Creating Art (How You Do It)

Creating Art (How you do it) By: Lefthandedbandit I remember the first time I ever heard of Kendrick Lamar. I immediately wrote him off as some new commercial rapper, spitting the same jazz you hear on the radio. For a long time I was caught up in that hiphop isn’t what is used to be mode and I didn’t even give new artists a chance to even begin to plead their case. I feel like I was born after my time. I always say that I should’ve been born ten years before I was born because I live for Golden Age Hiphop and for the longest I felt it was the best of the best hiphop. Fast forward to about a year ago I run into Kendrick Lamar again, this time on the radio. They were playing women weed and weather joint and I really liked the beat. I didn’t even know it was him on the song, but when I found out it was him I decided to dig a little deeper and after I heard that second verse on “Swimming Pools” I was hooked and blown away. I spent nearly a month listening to him and his affiliates and other upcoming artists like Ab-soul, Schoolboy Q, Danny Green, Asap Rocky, and Flatbush Zombies to name a few. Before all of this, the only new rappers I was on were the Pro-Era kids, because they had that Golden Age sound I love so much, Joey Bada$$ is my favorite new artists, his flow screams Big L; that’s just a side note though. But it all came back to Kendrick Lamar and his unmatched level of creativity. I feel like we all go through a period where we want to create music. We hear it every day, we see it everywhere; the world wouldn’t function without it. Could you imagine watching a film without a score? Kendrick Lamar influenced me to try and make my own music. The way his songs are put together is so artistic. There’s a level of abstraction and a lot of tinkering with his sound. I really like how he slows his voice up or some times raises the pitch or even fades himself out like he did in the “Sing about me” song. Not to mention his undeniable lyrical ability. That’s what I look for in music nowadays. I like to hear something fresh. I was really impressed with Jay-z’s latest album as well. I think he made a huge and bold jump with Magna Carta. I do believe it is one of his most creative albums. The beats were so out there to me. Some of the songs were really short and didn’t have all those traditional elements, like a bridge or three verses so they came off as abstract too. I know some weren’t feeling it, but I really saw some major maturation going on and a lot of branching out. I’ve been trying to make my own music for the past few months with little to no success; I’m actually quite terrible at it, but I think I’ll keep trying. But what I want to know is; what is your process? This blog is about putting Alabama talent on blast and letting the world know that there’s a lot of it here. What influences you? Who influences you? What makes you want to be an artist? I’m truly interested to see the inner workings of what you guys put out. I watched Skoolie Escobar’s Journey to You’re Welcome video and found it very inspiring. He put me on to not only his music, but he shed light on what went on behind the scenes and what it took to make his album happen. When an artist allows you to get that close, it gets you more involved in their music because you’re given something more tangible than a disc. So holler at me, I feel like I finally have an outlet to create discussion about something I’m really passionate about and I’m sure all you artists out there holding it down with your craft are passionate about too. Peace!