Every so often, I'll be listening to music and I'll have a thought that blows my mind.
(For example: What if Julian Lennon and Stella McCartney got married? What if they had a baby? I know I sound like a total stoner, but that right there is freaking craziness.)
Anyway....
I have been listening to a lot of rap lately, specifically Common, Jay-Z, Kanye, Lupe (basically, the best rappers around, in my opinion...and my standards for rap are pretty high). I was listening to D.O.A. today because I am hopelessly addicted to The Blueprint III right now, and the line "Only rapper to re-write history without a pen" stuck out to me. (So does "The more space I get the better I write, Oh, Never I write. But if ever I write, I need the space to say whatever I like.")
Now, I've heard producers - I think it was Kanye, actually - talk about just being present when Jay-Z is in the booth. How during 99 Problems, they just started the track and Jay just started rhyming, and he was doing all the voices on the spot without writing anything down. That's effing ridiculous. That's genius.
So I was thinking today about Jay-Z just being this brilliant artist and amazing mind, and I got to wondering. I wonder if Jay-Z is ever listening to the radio and someone else's song comes on and he comes up with his own shit in his head, you know? Like, I wonder if he ever listens to Kanye's records and has a hundred different things in his mind that he would have put on the track instead.
When you think about all the things Jay-Z says, you have to wonder about all the things he doesn't say.
...Or maybe that's just me...
Doesn't matter if it's a writer, a rapper, a musician, a painter, whatever, there's always a million things going on in an artist's head - I think I can safely say that. So that's why I carry around a pen and pad of paper wherever I go. I'm always looking for that quote, or listening for that line in a song. Or I'm thinking of something that I need to write, and I have to pull my car over and scribble it down. I do this a lot. Before I invested in what I affectionately call my 'Hook Book', I used to write on receipts or pay-parking slips. Or my arm. Once I wrote on the back of my Blockbuster card because I had nothing else.
Basically, all this contemplation today lead to the idea/thought/confirmation that the most complex place on the planet is probably inside any artist's mind.
This post is archived under
common,
jay z,
kanye west,
lupe fiasco,
music
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