The Album That Changed My Life

"All day/with no nicotine/was the reason/I've been so mean/oh baby forgive/me for bein the DICK that I've been/to the children and you" Cody Chestnutt

In 2003 Butterbear purchased a bunch of shit off of Amazon. She treated me to a cd of my choice. I chose The Headphone Masterpiece by Cody Chestnutt. At the time I was somewhat of an incense burning, black power, hip hop head. So naturally my website of choice was okayplayer.com. Well in the fall of 2002 ?uestlove of the Roots(who posts on the site and is a moderator) was RAVING about this album. Sidenote: the Roots later remade a song off this album The Seed 2.0 and put it on their album Phrenology). Well I respected cool?uests musical prowess and decided to check this shit out. But it was not to be, unlike other artists he recommended I couldn't find this Chestnutt guy anywhere. So I went online. After months of searching I found the album and put it on my wishlist.

"I gotta hard dick wit a curve/that's all you deserve/ya betta go out and tell ya mama and ya friends/BITCH I'm broke!!!!!" Cody Chestnutt

After about a week of anticipation, a package wrapped in brown paper arrived. It had Butterbears name on it, but I knew it was for me. I called her and asked if she minded me opening it(hey I was a newlywed, I didn't know the rules). She said yes. I tore open the package to see the mysterious Mr Chestnutt scowling back at me. The look in his eyes sayin "you're gonna love this shit". To my surprise this shit was a double album. For 13 bucks? Can you say score!?!?!?! I popped the first disc into my discman and braced myself. Looking at song titles like Bitch I'm Broke, The Seed, Look Good in Leather etc. I didn't know what the fuck to expect.

Over the next hour and a half Cody floored me with his complex simplicity, raw language, heartfelt falsetto, and funky blues rock fusion. He somehow managed to shatter non existant expectations. Not of him or his product. But my views of what music, black music in partucular could be. Where it could take you. I was a rapper when I put that disc in. An artist when it finally stopped spinning.

The album let me know that there are no specific ways to express ones passions. It comes out how it comes out. This album gained Cody Chestnutt noterity. Not really fame, like I said he had a video with the Roots, and was in Dave Chappelles block party. But he faded away. Well in reality he bowed out. I read that he said he felt himself becoming something he didn't like. That resonated with me. I didn't know how or why until recently.

A lot of times we are lucky enough to find what we are meant to do. Too often we fuck it up trying to shape how we do it. A vessel doesn't get to choose its shape, or use for that matter. It is what the user wants and needs it to be. How many poets are out there trying to squeeze monumental ideas into 16 bars? How many brilliant artists are 30 still tagging walls? But with that I say, shout out to Cody Chestnutt and all the vessels like him, for allowing us to figure out what the are and how to use them.
"This kinda pain can shake a mans pride/and I can't deny/ that its shaken me" Cody Chesnutt

I'm out.