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In a single month in 2019, a teenage Lil Nas X skyrocketed from an artist playing music in his bedroom to viral phenomenon with his country-rap single “Old Town Road.” After breaking barriers as a Black man in cross-genre country and trap music, he came out as gay and then broke the internet with his racy video MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name). Some have called him a “queer hero” and “gay visionary” while others have called him “the world’s most controversial pop star.” 

Lil Nas X’s unapologetic embracing of his identities took courage, commitment — and deliberate performance choices. And it was his coach, Keanna “KJ Rose” Henson, also known as “The Talent Whisperer,” who helped him continually reinvent himself. 

KJ is an artist development and performance director who has toured with Britney Spears, Diddy, Janet Jackson, and Justin Timberlake; coached artists including the Lumineers, Saweetie, 24kGoldn, and the Kid Laroi; sung on albums for Biggie Smalls and Heavy D; and worked with legendary producer and label president Clive Davis at J Records.

“I want to help artists to tell their stories so well with their bodies and energy that their sound is merely a bonus,” KJ says of her work. “If everyone in the first row of the audience was hearing impaired, could they still be a part of your story? If everyone in the second row was visually impaired, could they still be a part of your story?”

In an interview, KJ discussed coaching Lil Nas X and shared lessons from her book, “The Rose Effect: Eight Steps to Delivering The Performance of Your Life,” to help talent pros bring the best performances out of employees.

Q: What’s the backstory on your work with Lil Nas X?

A: I started working with Lil Nas X two days after he signed with Columbia Records. From the beginning, I told him what I always tell my artists: I don’t give you anything that you don’t already possess. My job is to agitate and irritate areas that have been lying dormant, potential that you didn’t even know you had, or courage that’s been waiting for you to reach it. 

Many of us have never stretched ourselves to know that the edge of our capability is a little bit further than we think. Every day, with every rehearsal, I helped push him beyond his perceived capacity.

Q: What were some exercises you used to help Lil Nas X elevate his performance?

A: During our second or third rehearsal, I had him try singing “Old Town Road” while swinging his arms around like he was chasing birds. That made him feel awkward — and that was great. My goal was to physically take him out of his comfort zone and to get him out of his head and try new ways to perform.

Our work together was training for the discomfort of live performance. It’s easy to perform at your best when circumstances are ideal. But it really takes heart to push through discomfort and stretch your own limits.

Q: What advice do you have for talent pros working with employees to bring out their best performance?

A: When I am coaching, I work across three areas:

What does showing up look like for you? If you’re going to have a presence that people react to, you have to ask questions and be unafraid of stepping out of line. What is the point of you taking up space if you are not allowing yourself to be seen? Embrace your force. What is that thing you were born with that cannot be negotiated? Personally, I will never ask permission to bring my boundless energy into the room. For others, it could be their kindness or the way they connect with others. Figure out your unique attribute and communicate it: That allows your leader to utilize you properly. Seize your power. Take note of those moments that embolden you. Find those moments when you are in your element, figure what work brings you the most joy, and work more of that into your job.

Finally, my biggest tip for leaders: Encourage your talent to acknowledge that their improvement and accomplishments are part of achieving something bigger. That way, employees won’t only take praise as a personal win and say “good for me,” but will see their improvement as part of the team’s improvement and instead say “good for us.”

Q: Do you have tips for employees trying to bring their performance-level charisma to a pitch or presentation in a corporate setting?

A: What I want from a corporate presentation is something I can’t get from a PowerPoint in a way only you can deliver it. Don’t just give me the stats; tell me the story with your intonation, body, and presence.

One key to success for everybody, no matter who you are, is repetition. You must be able to pull from your arsenal at least 300 ways you have delivered this performance. Once you have 300 ways you have presented a project, your work, or your song, you have the freedom to deliver it not by default, but because you’ve made a choice to keep your performance feeling fresh.

Q: How have you used these experimental performance prompts in corporate settings?

A: Even when I’m coaching in corporate settings at companies like Google or Pandora, I’ll go unconventional with my prompts. I will say things like, your presentation was great, now I need you to deliver it as if you were protecting your baby cubs, like they are behind you and you’re being threatened.

I told one buttoned-up executive that I wanted to hear his pitch in three lines as if he was Superman. He went from standing still while delivering the presentation to walking around the room, taking up space, making eye contact with the audience. Suddenly he was not only occupying the space, but owning the space. And in response, listeners became more expressive and physically leaned in to hear what he said.

At the end of the day, people buy into you, and if you are sold on yourself, people will also believe in what you’re selling.

Q: Talent pros often express difficulty getting employees to develop new skills and learn at work. What are some of the barriers you have to overcome when you are trying to get people to try new things?

A: I’m perpetually disarming people, because in both the music and corporate space, people interpret my presence as “I’ve done something wrong.” I remind people at the start of each session: I’m not here to give you anything that you don’t already possess. Where you already are is incredible. I believe you’re bench-pressing 500; I want to enhance and amplify what you’re already giving so you can bench-press 1,000.

Q: Why is it important for both individual employees and companies to keep learning?

A: You can’t elevate if you’re only processing old information. If you are sitting with the same information as last month, it will be hard to keep you in a state of confidence and courage. Learning doesn’t have to be a total overhaul; it can look like learning just one thing that makes you a more valuable asset. And continuous learning makes you a valuable asset wherever you go.

When I look at artists like Lil Nas X, 24kGoldn, Saweetie, and the Lumineers, they are all artists who have earned the right to say “I’m good enough” and rest on their laurels. But instead, they all want to continue to improve. I want to help challenge them — and through our work together, they challenge themselves to shoot higher every time. 

Q: Why is continuous learning important to you?

A: For me to continue to speak the language of my artists and help them push through tougher moments as they learn, I have to continue to learn. If I’m asking them to move like a giraffe, I have to challenge myself to move like a giraffe, push through the worry about what it looks like, and expand my boundaries. I have to know what that discomfort feels like so I can communicate with them and help them through it.

Even as a performance coach, I have not figured everything out. As someone who encourages people to learn, I am not standing before you because I am no longer being challenged with growth. I am standing before you because I have figured out some tools that have helped me along the way to show up and be inspired, and I want to share them with you too.

Q: What tips do you have for anyone trying to shine at work — and in life?

A: Vulnerability is key to being a storyteller who engages people, touches hearts, and changes perspectives. You must resolve your own internal narrative so that vulnerability can be a key part of telling your story. The internal work to acknowledge and overcome your insecurities is vital, because your external performance and expression reflects your internal work. 

Finally, when you are good at what you do, and when you are able to communicate how much what you do is necessary and matters, you will always have confidence in your own potential.

Q: Is there anything about working with Lil Nas X that has stayed with you?

A: Just before the 2020 Grammys, Lil Nas X felt like he didn’t have a lot of say in how the show or how his performance looked. So I asked him what would make this performance feel like it belonged to him, and he said, “I want to play the trumpet.” I asked him, “Have you played the trumpet onstage before?” and he said “No, but it’s just three notes.” So in a span of a week, he learned enough of the instrument to play it on one of the biggest stages in music.

His bravery and audacity inspired me. When I am faced with a new challenge, I remind myself, “It’s just three notes.”

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