I am NOT a "Gangster"

       As of last Friday, I have discovered, much to my dismay, that I am NOT a gangster. I used to believe I was hip and cool, but after using the word “hip”, I don't think I can make that claim.

       If you know me outside of my blog, you'd know that I am most definitely not a gangster, and even if you do only know me by my posts, you could probably assume the same. Alas, I myself did not come to this conclusion, completely, until this past Friday, when I did some audio work for a rapper in the grade below me. Previously, I had thought myself to be a reasonably cool-ish person, but I now realize that I might as well be 87 years old. Here's why: a haiku titled “Why I don't have swag”

I bake cupcakes, yo

I knit scarfs and read big books

cat socks are my bae

       While knitting and baking surely don't qualify as gangster activities, there is another major thing that's keeping me from being a legitimate “G”. I am, primarily, a classical musician. And what I realized while working with a rapper was that musical terms between genres are not the same. For example, I tried to use the word “accent” to describe to the rapper how he should hit certain notes, but that didn't mean a thing to him. One time, when he fumbled over his words, he said he was “tweekin” but that didn't mean a thing to me.

       So how do you cross barriers like these in music? Sure, they're not huge, but there is definitely a different approach to how certain genres go about making music. Now, I'm all about cross overs in music, but how do we do that? Seriously. I'm asking. Please help.

       I know I'm not a gangster, and as much as I wish I could “roll with the homies”, I don't think I ever will, simply because that's not who I am. Being who you are is certainly more important than blending less awkwardly with other musicians, but I think it's still good to branch out and collaborate with different genres. And anyways, who says a little awkward is a bad thing? I may not be a genuine gangster, but the important thing is that I branched out and got to experience a style of music I was not previously accustomed to. And, honestly, who expects interactions between a rapper and a orchestral musician not to be just a little bit awkward?