LOVE TRAVEL&hiphop Pt. Deux

LOCATION: ROME, ITALY

There she stood. Tall & illuminated like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was my first time in Rome. It was my 2nd time in Italy. I had just came from Selene & Lea’s apartment, the two college students with whom I was staying with. I found my way to the world-famed Colosseum. It was a recently viewed internet picture I had seen of this beauty, that prompted me to add the eternal city to the #LOST2XX2 itinerary. I walked around not being able to believe that I made it there. What excited me even more was the notion that I would have a chance to enter and walk its grounds the very next day via day tour.

It’s everything I expected it to be. Walking on the first level of the Colosseum made me feel like I was transported back into a scene from Gladiator. I was able to enter it’s underground section, which once was the holding chambers for the raging animals that would eventually ascend to the main stage. It was here where they were practically kept in the dark, and starved, so that there rage would triple once they laid eyes upon their humanly opponents, which of whom would try to slay them to the rhythmic chants of the crowd.

We learned about the VIP sections, making me think about modern stadiums, such as the Madison Square Garden back home. (These days it feels like my own Knicks are being slayed for sport)

In essence, I learned a lot of things about the Colosseum that day. However, there was one piece of information that stood out to me.

We were told that one reason why it seems as if the Colosseum is never complete in its portions, is because parts of it were actually taken to help build other structures and walls within Rome. Parts of it were even used to help build the Vatican. After the tour had ended, a sign outside one of the cafes on the nearby streets had caught my eye and had riddled my mind.

At that moment, my current location (at the time being), my current favorite hobby, and my favorite genre of music had formed a rather peculiar bridge, one that connected all 3 in quite a unique way.

How so?

It reminded me of, the art of “sampling”, a concept built within the DNA of hip hop’s musical identity. It is simply taking/borrowing (it depends on who you ask…) a section of one musical composition, and then re-creating it into it’s own song/piece. The cool thing about it is, the piece of music being sampled, can be from any other different genre, such as rock, pop, jazz, etc.

It’s a technique that has been passed down from generation to generation. For most people, they know it to be one of Kanye West’s honed skills within his producer arsenal. Many of us have fell in love with his high-pitched sped up recreations which can be found on classics like Jay-Z’s “Blueprint” (2001) and on his own classic-debut “College Dropout”.

Back in the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s, sampling was more multi-layered, which meant there were multiple elements from different songs, that could be found all in one hip hop piece. (See: A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, De La Soul, J Dilla etc. etc.)

It then led me to also link that notion to just how traveling does the same to one’s personal being as the road widens as much as it narrows. I have found myself to have taken different aspects of the places I’ve been to, and have infused into into the very way I think, act, and live these days. In many ways, we “sample” from our interactions and understanding with the culture, lifestyles and people that we meet. We become living instruments, relaying an array of beliefs and values that may root from once place, but seed worldwide.

As travelers, and even further more, as human beings, we are multi-layered. We are composed of many different elements from the past and the present. That is what makes us fascinating. That is what makes us awesome. And ultimately, there is no limit to what we can become, or where we can go.

and to quote sir Q-Tip on “Bonita Applebum” one of my absolutely favorite songs ever…

"Hey, you’re like a hip hop song, you know?"

and because of that, I think you’ve got it going on.

-PASSPORT|kenny

Field Notes