Renaissance Man - Was Leonardo the Last of His Kind?
New York, NY (November 21, 2007) – For nearly 600 years, generations have marveled at Leonardo da Vinci’s work as a painter. Most know that he was also an engineer and inventor, but an equal amount overlook his numerous lesser-known talents: son was an active architect, sculptor, anatomist, geometer, scientist and mathematician. But even more revealing, da Vinci was a musician. Through the Internet and books and movies, people have begun to see him in a new light. Well, you heard this one here first:
Leonardo da Vinci was hip hop.
From the beginning, he embodied the ultimate do-it-yourself mentality that you find only in hip hop’s most successful. If da Vinci were alive today, he would have been Basquiat, Mos Def, Dame Dash, Mark Ecko, Mop Top, Rem Koolhaas and Davey D all rolled into one. Hip hop’s elite can say they do one or two things great, but da Vinci did seemingly everything artistic with fervor and such unrivaled preciseness that he defined the concept of a Renaissance Man. Never stopping to think about accomplishing the next thing, his mind simply told him to create and he went out and did it through sheer will.
Hip hop in it’s purest form draws from that same place, that spot deep inside the heart of urban America, where perception isn’t always illuminated and definition is hard to come by. From inside that world, people follow their own path, whatever lay inside their hearts and minds, and it gives birth to the music, the clothes, the slang, the dancing, the art and the swagger that hip hop is known for all over the world. It’s been said before, but it’s through our eyes that we shape what we see.
Yet looking at America now, it’s become very specialized. One person does the beats. One person raps. One person does the this, one does the that. On a doomsday note, that could prove to be the very downfall of hip hop and culture overall. Once we decide to focus on a singular thing and ignore other aspects of our personality, other aspects that might complete the whole picture of “us,” we lose a portion of what makes the world dynamic. da Vinci never stopped to say, ‘Fuck it, I’m an ill painter, what do I want to do this wack shit for?’ If that were the case, the world wouldn’t have ‘Horse And Rider.’ If he decided that flying was nothing more than a pipe-dream, where would the Wright Brothers have been? Everything is everything, even more than we think it is.
Carey Chico over at FilmMusicMag.com wrote a great article about how we’re losing the battle for the Renaissance Man (or person), and argues da Vinci would not be happy about it. As a graphic designer and Art Director, Chico spends days making video games look hella sweet, but also works avidly as a composer. The article talks mainly about how people designing video games used to be able to code AND score the games, whereas now, with big budgets and lofty expectations, things have become highly specialized. The picture painted is applicable to hip hop because, in an industry struggling to make money at a time when the music has stagnated, there exists the opportune moment for people to stop and look at the other parts of themselves they can bring to the studio, and outward, the streets. It’s an interesting read and should provide a bit of food for thought.
In case you missed it, check out the music da Vinci may or may not have placed in one of his most famous works, “The Last Supper.” Don’t get it twisted, Discovery Channel is hip hop, too. Bear Grylls is gangster.
Additional Reading: Hip Hop & Architecture