Before the 5th grade I did not have much in the way of what a normal human being would call 'musical taste'. I pretty much listened to the radio or whatever my parents had in their cars, Rod Stewart or some Broadway show most of the time. Which was fine for me. I didn't know any better. Then one day my friend introduced me to Rap music.
If we're splitting hairs it was 50 Cent's song "Wanksta".While this song is certainly not a masterpiece it opened up an entire new world to me. I started exploring new music, new genres, and what started as a liking of music grew into an obsession. I now enjoy more types of music than there are classifications but I still have a soft spot for rap and Hip-hop. I think that it comes down to sampling.Rap songs aren't just rap songs. They open up their beats and references to the culture at large, and that's what is so intriguing to me. Take Kanye West for example. I started to listen to him around the time his first album came out. I loved his use of samples and I liked the melodies they created.As a result of that I would seek out the original songs and got exposed to great soul music. It was inspiring to see what the original song was and try to figure out what Kanye had done to it. He would take a piece or art and add something to it. It was not always an improvement but it was always interesting.And that's what I try to do with my life. In papers, work or conversation I'll let my mind associate or sample from various things I have learned. I sample the information that I have amassed in my lifetime to come up with original, occasionally strange, thoughts about any topic.So while talking about a rap song and the merits of a remix I might bring in something about post-structuralist thought. Not because I'm trying to sound smarter than I am, but because making those connections helps me make more connections. In turn, every thought I have becomes a more complete thought through exploration. (I tend to be slightly introspective)Even more importantly it helps me pull from different parts of my life when I am doing work. which is a really cool thing.So while it may be conventionally strange to talk about the death of the author and rap music it works for me.Which is another reason advertising attracted me. Because every day you get to look at a problem and say, "What can I do with this to make people take notice? How can I look at this problem in a way that is different from anyone else?" And I think that's pretty exciting.