The Rap Industry & Martial
Arts
In the rap industry, it is
completely frowned upon to imitate.
Artists are continually promoted to be original. Martial imitators can learn much from rap
Artist’s. A producer creates his own
beats. A rap artist creates his own
lyrics or poetry. There is no imitation,
as soon as there is imitation, the audience will immediately label you as a
fake. In order to become successful in
the rap industry, you must build your own name; you must build your own
following. As in any industry, it is
very competitive, but one thing that should be noticed, is that they fully
encourage creativity & originality.
Rap artists create their own
names, their own trademarks. Well known
rap artist’s such as 2pac, Jay-Z, Notorious Big, Eazy-E, Eminem, LL Cool J,
Common, Mos Def, Wu Tang Clan, Immortal Technique, etc. You see they have all created original names
that are uniquely different & expressive.
Each one of their rapping styles are different & unique to their
expression, none of their raps are the same.
Their voices immediately send out a unique expression that can never be
imitated.
The beats that they choose to rap
to, the lyrics that they put together, the message that they wish to express,
the rhythm of their flow, their unique way of dress, their character, their
inner spirit, etc. Everything is uniquely
different. They may all use the English
language to communicate, & they may all rhyme, but their individual
expression is different & unique to them.
There is no system. There is no
tradition. There is no style. There is just artistic expression.
2pac drew influences from Martin
Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Machiavelli; various rap artists before him, his
life experiences, etc. His poetry was
his expression of life, & that is what made his music beautiful. He was not just rapping to make money, he was
rapping to spread a message. There can
be many imitators of 2pac, but there will never be another 2pac. DMX may even look like 2pac, his voice may be
deep like 2pacs, but he certainly is not 2pac.
DMX has to express his own, he cannot imitate. Rap artists cannot be imitated, it is impossible;
their voice will immediately set them apart from any other human being.
So in the rap industry, imitation
is heavily discouraged. But why is it
that in the “Martial Industry” everyone is encouraged to imitate? These people should not even be called “Martial
Artists” they should be labeled as “Martial Imitators.” An Artist is a creator, art is creation,
there is very little Art in the Martial Industry. The Martial Arts has been taken over by
Martial Sport. Sport is a game, Art is
an expression. Art is like music, it is
an expression of the inner spirit. Sport
and Art is not the same. If you practice
sport, do not call yourself an Artist. You
may be an athlete, but you are not an Artist.
A rap artist may not be athletic,
but his expression of art has nothing to do with his athleticism. 2pac & Eminem are certainly not the
strongest, fastest, most flexible, & most fit people in the rap industry,
but they are certainly viewed as 2 of the most talented Artists in the
industry. They are Artist’s, they are
not Athlete’s.
Martial Arts is a non-verbal body
expression of your inner spirit. Unlike
rap, you are not primarily expressing yourself vocally, you are primarily
expressing yourself through body movement, and secondary is the voice. Your body movement is your artistic
expression. And because it is body
movement, in order to be the absolutely most expressive Martial Artist, you
must be extremely fit. You must be able
to move your body exactly the way you wish to move it. The more flexible, the stronger, the
healthier, the more athletic, the better; that way you can fully express
yourself as you please via body movement, you will have less limitations on
expression.
Compared to the rap artist, if
you tell the rap artist that he is not allowed to swear, that will limit his
expression. If you tell the rap artist
that he cannot use any words that start with a, b, c, d, e, or f. That will limit his expression. It is like the Martial Artist who does not
have the range and motion in his legs or arms to kick or punch the way that he
wished he could; that will put a limitation on his expression.
When you step into the realm of
combat sport, you are imposing limitations on the Martial Artist. If it is a boxing ring, you tell him you
cannot kick. If it is a kickboxing ring,
you tell him he cannot elbow or knee. If
it is a Thai boxing ring, you tell him he cannot grapple. If it is a cage, you tell him that weapons
are not allowed. The rules &
limitations hinder the expression of the Martial Artist. A true Martial Artist cannot be bound by any
limitations in his expression. The only
limitation is his own limitation, the limitation that he sets upon himself; it
does not come from the outside.
A Martial Artist is guided by his
inner spirit. He is guided by wisdom
& truth; he is not guided by the industry.
Those guided by the Industry are not Martial Artists. They may be contracted Fighters, they may be
actors, but they are not Martial Artists.
Within the rap industry, 2pac is an Artist who was guided by his inner
spirit, but the rap Industry was overwhelming his inner spirit, he was a
positive force within too much negativity.
Eventually the negativity had taken his life away. Most rappers in the industry are not guided
by their inner spirit, they are guided by the industry, they are not Artists,
they are entertainers; they are puppets.
An Artist can only be a true
Artist when he has the freedom to express.
If an Artist is starving and he is changing his Art in order to make money
to pay for his next meal, his expression will be corrupted. A truly non corrupted expression is when an
Artist is self-sufficient. When an
Artist is self-sufficient, he does not need you to approve of his expression,
his expression is as is, with or without your approval. Because money is valued so much by society,
you will rarely encounter a true Artist.
Most people will take the money over expression; they will not take the
expression over money. Most people will
choose to fight for a million than to express humbly for free. To encounter an Artist is rare; to encounter
a Mystic is even rarer. That is why you
will rarely ever find a real Martial Artist in this world.
