown signed a record deal and released his self-titled debut studio album in 2016, noting that he was “really scared of everything” when he “first got into music.”
“I was like, ‘Well, if I do this wrong, if I do this wrong,’ and now it’s just I get to be myself,” he said.
One Of The Biggest Stars In Country Music, Earned Milestone 10th No. 1 Hit
Since then, Brown has become one of country music’s biggest stars, making history in multiple areas and recently notching his 10th No. 1 hit with current single “Bury Me in Georgia.”
“Everything that I went through is a part of my life that got me here,” the singer reflected. “And I’m actually proud of it. Even though a lot of it was tough and hard and you didn’t know what was going to come out of it. But I feel like that’s who made me who I am today.”
“It made me strong,” he continued. “It made me want to get back to people, and made me humble. And just made me proud of who I am and where I came from.”
Brown is currently working on his latest album, which he recently told Pure Country that he’s “really excited” about.
“We usually have a huge variety,” he said of his previous albums’ sonic choices. “I usually have pop stuff on there, but so far this album has just been pop country and then we have some really traditional country songs.”
For more about Kane Brown’s forthcoming new album, click HERE.
