In May last year, Ani DiFranco released her memoir ‘No Walls And The Recurring Dream’, a “coming-of-age story” that recounts her formative years.
Much like she does in her music, DiFranco bares her soul to the world throughout the book in a frank display of vulnerability. Yet for a woman who’s been an outspoken feminist, political activist and creative trailblazer from the very beginning of her career, Ani reveals that putting her work out into the world doesn’t necessarily get any easier.
“I have a policy in my life where I don’t read about myself. For 25 years now, I’ve been on a zero-critic diet. It was funny releasing a book and not reading any of the critical reactions,” she says.
“It almost felt like a deafening silence, and it made me realise that my normal mode of bringing my art into the world onstage involves much more palpable feedback. But when you don’t read the reviews, it can be hard to know sometimes. Do people dig it? Did anybody read it?”
The zero-critic policy extends to social media, which DiFranco says she avoids at all costs to preserve her “delicate nature”. Her official Facebook and Instagram accounts are managed by a colleague.
With over 20 studio albums and various prestigious awards under her belt (including a Grammy, the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women, and Gay/Lesbian American Music Award for Female Artist of the Year, to name just a few), perhaps Ani has cracked the code to true, unbridled creativity by tuning out critics.
“I think even positive reviews make me feel self-conscious. The next time I want to sit down and create something, it makes it harder to tune out the whole world and express myself without fear,” she states.
While DiFranco’s music has evolved substantially over the years, criss-crossing between genres like punk, funk, hip hop, jazz, soul and electronica, her political voice as a folk singer for the people has remained crystal-clear and earnest.
With much of her lyrical content tackling social issues such as racism, sexism, sexual abuse, homophobia and reproductive rights, the musician’s work from over 20 years ago remains just as topical today.
However, DiFranco has refined her approach to activism to sustain herself in recent years. “I’m pushing 50 years old now, and I feel like I’ve been in a perpetual state of outrage for legitimate reasons my whole life. I think I feel myself moving beyond my more youthful outrage, not because I’m going soft or because my edges are being rounded off, but because I feel that the crisis is so acute that I can’t afford it anymore,” Ani explains.
“All I want to do is reach out and connect, and find the greater depth of humility that will pave the way towards unity, against everything that threatens our happiness and livelihoods collectively.”
