good medicine
Oct. 18th, 2020 09:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
falcongrrlSo I've been hanging out on Twitch with a community started by Jay Smooth, and yesterday I listened to his hiphop radio show too (and chatted with some of the same folks in the chat room there). Each Saturday from 5:30 to 7:30 pm EST Jay plays a couple of loosely themed sets.
One song I loved yesterday (that's available on Spotify, though I couldn't find it on YouTube) is called "WTF is Self Care?" and it's by Open Mike Eagle. Basically, the speaker of the song talks about all these different iterations of "self-care": journaling, drinking kelp smoothies, taking walks on the beach, sleeping on sheets with a high-thread count, doing yoga, getting a massage...and rejects each one in turn, either because it just doesn't work for him or he doesn't have access to it.
The part of the song that I guess resonates with me most is that repetition of "What the fuck is self-care?" that builds steadily throughout it, because I think in 2020 we're all stumbling over that question in our own ways, trying to do the things that will help us to feel more normal and sane in a world that seems increasingly less so.
But the answer seems to be embedded in the song's own catharsis. Through words, through community, through a sense of this commonality, we can move through difficult times - through laughter, because the song's lyrics are arguably funny too - but also, perhaps most importantly, through music itself.
Jay Smooth's comment about yesterday's show in part was "This week we pulled out the heavy medicine..." and he's referring to not just the WTF 2020 anthem but also the "Fela/Afrobeat mix courtesy of DJ Monk-One" that is featured in the first hour (along with some Ralph Ellison audio mixed in which is super cool). To be honest, I'm not sure what Fela/Afrobeat means, but I'm digging it a lot. Since I'm a Patreon subscriber (for $2/mo) I have access to the music at any time, so I'm listening to the beginning of the set now. I missed the first hour on Saturday (and caught the last hour because Dave was sleeping).
TMI: I'm on my period right now, so I not only spent most of the day in the hospital, but spent most of the day in the hospital with cramps, sitting in an uncomfortable chair. I'm home now, sitting at my computer with my (new) headphones on, after having taken a couple of Advil...
...and the music does feel like medicine. I can feel it inside my body, the polyphonic drums and the keyboard and singing superimposed over the top, and sometimes horns joining in and the bass dancing. I think if I were feeling better, I'd want to move to the beat, but as it is, I'm content just being still, writing, with the music doing dazzling things in the background. Feeling the groove inside even if my body isn't quite responding on the outside.
I like the idea of medicine better than self-care, I think. Not from the standpoint of replacing Western medicine, but I think we can mindfully ingest things that are good for us, whether it's food or TV shows or visual art or music. I love Thich Nhat Hanh, but by this I don't mean that we only ingest the most peaceful, traditionally nourishing things, which is what I think he would advocate. I think sometimes we need to ingest anger to access our own anger, to ingest fear to know we're not the only one who is afraid.
But I'm seriously considering asking myself a question on a regular basis: is this thing I'm about to do/watch/listen to medicine? Does it make me laugh or think or be in community or act with a greater purpose?
This doesn't mean I'm going to give up my addiction to social media, even though I know that it doesn't feed my soul. But it does mean that I will mindfully treat myself to various good remedies, to get myself through the next couple of months and beyond. It means I'll be grateful for the things that feed me, whether it's something as simple as seeing a flower or feeling my fingertips pressing the keys as I type these words..
Right now, I'm savoring the music, and that's enough.
You can find Jay Smooth's Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/illdoctrine. I would encourage you to check it out. For $2, it's not a big risk, and if you like it you can decide to give more. If you hate it, you can cancel.
The live show can be found at hiphopmusic.com.
Edited to add: Afrobeat is a music genre which involves the combination of elements of West African musical styles such as fuji music, yoruba, and highlife with American funk and jazz influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. Wikipedia
One song I loved yesterday (that's available on Spotify, though I couldn't find it on YouTube) is called "WTF is Self Care?" and it's by Open Mike Eagle. Basically, the speaker of the song talks about all these different iterations of "self-care": journaling, drinking kelp smoothies, taking walks on the beach, sleeping on sheets with a high-thread count, doing yoga, getting a massage...and rejects each one in turn, either because it just doesn't work for him or he doesn't have access to it.
The part of the song that I guess resonates with me most is that repetition of "What the fuck is self-care?" that builds steadily throughout it, because I think in 2020 we're all stumbling over that question in our own ways, trying to do the things that will help us to feel more normal and sane in a world that seems increasingly less so.
But the answer seems to be embedded in the song's own catharsis. Through words, through community, through a sense of this commonality, we can move through difficult times - through laughter, because the song's lyrics are arguably funny too - but also, perhaps most importantly, through music itself.
Jay Smooth's comment about yesterday's show in part was "This week we pulled out the heavy medicine..." and he's referring to not just the WTF 2020 anthem but also the "Fela/Afrobeat mix courtesy of DJ Monk-One" that is featured in the first hour (along with some Ralph Ellison audio mixed in which is super cool). To be honest, I'm not sure what Fela/Afrobeat means, but I'm digging it a lot. Since I'm a Patreon subscriber (for $2/mo) I have access to the music at any time, so I'm listening to the beginning of the set now. I missed the first hour on Saturday (and caught the last hour because Dave was sleeping).
TMI: I'm on my period right now, so I not only spent most of the day in the hospital, but spent most of the day in the hospital with cramps, sitting in an uncomfortable chair. I'm home now, sitting at my computer with my (new) headphones on, after having taken a couple of Advil...
...and the music does feel like medicine. I can feel it inside my body, the polyphonic drums and the keyboard and singing superimposed over the top, and sometimes horns joining in and the bass dancing. I think if I were feeling better, I'd want to move to the beat, but as it is, I'm content just being still, writing, with the music doing dazzling things in the background. Feeling the groove inside even if my body isn't quite responding on the outside.
I like the idea of medicine better than self-care, I think. Not from the standpoint of replacing Western medicine, but I think we can mindfully ingest things that are good for us, whether it's food or TV shows or visual art or music. I love Thich Nhat Hanh, but by this I don't mean that we only ingest the most peaceful, traditionally nourishing things, which is what I think he would advocate. I think sometimes we need to ingest anger to access our own anger, to ingest fear to know we're not the only one who is afraid.
But I'm seriously considering asking myself a question on a regular basis: is this thing I'm about to do/watch/listen to medicine? Does it make me laugh or think or be in community or act with a greater purpose?
This doesn't mean I'm going to give up my addiction to social media, even though I know that it doesn't feed my soul. But it does mean that I will mindfully treat myself to various good remedies, to get myself through the next couple of months and beyond. It means I'll be grateful for the things that feed me, whether it's something as simple as seeing a flower or feeling my fingertips pressing the keys as I type these words..
Right now, I'm savoring the music, and that's enough.
You can find Jay Smooth's Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/illdoctrine. I would encourage you to check it out. For $2, it's not a big risk, and if you like it you can decide to give more. If you hate it, you can cancel.
The live show can be found at hiphopmusic.com.
Edited to add: Afrobeat is a music genre which involves the combination of elements of West African musical styles such as fuji music, yoruba, and highlife with American funk and jazz influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. Wikipedia
(no subject)
Date: 2020-10-21 03:18 am (UTC)Super slow on the reply here, but the "Fela" side of Fela/Afrobeat almost certainly refers specifically to Fela Kuti, one of the pioneers of the genre.