Why Does Every Actor Gotta Rap Some?
WARNING: SOME LINKS LEAD TO MATERIAL WITH EXPLICIT LYRICS
Good question Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino. The real question is, why not? I know for sure, that if I could pick any profession in the world right now I would pick famous actor/rapper. I’m serious. First off, why would you want to be some type of famous rock star? You get to tour the world and essentially party with thousands of people that love you, and area also paying for you to be there. As far as being a famous actor, you get a lot more as far as choices when it comes to movies and television. Meaning when you’re not touring or recording hits, you get to work with other famous people and be in awesome movies and TV shows.
I’m sure that if you’ve had little interaction with me you must be confused about this. “Tyler would want to be a rapper? Maybe I could see actor, but where’s this rap star stuff coming from?” Good question. I may not show it around acquaintances, but I am a huge fan of hip-hop. No joke, check my iTunes. You would be surprised, and it seems most are when they find out. This isn’t a recent thing either, I’ve been listening since middle school. It’s hard to explain what it is exactly that I love so much about it, but I just do. The other confusing thing about this revelation may be that I have done seemingly nothing to “further” this passion. Sure I’ll rap along to my favorite songs, sometimes making up my own lyrics. Have I ever recorded my own music in a studio? No. Have I ever studied any music classes outside of the required production classes for Digital Media degrees? No. Have I ever even written my own song? No. This is 100% a fantasy that, maybe if I was rich and famous already one day, I would have fun with and indulge. The reality is that I’m a middle class white guy, even if I was able to rap on par with the likes of Marshall Mathers(who, by the way is a rapper/actor himself) it still wouldn’t matter. Fact is, I know better than to pursue this as a career.
However, the acting thing is a bit more realistic. Obviously it’s still a pipe dream, but it’s something that is a lot more reachable and attainable. I have done things to further my “career” in acting. I’ve performed in plays and musicals most of my life, along with acting in front of the camera at a very young age up until now. I’ve gone to casting calls and auditions. Even though of done all these things, I would still never explicitly pursue this as a career. The main reason I’ve acted in the movies I’ve written is because I know how I want that character to be, so I figure it’s just easiest for me to do it. The reason I’ve acted in plays and musicals is simply because it’s fun. I’ve always looked at this type of job as a dream, and just that. There are most likely thousands of other people wanting to be actors right now(as well as rappers). The chances of me, again not fitting the “image” most people have who become famous, is extremely slim.
When it comes down to it, I understand that these are both dreams. Of course people should aspire to do what they dream to do to a certain extent, but I think it’s best if your dreams stay in your head. Having dreams is good to help motivate you, but sometimes you need to realize that they are far off and not attainable. Maybe you should have one dream that is a bit more “realistic” than the others as far as its attainability. It’s fun and most likely good for you to have dreams like the one I have about being a famous actor/rapper. The real problem will be if everyone tries to make these kinds of dreams a reality and don’t try and focus on other talents that they have. By their very definition dream jobs aren’t real, and they should stay that way.