My path, my place, my life, my love, my writing, my reading... just seeing the sun.
I remember this feeling
I felt it before...
It's like a child
when he first realizes he's "alive".
...That is a little something I wrote upon my arrival in Africa. It gives you a feeling of Deja-Vu, because the environment is so new and different, you can actually feel like a kid again. Another reason Africa has this affect is that before my generation became adults and isolated ourselves with ipods and iphones, we used to be out in the heat, sweating all day. In Africa even when your inside you are really outside. Air conditioning is rare, and homes and shops are not the closed and locked fortresses we find in America.
The first song I listened to was "Breathe" by Nas. He is one of my favorite rappers, and his new album didn't vibe with me as much as I had hoped. So I just put it away for a month or so, and waited till I was in a new environment to see if it opened my senses. And it did. Because when we listen to music its often the images they produce in our mind that make the song enjoyable to us. So I needed some new sights and sounds and memories.
But soon I would be looking forward to ditching my American music and trying on some new sounds of Gambia and Senegal. I was reminded of an interview I read by Nas' father in which he said the world would be a sad place without music. That music was how we communicate, and if you want to know the history of a people then listen to their music.
More then anything else I listen to the music and sounds of Africa when I'm there.
