Thursday, June 23, 2011
I'm cheating on music
Sometimes, I feel like a dumb ass rapper. All I do is rhyme. I don't make beats or play instruments. I'm not saying everyone should feel as extreme as I do about this but honestly... I think all emcees should learn how to play at least one instrument. Music shouldn't be confined strictly by the genre you participate in. Music should be progressive. The reason why many artists of the past 10 years will be forgotten in the next 10-15 years (or less) is because they decided to remain stagnant. They chose to take the advance money the label gave them and spend it on worldly possessions, leaving they're soul exposed for everyone to see. Think about the music (especially rap) that is no longer relevant. Many artists fall in that proverbial big label trap, only to receive a few dollars... and half of it goes to taxes at the end of the year. The rest of it goes back to the label. So what did you really make? Nothing. You just have a piece of meaningless jewelry. All that time when you were buying things that you couldn't really afford, you could've been learning you're craft and creating a new one at the same time. Basically, expanding your horizons way beyond the means of financial gain and a love affair with the corporate world and all of its greed and evil. Now its cool to splurge... a little... every once in awhile. But while you're out there splurging, learn the business and learn a craft. I've fallen victim to this... I can't tell you how long I've been saying I need to learn how to play an instrument. And honestly, I have no excuse because jazz is BY FAR my favorite music. Join me on the mission to cultivate and build, yall. The music is dying. And if we continue to let it suffer, those that come after us will kill it even more. Let's do something about this so our ancestors can be proud of us. Peace
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So lately I've been going back and revisiting old records and albums I used to listen to. Some of them were already classics (ie: Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Duran Duran, etc.), but others were from that era of Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park (Hybrid Theory days haha) - and as I'm listening I'm catapulted back to that time, what I was feeling, what I was going through. And it's immediately clear which albums and songs I can still listen to because they were well made and continue to have new relevance each time they're played. And then there are those that you hear the shallowness - it's all about "Look how bad I am" and less about what got you there, why you do what you do.
ReplyDeleteAnd it just fuels me to create music and art that bring back those values, to do my part in holding up this generation, and to only surround myself with those who are actively looking to do the same.