So Hip Hop. Rap, everything that falls under the umbrella of 'talking to music'. I never used to get it. I've been a musician all of my adult life. I was raised on the piano, moved to Tenor Sax, then found my passion with the guitar. When my hands failed, I learned to sing. I've listened to and studied most styles of music. I've always been left with rap, I don't get it. It always seemed to me to be a bad beer commercial put to a drum machine. I could tolerate Eminem, like everyone else on the planet, but even he got pretty repetitive and simple themed. (I fully acknowledge that every style of music has its repetitive boring music *clears throat nickleback*) This changed when I got into yoyo. So many yoyoers use hip hop/rap to yoyo to. This started with a Jensen Kimmett video set to the song "Promised Land" by Edan. I thought, this is a clever song, so I checked out the album. The rest of it didn't really speak to me, but that was a foot in the door, rap can be something other than noise, rappers have brains. I can't remember what video lead me to the Cunninlinguists, but that was the slippery slope into having to admit that I like Rap. I was hooked on these guys that rapped, but were clever and articulate and mixed really cool music to do thier thing to. Followed through this group to Tonedeff, and almost cried when I listened to Porcelain. I don't know if there are many men out there who made it through High School without falling madly in love with a girl who was unattainable, carrying that torch, but I was not one of them. The mix combined with the sould wrenching poetry left me in pieces. I selected this song for one of my first 4a competitions, becuase I couldn't help but move to it. So now we have Maclemore and Ryan. "Taking the world by storm" is a good term. These guys have broken records, topped the charts and are just getting started. Once again, I can't stop listening, becuase they have something to say. Thier first hit "Thrift Shop" was brilliant. A theme I'm pretty sure no one has rapped effectively to before. This song deserves all of the acclaim it gets. I was hooked with "Same Love", to the point where I changed my song for competition 1 week before the contest just so I could use it. Politics aside, this song was masterfully crafted. Just a masterful work of art. I think for Canadian Nationals this year I'm going to have to use one that hasn't hit the radio yet, 10000 hours. I had a conversation with my old guitar teacher the other day about practice. The fact that it takes ten thousand hours of practice to master something. Not just doing whatever it is, but doing it intentfully. Its probably why I took 7 years to get to the point where I"m starting to feel like I'm an adequate school teacher. I'm going to wrap this with a few lines from that song that summed up why I teach, and what I keep in mind every day. Now I'm going to go throw my yoyo some more, and try to get an hour closer to the goal. And doggonit, I"m going to have fun while I'm doing it! "See, I observed Escher I love Basquiat I watched Keith Haring You see I studied art The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint The greats were great cause they paint a lot" (10000 hours by Macklemore and Ryan)
9 Comments
Stephen
7/27/2013 12:51:12 pm
Give the album "Below the Heavens" by Blu & Exile a chance. It's a classic in my books.
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Mr Yoyothrower
7/27/2013 01:22:31 pm
Thank you for the reply, I shall look it up.
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Shannon
7/27/2013 02:11:46 pm
I'm with you on Same Love, bloody brilliant work! Amazingly crafted video as well!
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Mryoyothrower
7/28/2013 02:29:23 am
Of course! I have beginner yoyos and can teach him how!
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shannon
7/28/2013 05:12:47 pm
Wicked! He will love that!
I remember in high school and beyond being one of those "Rap? More like CRAP, am I right?" kind of guys. I'm not going to claim it took intellectual prowess to change my mind... at some point long after they were actually popular, one of my tribes ( ;) ) was into NWA, and I kind of got hooked.
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Mryoyothrower
7/28/2013 02:30:45 am
I shall check it out!
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8/4/2013 09:42:02 am
So you know that last piece of lyrics you shared? "The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint; The greats were great cause they paint a lot" That bit? My mom is writing it for me in caligraphy and I will be getting it tattooed on my forearm. It is going to be my first and there are many reasons behind it, mostly because it resonates with me, partially because I am inspired by Macklemore, but mostly it's the truth in the quote. Hard work and dedication are what gets things done and I'm willing to get that tattooed onto my arm so that I never forget that.
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Mryoyothrower
8/4/2013 11:10:22 am
While I refuse to give people advice on art purchases that are difficult to get rid of, I can't say I dislike the idea. It beats "I told myself a joke and forgot the punchline"...Hehe, kidding, I actually like that one. ten thousand hours. I think I put in something like that with guitar, and got to the point where I could pick it up and sound like I knew what I was doing. I can still squeak some pretty noises out of it. A few more years and I'll get there with the yoyo.
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