How Childish Gambino Changed My Life

Download Culdesac at Forever Childish

Around two years ago, I remember going through my daily websites and checking out the latest Hip Hop music on my favorite Hip Hop music blog when I stumbled upon a mixtape that immediately piqued my interest.  Apparently, a rapper that I never heard of before called Childish Gambino was releasing a mixtape called Culdesac.  What caught my attention was that Childish Gambino was also the actor/comedian named Donald Glover. 

At the time, I only knew Donald Glover as a character named Troy Barnes from the television show called Community, which I watched religiously.  Before I ever watched Community, I never knew that Donald Glover was also a rapper.  Because I loved his character so much on Community and because of sheer curiosity, I decided to check out the mixtape---and boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise.

I was lead to a website which contained the mixtape and I remember seeing his face plastered on the back cover.  After I played the first song on the mixtape called “Difference,” I will admit that I got teary eyed at the end of the song.  It had touched my heart.  It was a great intro because I immediately connected with the lyrics in the song, mainly because of the combination of the light piano melody and the eerie echoes of hearing Childish Gambino saying, “I am just different…”

This intro affected me so profoundly because of what was going on with my life during that time.  I was in high school when I first heard that song and I always felt different from everybody else.  I always felt like the outsider looking in.  I was a loner.

As for the rest of the mixtape, each song was exactly what I wanted to hear from a Rapper.  Donald Glover was coming from a different perspective than many other popular Rappers I heard before and his music hit close to home.  After Culdesac, I continued to stay updated with Childish Gambino’s work.   Once he finally released his debut album, Camp, I knew I had to buy it.  Camp was also the first album I had ever bought by myself (with my Grandmother’s money).

To be honest, I cannot think of a song that I don’t like by Childish Gambino.  His whole catalog from Culdesac to Royalty has been solid, in my opinion.  Childish Gambino also influenced the way I write songs when I decided to take Rapping seriously.   As a matter of fact, “Freaks & Geeks” was actually the song that inspired me to write my single, “Keep It Real.”  

 Listen to Keep It Real

Childish Gambino played a large part in my decision to continue pursuing a rapping career.  Childish Gambino expanded my perspective of what Hip Hop music could be---an experience that is meant to inspire anyone working towards a dream.  Childish Gambino inspired me to keep going with my decision, and I thank him for that.  This is how Childish Gambino changed my life.

I would like to invite you, the reader, to share a conversation with me.  How has Childish Gambino affected your life?  Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.  I'd love to hear what you have to say about this topic.  If you have an idea for what I should write in my next blog, please comment below if you would like as well.

Thank you for reading this blog post.

Live The Life YOU Want To Live: Part 2

So in what ways do people or society give us those ideas of happiness?

One example of when people and society can directly give us those ideas of happiness for us is the decision of continuing your education towards college.  We graduate from high school and then think to ourselves, “Okay, now what?”  Our decisions on whether or not we should continue our education can be affected by our parents and friends.  For example, we may have heard that our friends are going to a certain college after they graduate and so we sometimes base our decision off of that factor alone.  Or our parents may have encouraged us to go to college because it could be the “best years of our lives” and your parents have a legacy at the school.  Maybe our parents may have never gone to college and now they’re encouraging us to go because they don’t want us to struggle like they did.  What I’m trying to get at is that these ideas are given with good intentions, but is that what we ourselves truly want for our lives?  Of course, going to college and getting a degree may not guarantee that we will land the job we thought we always wanted or getting a job that may secure us financially.  So why do they want us to go?  In my opinion, it’s because that is all they know or believe.  They may know that going to college was the best years of their lives, and so they believe that it will be the same for us.  Our parents may know that not going to college will result in struggling financially, so they believe that going to college and getting a degree is the solution.  Our friends may believe that going to college is the best thing for them and so you may follow them because you believe that is what is best for you too because you believe in your friends and you may not want to leave them even though your relationship with them during college may never be the same.  I dare say that society and the media also give us these ideas of happiness.  For example, take a look at the commercials that you sometimes see on television about people who have gone to a certain college and now they are a success story for the college.  If you’ve ever seen these types of commercials, you know what I’m talking about.  When you see these success stories, it may seem like that is the best thing for you because you see how happy those people are when they took that path.  It may even encourage you to take this path because you may believe that you will also be a success story too and live a life happily ever after.  But it’s not guaranteed. 

Another example may be the career path you choose for your life.  Think about what you want to do with your life and consider whether or not that is something that YOU chose to do with your life.  Was it your decision or somebody else’s decision?  Are you totally satisfied with the career you have?  Are you totally satisfied toward what you’re working for?  You may have been influenced by your parents to go with a certain career path because it makes a lot of money.  You may have been encouraged to continue things that you are good at such as math, even though you love to make art.  And hey, maybe you are good at something and you want to do it because it does make you happy.  And if it does, then go for it.  What I’m saying is, if it doesn’t satisfy you to go to work every day and know that you’re doing something that you love, you need to think about some alternate career paths because eventually, you will most likely quit the job anyways.

There are also some sneaky, indirect ways in which other people’s idea of happiness may creep into your mind.  For example, have you ever compared your life to another person and think that their life seems so great but your life isn’t?  Have you ever wallowed in the sad, sulking mass, which is your life, and thought that if you could be in their shoes for one day that you will be totally satisfied with your life?  In my opinion, I’m not convinced that if you could switch places with them for one day that you will be satisfied with your life.  I believe that what you truly want is happiness with your life.  It’s really not about what other people are actually doing in order to be happy.  It’s about the happiness itself.  Because you see, there are many ways and paths to be happy.  It’s all about how YOU want to be happy and NOT what somebody else is doing which makes them happy.  And happiness comes and begins from within.

So how do we know that we are following somebody else’s believed path to happiness?  

Answers to that question in Part 3...

Live The Life YOU Want To Live: Part 1

Every day, most of us are bombarded by the expectations, fantasies, dreams, and hopes of the people around us and society.  We strive for these beliefs as if they are the things that will make us happy.  We follow these beliefs in hopes that it is for the best in the end.  We hope that they know what they are talking about when they say to follow a certain path to happiness.  But it isn’t.  In a way, those dreams, fantasies, hopes, and expectations are only just that.  Even the people who tell us the things they want for us may have never had those things.  So, in a way, it is a paradox.  People have dreams, fantasies, hopes, and expectations for us because that is what THEIR dreams, fantasies, hopes, and expectations are.  It doesn’t matter if it would truly make us happy or not because that is what they BELIEVE will make us happy.  And that’s where the confliction lays.  We BELIEVE that the hopes, dreams, fantasies, and expectations, of other people will make us happy as well.  But it isn’t always so.  We are so reliant on other people to tell us what they want in order to make them happy.  In a way, we are so hung up on trying to make THEM happy, that we forget to take care of our own happiness.  Sometimes, we forget to ask ourselves if this is truly what WE want, and not something that somebody else wants.  Sometimes we are so caught up in those ideas that we actually start to believe that those things are what we truly want.  Sometimes, we don’t even know what we want because we have been trying to live up to the ideas that other people have given us for so long. That is not to say that those people have bad intentions when they give us those ideas.  It is the opposite because they BELIEVE that what they want for us will be good for us.  So they do have good intentions but they have also been led to believe that what they are doing is good for us as well.  The only solution to all of this is to follow our own path to happiness.  Like opinions, each of us have our own idea of the life we want to live but there obstacles which impede us from living that life.  We are unique beings that have our own unique ideas of the life we want to live.  There is no one way for the path to happiness.  

So in what ways do people or society give us those ideas of happiness?  That's a question for another day...

What Makes An Album Timeless?

At first, I wanted to name this blog post, “What Makes an Album Great?” but then I thought about it for a while and I thought the word “great” was too broad for what I wanted to talk about because there are a lot of albums that are “great.” Therefore, I chose to change the title to “timeless” because it perfectly describes the types of albums that I wanted to talk about that I think are “great.”

So what do I mean by timeless?  I mean albums that can stand the test of time.  I mean albums that you can play more than once without feeling like you’re forcing yourself to like it.  I mean albums that sound great being played over and over again.  I mean albums that you can play a year or two from now and it’s feels like you’ve experienced it for the very first time.

I’ve been listening to a lot of albums lately and I’ve noticed that all of the albums that I love are albums that give me a great experience.

Now when I’m listening to an album, I like to try and figure out the album’s experience and get into the mind of the artist who crafted it.

To give you a better idea of what I’m talking about, you know you’re listening to types of albums when you feel like you’re listening to a movie.

I envision these types of albums as one whole song as opposed to a group of songs.  Each song on these types of albums effortlessly and naturally transitions to the next song in order to enhance and continue the listener’s experience.

Here are a group of albums that I feel describe what I’ve just described above:

Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.a.a.d City

The Roots – Undun

Childish Gambino – Camp

Kid CuDi – Man on The Moon:  The End of Day

Kid CuDi – Man on The Moon II:  The Legend of Mr. Rager

Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II

Kanye West – 808’s and Heartbreak

These are only some of the Hip-Hop albums that I feel are timeless.  If I missed anything, it’s because I forgot to add it to the list or didn’t listen to it yet.

So what do you think?  Do you think an album’s overall experience is what makes it timeless?  Or do you think I’ve missed something about what makes an album great?  Let’s start a conversation.

Be sure to support the artists you feel deserve it in any way possible.  Good music shall always prevail.

If you want to check out my music, head over to my YouTubeChannel.

Follow me on Twitter @DavidHayder

Establishing Your Identity as a Rapper/MC

This blog post is inspired by:  10 Questions That Will Help You Find YourVoice

I believe establishing a unique identity is the biggest obstacle for any beginner Rapper/MC in today’s age of the internet.

Because aspiring Rappers/MCs now have access to a bigger platform thanks to the internet, any aspiring Rapper/MC can have the chance to show the world what they got.  As good as that sounds, beginner Rappers/MCs can also expect more competition for their chance in the spotlight, which brings me to why I am writing this article.

Because more Rappers/MCs have access to bigger platform, new Rappers/MCs of today need a way to stand out from the competition.

One way, Rappers/MCs can stand out from the competition, besides being good at rapping, is to establish a unique identity.  By the way, this is not the only way to stand out from the competition.  There are other ways as well.  In this blog post, I’ll only be writing about how to establish you unique identity.

This may sound simple, but there’s more to it than just stating that you represent A-B-C.  You need to be able convey your identity as a Rapper/MC and channel it through your music.

Establishing your unique identity as a Rapper/MC is so important because it will affect what type of music you will write, what kind of beats you will select for your music, and it will give an audience something to associate your music with because a lot of Rappers/MCs are forgettable.  Your skills at rapping may be great, but showing off your skills only through braggadocio-esque rap songs and showing off how good you are can only take you so far.  You DON’T want to be forgettable.  Being forgettable is the death of any new Rapper/MC

It’s also important because a lot of beginners who don’t take the time to find their own unique identity often sound like those who they listen to and admire the most.  I’m not saying that it’s bad to be inspired by other rappers because if you’re getting buzz, there will always be people who will label you as the next so and so.  I’m saying that you need to stand on your own two feet.  You need to develop your own style.  As Method Man once said, "Don't bite my shit."

When you establish your own identity, this doesn't mean that you can’t break out of the mold of people’s idea of your type of music and do something that’s completely outside of what people expect from you.  You have to send the message that it’s still the same you, but you’re just doing something that you usually don’t do.  It’s all about keeping it real.  As long as you keep it real, you can be as creative and innovative as you want through your music.          

So how do you find out what your unique identity is as a Rapper/MC?

Assuming that you are already great at rapping, you need to know who you are as a person.

One way to do that is to find your unique voice.  If you look in the beginning of this blog post, I posted a link to what inspired me to write this blog post.  That link leads to another blog post which contains ten questions which can help you find your unique voice.

As an aspiring Rapper/MC myself, that blog post has helped me a lot with establishing my unique identity.  Hopefully it will help you out as well.

So what do you think of this blog post?  Did it help you out in anyway?  Are there other ways to stand out from the competition that you’ve learned?  Share it in the comments below.

As always, be sure to support the artists who you feel deserves it in any way you can.  Good music shall always prevail!

If you want to listen to my music, you can go to my YouTube Channel.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @davidhayder

New Artist of The Week #2 - Alex Ruffin

Alex Ruffin is a 19 year old MC who, despite his young age, has what it takes to match and even exceed the skills of most rappers who have been doing it for years.

I remember coming across his music as I was scrolling through my Facebook page and seeing a status update mentioning the young MC by Rap Genius.  Declaring anybody the best lyricists of 2012, especially somebody who is not known by many people, is a huge statement for someone to live up to.  After hearing his song, “Overdosed on Reality” on YouTube for the first time ever, I believe that Alex Ruffin has what it takes to be a contender for the title of “Lyricist of The Year.” 

 

I was immediately impressed by his effortless flow, his deep-voiced delivery which commanded attention, and the old school atmosphere that was created by J. Dilla’s instrumental.

After he announced that his second mixtape was coming out soon, I crossed my fingers hoping that his other songs would be as high quality as his recent work.  After I listened to U.B.E.R., I was not disappointed.

Be sure to look out for Alex Ruffin’s name in the future, for he is truly an MC that will soon get the recognition he deserves with hard work, consistency, and growth in his skills.

Here’s a link to his second mixtape, U.B.E.R.

http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/alex-ruffin-u-b-e-r-mixtape.72023.html

Follow Alex Ruffin on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/whoisalexruffin

Here’s Alex Ruffin’s YouTube Channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/AbstractAlexTV1

By the way, Alex Ruffin also has a third mixtape coming out soon.  I'll update this post when it comes out.

As always, be sure to support the artists whom you feel deserves it in any way you can.  #Goodmusicshallalwaysprevail

If you want to listen to my music, here’s my YouTube Channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/davidhayderofficial

Follow me on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidhayder