A Classic Blog

lol, Yo, I love talking to these younger cats. You might not believe it, but there's some kids out there with minds that dwarf the greatest of thinkers that you encounter on a daily basis. Why? Because these kids think critically and question what they see, while most adults I know take everything they see at face value, not even seeking to understand anything. And I won't even mention those adults that know they're being mislead but choose to accept things as they are... Pretty sad.

Anyway, so my homie Juke, upper teen in high school, asks me the other day, "What makes a classic?" I gathered that the reason he was asking me this is because he wants to perfect his lyric-writing craft to produce what would be considered "classics". I must admit, this is the best question someone has asked me in quite some time. And yes, I have an answer to it, but it's not going to be a universally accepted answer. Why? Because our society doesn't work like that; they usually designate boards of "distinguished" people to define terms like "classic". Well, today it's just Jigabod's definition. If you like it, cool. If not, thas cool too.

First off, lemme just clarify: we're not talking about "classical" in the literary sense, like works from Greece or Rome; nor in the artistic sense, like pictures with symmetry and balance; nor in the musical sense, referring to the preferred music of "educated Europeans" such as opera and symphony; nor are we talking about works of a Classical (notice the capital 'C') time period.

Here, when we say "classic", we simply mean something that endures and is appreciated over time. And this is a smart question to me because so often we accept things as classics without wondering what is so "special" about it. But also, as we harbor this aimless acceptance, we overlook the "classics" of our own modern age, because we don't know what the characteristics of a classic are (and we might as well say most don't CARE what they are, right?) Furthermore, not only do we miss classics, but we also label things as classics that don't deserve the title. So hopefully, after this blog iz done, we'll have a rough sketch of what Jigabod thinks defines a classic. And maybe it'll be a standard we can agree upon; if not, cool.

Arright Jukeson... These are the makings of a classic as told by Jigabod:

1. RELEVANCE aka TIMELINESS - I would normally post this later on for dramatic effect, but this is the heart of it all and I just can't hold my tongue... Lemme ask you something people: what good does it do you to write a poem in Old English in 2006 when so many people can barely read regular English? What good does it do you to use NASA vocabulary in a poem directed to people with short attention spans and even shorter vernaculars? That's called relevance and timeliness: being in the zeitgeist of your current setting.

Now, I know what cats are thinking... "What about Edgar Allan Poe and Homer other great writers who wrote in difficult to understand forms?" No... it's only difficult to understand for OUR people, not for THEIR people. Remember, we came waaaaaay AFTER it was published. At the time, these writers were writing for THEIR people. So, they wrote in a way that would be accepted and understood by THEIR people; all the difficulty was in the meaning, not the format. The problem is, they did such a good job that somehow we think writing in the same way they wrote will make us as "distinguished" writers as they were. ...Nope. At least, not today; maybe centuries ago that would make you dope, but not today.

Relevance and timeliness also points to subject matter in a way. Don't get me wrong, anything from any time period can be treated as a current event and a classic work can be made from it. But it's all in the way you communicate it. You might recount an ancient Greek catastrophe, but if you use ancient Greek speech and form to tell it, only ancient Greeks and scholars are going to appreciate that. But if you can tell the same story in modern terms from a modern perspective, THEN you have a shot at creating a classic.

Also, you have an even better chance of creating a classic if you deal with something current. Why? Think about it: are you more passionate about something that you weren't a part of or around to see, or are you more passionate about something that directly affected you? One thing about current events is that a recap by a participant will always be the most authentic recap, period. And that alone gives works a level of poignancy that a person who wasn't there just can't create. There's only so much you can do in word; experience is irreplaceable.

One more thing here (now you see why I wanted to save this for last). I bet you're asking yourself, "Well, if it's about relevance, then how come we're still reading Shakespeare?" Excellent question. And that is something I often wonder because there's been plenty to come along after Shakespeare. But I'll say this for now and come back to it in a few points: one reason we still read Shakespeare is because he was a classic in HIS day, and once you become a classic in your day, that classic status holds relevance long after you're gone. You become a gateway to your culture at the time and you give people a prototype for what it takes to be a classic of a given period. Also, though old, there's relevance in his work because he tackles universal themes, which we'll discuss next. Not to mention, if you're a classic in your time, then your work is probably high quality. I'll come back to that shortly...

2. UNIVERSALITY - this is another one that people don't think about. When you share an expression or experience in any art form, the goal is to convey it in such a way that a person who has NOT gone through what you've gone through can feel what you felt. So, again, tell me why people like to use huge words to express themselves to people who barely go beyond five letters? And they think because the words are big that they're creating classics. ...Nope. I mean, somebody with a big vocabulary might appreciate your work, yes. And somebody who's shared the experience may appreciate it as well. But... that's not going to be a majority of people.

Don't get me wrong; if you're a person that uses big words by nature, then do it. I'm mainly talking to those who "try" to use 'em. Every word has a place, and if you want to create a classic, you hafta know where that place is. It's called diction: word choice, and it's key to both relevance and universality.

Back to universality though. Romeo and Juliet: even if you don't like Shakespeare, you can appreciate this story. Why? Because everybody knows something about love and romance; people love love and romance. Every dude wishes he could be a Romeo and every girl wishes she could be a Juliet. That's something people can relate to.

To achieve universality, you need to find those things that hold mankind together; the various ideals that, even if we don't all agree on, we all share and experience at one time or another. Love, hate, passion, joy, pain, piety, confusion, awe, fear, courage... When you a create a work that hinges on themes such as these, people respond to them. It's as simple as guys writing poetry to impress girls; as long as it hinges on love, you're already halfway there. All that's left is wording it right.

But on the subject of wording, that's another thing about universality. I really admire Martin Luther King Jr. because he was a man who knew what it was to be universal. He spoke words simple enough for the common man to understand, but expressed concepts deep enough to hold the attentions of and persuade the astute. Not only that, but he permeated all races and social classes. That's universality. I thought of a quote one day that he inspired, and it goes, "Choose your wording, choose your audience." It's as simple as that. Decide who you want to communicate to and create your work so that it is geared toward those people. Don't write a thesis for children; don't write nursery rhymes for scholars. Usually, the best route is that narrow street midway between the two.

In a way, timeliness, relevance, and universality are very closely related. There's only some slight differences, but it's good to know the differences; the more you understand, the more you can control what you create.

3. QUALITY - remember how I said Shakespeare is still read partially because of the quality of his work? Well, quality is just as essential as relevance, timeliness, and universality. Take the music on the radio right now. It's all timely, it's all relevant, and some is universal. And it's... darn near all cheap too. Why? Because this is the goal of the music industry: make money. You're not gonna see many classics in music right now because classic-level work is a slow process and, more importantly, doesn't pay fast enough. If cats can produce low-quality work and get paid big time for it, they will.

But if you're a true artist, it's more about your work than the payoff. And if you want to make classics, you hafta be willing to put the payoff on the line and do whatever it takes to produce quality. Think about this: in 7 years, how many current albums will be remembered? I'm willing to bet less than 10%. Now ask yourself, would you rather be hot for the meantime, or still in rotation/well-remembered/highly anticipated 10 years later? If you want the first, then forget quality and you can have it. If you want the second, then make quality work.

And remember this: just because it's quality doesn't mean it can't be top notch in the meantime. Nor does it mean that it has to be an excruciatingly slow process... that's what defines a genius. But we'll get to that another time, lol.

4. ORIGINALITY - can't beat that, point blank. A lot of your favorite rappers won't ever make classics right now. Why? Because all that they do is in the image of another rapper at some point, whether Tupac or Biggie or whoever else. And Coca-Cola said it best: "Ain't nuthin like the Real Thing". I'll tell you right now, if you're not at peace with who you are, you'll never make a classic. You hafta be willing to be yourself and expose yourself. Don't copy, bite, imitate anybody else. Or else, even if you do make a classic, part of the credit for it will go to them.

Originality also means that you should look for new ways of doing old things sometimes. Cuz, you see, even if you don't "copy" others, you still share experiences of other people. Sometimes you need to dig really hard to find what separates your work and your experience from someone elses. And every now and then, you'll find that there is nothing to separate the two; that's okay. Just as long as you're being yourself to the best of your ability.

Just remember: whatever's been done before and wasn't a classic won't be any more a classic if you do it again. And whatever was a classic before, you can never take credit for. So just "do you" as they say.

5. SOUL - very closely related to originality (because I went a little further on my originality explanation than I intended). Soul simply is you... put a bit of yourself into your work. Matter of fact, put MORE than a bit of yourself into your work. It's like your friends: you like your friends because they're different than you. You know how you feel, but you wanna know how they feel. And you're glad they're not robots because robots don't feel anything. So, when you write, put enough of yourself into your work that people can feel you and can see how you think. And put enough of you into it so they don't feel they're reading the work of a robot.

But, going back to originality, make sure you put enough of you down so they don't feel the presence of somebody else. There's a word I love called "poesy". I've used it once before; it can be juxtaposed to the word "poetry". Poesy is created when a person writes because it's the "in thing" to do. Like, when it goes outta style, they'll stop doing it. You don't ever want to be "in the trend" like that. Because, when you write, even if it's good, people won't feel you. They'll only feel the spirit of the times and whoever started the trend that you took up.

Don't get me wrong, it's okay to have influences as you enter the medium of expression of your choosing. But it should never be to the point that you can't tell yourself from your influences. This is part of the reason it's important to try new things, because that will help you remain separate from the ones you look up to.

6. BLESSING - some would call it luck or chance, but I prefer blessing. The fact is, not every worthy work will be known, and not every unworthy work will be forgotten. If you drop a classic, it's gonna be up to you and God to get it out there. That is... if you want to. The truth is, a classic will be a classic whether it gets out or not. It's like that dope song on an album that never gets released (Slum Beautiful by OutKast for instance): never hit the radio, but still no less of a dope, fie-hot song.

7. THE HOT GARBAGE X FACTOR - and just like some classics are fie-hot gems, there's also a plethora of hot-garbage classics. And eeeeevery now and then something is SO bad that it just sits there... forever... and ever... forever in the minds of people as a classic catastrophe. 'Doesn't take much to find an example here: "Laffy Taffy". Sad to say, but in 10 years some loose cannon DJ is gonna spin this song and people, even people like me who HATE this song are gonna jump up and say, "OHHH!!! NO THEY DIDN'T!!! NO THEY... (snap) ...THAT LAFFY TAFFY (snap)...THAT LAFFY TAFFY...", and it's gonna be a party like you wouldn't believe for 3 minutes. A classic travesty... it happens, friends... it happens.


So there's Jigabod's 7 for those who want to make a classic. But lemme attach this warning: don't worry about making a classic. Just worry about doing your best. If you do the best you can do, and if you know what you're doing, then you'll make a classic whether "luck" is on your side or not. You hafta take as much pleasure in your work as your readers/listeners/critics do. Remember, not everyone can recognize a classic when they see one. That's why the hottest songs are the hottest garbage most of the time. *Snap*

Dedicated to the homie Jukeson... B-J