#9 | “Music is the King of All Professions”

At least that’s what the Fela Kuti documentary from 1982 claims.

Rahul Rangnekar
Jul 26, 2017 · 2 min read

I wouldn’t really know, I heard it first on Lupe Fiasco’s Prisoner 1 & 2. I can’t even claim that music is indeed the “king of all professions”, but I can say for certain that it is powerful.

It’s powerful enough to bring you out of dark and angry places as a teenager (thank you, Chester Bennington & Linkin Park). It’s powerful enough to make you believe in a movement (thank you, Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole). It’s powerful enough to keep you going when times are tough and you need a reason to be happy, and keep moving forward (thank you, Oh Wonder and RKCB).

Music first served me as a way to distract myself from my real problems — an overwhelming self-defeatist attitude and unsurmountable self-pressure to do everything.

It then became a way for me to heal, to tell myself that everything will be fine, that I will always keep going until I physically cannot.

Finally, it became a way to empower myself. A way to express self-love and compassion. A new medium through which I could feel the emotion and souls of artists. A way I could understand the meaning behind the music and lyrics.

Music became a way I can appreciate the world for all it has to offer, and push myself forward with the confidence that I have everything and everyone behind me, working for me, to succeed in anything I put my mind toward.

Today, I am thankful for music and the artists listed above. Kendrick Lamar’s i, specifically this live performance, taught me to love myself and “lift up my head and keep moving”. If I can hold even half the passion and energy he does at the end of the song, I can do anything.

Beyond Limits

Life’s perspective from a 21-year-old. A 100-day challenge to push myself beyond what I thought was possible. To be as inquisitive and uncomfortable as possible. To find and follow a life of peace, courage, determination, and gratitude.

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