Just Art or Genius?

[Pioneer1]

Not sure why but driving around today listening to my favorite music and even being forced to listen to some of that new Gen Z shit kids are calling Hiphop today, for some reason I became AMAZED at how well put together the lyrics are in music in general and in Black music in specific.

Both the Rap AND the RnB.

Seems to me it would be hard enough to come up with enough words that rhyme with each other to make an entire 5 minute song, let alone an album....AND make it all make sense with themes and story lines!

 

AND make them sound smooth and witty and catchy!


One of the songs I was listening to was an old one from Nelly where he said something about,

 

 

"If you compare ME
to your local grocerY
Then you'll SEE
I got more carrots than aisle D
More bread than aisle G
Then bag and scan ME"



Even the kids riding with me had to trip out on THAT one....lol

What a powerful mind to come up with some shit like that, IMO.

I know a lot of musicians have writers who help them write their lyrics, but I'm wondering how powerful your mind has to be to come up with some of these beautiful yet captivating lyrics that stay in people's heads for decades. 

Is there some special place in the universe artists go to for their creativity?
I know a lot of them do drugs and that activates certain parts of the brain.
 

[ProfD]

Many folks are born gifted and/or talented.

 

White folks have the hardest time understanding or believing it. They want to associate hours or practice time and/or study to people being proficient. It works sometimes.

 

That whole train of thought falls apart when a 7-year old prodigy sits down and plays a piano effortlessly by ear or a savant solves complex math problems without years or decades of education. 

 

Many Black folks regardless of the circumstances into which they were born seem to be *blessed* with talent and/or intelligence beyond their environment. 

 

Art is the best display of gifted and talented individuals.

[Pioneer1]

4 hours ago, ProfD said:

Many folks are born gifted and/or talented.

 

White folks have the hardest time understanding or believing it. They want to associate hours or practice time and/or study to people being proficient. It works sometimes.

I got new for you....lol....White folks aren't the ONLY ones who have a hard time trying to understand it.

You tell me how an ugly dude with no teeth in his mouth and sounds like he's got a paper bag over his mouth....can actually be a PIMP and convince women to sell themselves for him and give him the money!
I don't know how that happens, but I've seen several dudes who fit that description, DO it....lol.

I believe a lot of people are simply BORN with talent because I've been witnessing it all my life.
But if I hadn't witnessed it, I probably wouldn't believe it myself because a lot of it defies common "logic".
I'm also very Spiritually oriented so I know and understand there is far more to Reality that what we simply see in this physical manifestation.

Many people born with certain talents actually developed those skills in other lifetimes but they are displayed as "gifts" or "talents" in this life time!
Others were born with keen neurological abilities that allow them to pick up on and learn things much more quickly and thoroughly than the average person.

There are some people with photographic memories who can literally remember EVERYTHING that happened to them since childhood.
Even the type of clothes THEY were wearing and what others in their environment were wearing on a particular day.
I'm not sure if that's impressive....scary....or both, lol.
 

[ProfD]

7 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

You tell me how an ugly dude with no teeth in his mouth and sounds like he's got a paper bag over his mouth....can actually be a PIMP and convince women to sell themselves for him and give him the money!

Flavor Flav is exhibit A.

 

Biggie Smalls said "Black and ugly as ever, however, I stay Coogi down to the socks, rings and watch filled with rocks and my jam knocks in her Mitsubishi, Navajos creep me in they teepee..."

 

*Ugly* can be overcome through intelligence, charm, charisma, material things or intimidation to name a few.

 

7 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

I believe a lot of people are simply BORN with talent because I've been witnessing it all my life.

Absolutely. Every generation produces them.

7 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

I'm also very Spiritually oriented so I know and understand there is far more to Reality that what we simply see in this physical manifestation.

Many people born with certain talents actually developed those skills in other lifetimes but they are displayed as "gifts" or "talents" in this life time!

Just as being the resident agnostic around here, that's a black hole of debate  into which I don't venture.

 

Regardless of one's beliefs, some people are born gifted or talented or both.

 

Unfortunate the universe doesn't allow the *best* people to join forces and make the world a better place.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

 

Biggie Smalls said "Black and ugly as ever, however, I stay Coogi down to the socks, rings and watch filled with rocks and my jam knocks in her Mitsubishi, Navajos creep me in they teepee..."

 

Biggie called himself ugly, but in reality he was just on the low end of normal.
A lot of bruthaz running around in the hood looked like him.

I think social media brought this fact to the forefront
Before the advent of social media we were only used to seeing REAL people...in Reality.
Most people on television or the movies of any race tended to be the cream of the crop "model" looking types with above average looks.
When social media made it to where the average person could get on the screen and spit their game...we started seeing more and more REAL looking people.
More obese women with cellulite, more goofy looking dudes with scattered teeth, but social media kept it real.

Social media did more to improve the self esteem of a lot of people than going to a therapist could have....lol.


 

*Ugly* can be overcome through intelligence, charm, charisma, material things or intimidation to name a few.

Lol @ "intimidation".

 

It actually depends on HOW ugly a person is.
If you're TOO ugly, no amount of money or intelligence will make you sexually attractive.

 

 

Regardless of one's beliefs, some people are born gifted or talented or both.

 

Truth.
However I still believe that a lot of people zone out and go into other dimensions to get their "creativity" and come up with ideas.

 

[ProfD]

45 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Biggie called himself ugly, but in reality he was just on the low end of normal.

A lot of bruthaz running around in the hood looked like him.

A panel of women would be required to make that judgement.

45 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

I think social media brought this fact to the forefront
Before the advent of social media we were only used to seeing REAL people...in Reality.

Way before social media, I believe Hip-Hop redefined standards of attractiveness. Normal people i.e. non-models were able to get into the game.

 

45 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

More obese women with cellulite, more goofy looking dudes with scattered teeth, but social media kept it real.

Yep. From Kelly Price to Craig Mack...talented people were given a shot.

45 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Lol @ "intimidation".

 

It actually depends on HOW ugly a person is.
If you're TOO ugly, no amount of money or intelligence will make you sexually attractive.

Gotta resort to intimidation.

45 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

However I still believe that a lot of people zone out and go into other dimensions to get their "creativity" and come up with ideas.

As a musician, while it has never been my thing, I know plenty of them who zone out into another dimension all right...weed and drugs and alcohol.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

 

A panel of women would be required to make that judgement.

Some men are so ugly you don't need a woman to make that call....lol.

 

Do you need a panel of women to decide on whether or not THIS dude is attractive?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Way before social media, I believe Hip-Hop redefined standards of attractiveness. Normal people i.e. non-models were able to get into the game.

 

Facts.
Whether it was rappers who praised the wide hips and big butts of the women in their community improving their self esteem OR rappers who through their sheer confidence and charisma made women piss on themselves chasing them down and offering them sex....give Black American men from the 'hood credit for boosting the image of our people and raising our collective self esteem!

 

It's funny to see men from outside of the United States who are sincerely surprised and amazed at how so many Black men attract women and how that amazement often turns to jealousy and anger.
They've been raised to believe that White men....especially the types seen in Hollywood....are or should be the standard of what is thought of as handsome and what women should go for.
So when they come to America and see all of these Black men of different colors with different facial features straight up MACKING on beautiful women of all races, shades, and ages....they don't understand it and can't take it.

 

Next time you see a Black man walking around with a White woman....if there's a Latino man around, look at his facial expression and how jealous and annoyed he probably gets, lol.

 

 

 

 

 

Yep. From Kelly Price to Craig Mack...talented people were given a shot.

 

Now wait a minute.....
Kelly Price is my girl....lol.
She's pretty AND sexy.

 

 

 

Her weight tends to fluxuate but even when she's fat she's sexy.

 

 

 

I know plenty of them who zone out into another dimension all right...weed and drugs and alcohol
 

But that's a common way TO do it.
Drugs and alcohol has been a very common way for artists to tap into other Realms and get inspiration.
While some call it hallucinating, others see it as tapping into their creative space and getting ideas they normally wouldn't get sober.
 

[ProfD]

4 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Some men are so ugly you don't need a woman to make that call....lol.

 

Do you need a panel of women to decide on whether or not THIS dude is attractive?

Right. No panel required for some cases.

 

Still, there's no universal standards when it comes to beauty or ugly.

 

4 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Now wait a minute.....

Kelly Price is my girl....lol.
She's pretty AND sexy.

I definitely wasn't coming against our sista Kelly Price. She's always been beautiful whether chunky or Ozempic.

 

My point was the music industry wasn't giving out records to the chunky church girls who could blow the roof off a building with their singing talent.

 

4 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

But that's a common way TO do it.
Drugs and alcohol has been a very common way for artists to tap into other Realms and get inspiration.
While some call it hallucinating, others see it as tapping into their creative space and getting ideas they normally wouldn't get sober.

Having been among musicians for over half my life, I can confirm that none of that stuff really makes them more creative or better.

 

The end result is that drugs and alcohol do more harm than good In the long run. Look no further than the "where are now" profile of their lives.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

Still, there's no universal standards when it comes to beauty or ugly.
 

Which is good news, if you grew up being considered ugly....lol.
 

One could only imagine living in a nation like Japan or North Korea where everyone is expected to act and look the same and any difference gets you pegged as an outsider.
No marriage.
No friends.
Probably no job.
Probably even executed if not aborted if you came out ugly or different in a nation like North Korea.
 

Uniformity is highly valued in those societies like diversity is valued in ours.

 

Having been among musicians for over half my life, I can confirm that none of that stuff really makes them more creative or better.
 

So are you saying that you don't know of cases where music artists and writers didn't perform better or come up with better lyrics when they had a little drink or took a hit of something to "get straight"...lol????

[ProfD]

8 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

So are you saying that you don't know of cases where music artists and writers didn't perform better or come up with better lyrics when they had a little drink or took a hit of something to "get straight"...lol????

Correct.  I have never seen creative people who were *better* under the influence.  Especially not if they aren't already gifted and/or talented. 

 

However, I've known several extremely gifted and talented folks whose lives were either ruined or they left the planet early as a result of drugs and/or alcohol. 

[Pioneer1]

4 minutes ago, ProfD said:

Correct.  I have never seen creative people who were *better* under the influence.  Especially not if they aren't already gifted and/or talented. 

 

However, I've known several extremely gifted and talented folks whose lives were either ruined or they left the planet early as a result of drugs and/or alcohol. 

I'm not sure about music, however what you say is 100% applicable to athletes.
Drugs and alcohol do NOT make them play better and it has ruined the careers of so many.