COLORS has been known as a platform for emerging artists, so seeing a 73-year-old legend in that same stripped-down format, not to promote a new single but to pour her soul into a landmark song, felt refreshing.

More than 50 years into her career, with that one performance, she amassed over 1 million likes across COLORS’ social posts and hundreds of thousands of reposts. Some people were amazed by the “she’s still got it” vocals and looks, while others created a plethora of memes about how far away she stood from that mic.

For other contemporaries, it was a masterclass in relevance without desperation. She neither tried to sound like a 20-year-old nor chased a trend. She showed that, after all, raw talent wins. For us, the audience, it was a wake-up call. In the midst of algorithm fatigue and an affection-deficit era, she made us ask ourselves: Can we still “gladly risk it all” for love? Chaka, smiling and swinging throughout the performance while belting out what she calls “primal wailing,” as if “a spirit is coming out of me,” struck us with one of the simplest yet heaviest questions of commitment.

However, not until I traveled 9,000 miles to the US for a master's degree last year, stretching myself so skinny-legend, did I understand the power of sacrifice, not only mine but also my family’s. It could all be a risky, expensive, and vain pursuit. Or…it could be the most beautiful thing I will have ever done. The inner battle is as alluring as the fantasy of victory, and we won’t know who wins if “we play it smart” all the time. We gotta play with fire!