The One With Grandmaster Flash

This month, I'm participating in the Slice of Life challenge with Two Writing Teachers. If you want to participate, you can link up at their Slice of Life Story Post or you can head on over there to check out other people's stories and follow along with the fun. For more information on what a Slice of Life is about, you can go here. 

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I'm meandering. 

I set out to explore spoken word, discovered Gil Scott-Heron and "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", and Rapper's Delight, and now I'm watching the Netflix documentary Hip Hop Evolution. I'm not sure if I should be veering so far into hip hop and rap but at the same time, I think it's important. While there are clearly differences between spoken word and hip hop and rap, they still have similarities. But if I don't understand each of them separately, how can I look at how they interact? 

I'm so interested in learning more about hip hop and I really love that it's not that long ago. The 70's is not the long ago. I'm watching the first episode in this Netflix documentary The Foundation, where Shadrach Kabango visits with and interviews people like DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock. And they aren't that old! They're still alive and still so cool. I love it. 

While I'm still watching the first episode, what I really want to capture is the fact that my learning isn't following a straight line. I'm truly researching...wading through all the information that's out there. Going from Wikipedia to one to the articles in the citations to YouTube to a friend recommending this documentary on Netflix to finding a book in the middle school library about the history of hip hop. I'm on the look out and jumping from here to there and soaking it all in. Trying to sort it out in my head. 

Ohmigosh, I'm watching Grandmaster Flash explain how he figured out how to mix on a turntable. Ohmigosh. Wow. He describes it so mathematically and scientifically. This is why it's worth reading and listening and watching and learning. Because when you hear someone break it all down, understand their process, and how they do what they do step by step, it's amazing. People make their art look so easy but if we slow down and pay attention, we can see how much attention and focus and learning goes into their work but also how he tried things out. He meandered too. He wasn't sure exactly what would happen, how it would go, he just tried it out. Wow. I'm just amazed.

I'm excited to watch the rest of this documentary and then explore more. This is fun! I wish I could drop everything and zone in on this, throw myself into it fully. This is what leaning should be. Interest and passion, drive and desire. It should be messy and complicated and ziggity zag and invigorating. 

I'm meandering and enjoying every moment.