by Victor Lui
Hello my Awesome Readers,
With the addition of this blog post, it took me awhile to decide what to write about. Surely, there are no shortages to what my fingers can type up. I could talk about the culinary experiences I have enjoyed, the difference in academics of university here in Hong Kong compared to Northwestern, the typical day in my life here, or even the vivid imagery of strolling down a busy street in the heart of Hong Kong. But instead I’d like to dedicate my time here to how I recently began to embrace Hip-hop as my music genre of choice. This is not to say I haven’t been a fan or heard of this genre before, but now it has become my preferred type of music to listen to. To put things into perspective, prior to Hong Kong, I was a very big fan of mainstream pop and then transitioned into electronic dance music (house, trance, etc.) this summer before I departed.
Although I had a lot of exposure to hip-hop when my freshman year roommate would play a lot of Drake and other big artists in our room, it is not only until now that it finally hit me how powerful this genre of music can be. Now, I can feel how it is very uplifting, inspiring, motivational, and relatable. This all began a few days ago actually, as two other exchange students and I were on a taxi from Manila International Airport to the Bonifacio Global City, or financial district of Manila. We spent a lot of time in the taxi, as were oblivious that APEC Philippines was occurring in two days, so traffic was absolutely horrendous. A thirty-minute ride turned out to be four hours instead. Meanwhile, my friend played one of Meek Mill’s newer songs from his latest album. The fast rhyme and trance-like melody of the song made me instantly fall in love with the music.
That song stuck with me, and as soon as I came back from the trip, I immediately started listening to Meek Mill’s 2015 album ‘Dreams Worth More Than Money’. The second night back, or this morning, I was actually so moved by the album that I stayed up in my bed until five in the morning replaying the music over and over. Perhaps it was because there were so many famous artists being featured on these 14 tracks, among them Diddy, Future, Nicki, Drake, etc. Even so, being up this late for this reason was something I wouldn’t usually do. But all I was feeling was a sense of contentment, drive, and most important of all, bliss.
In a way, these last two and a half months abroad have been so unique to me. As I was just discussing with some people by the seaside BBQ pit last night, we agreed that life suddenly felt full of possibilities. As he questioned in a rhetorical sense to me, knowing full well I felt the exact same, “man, when did life become so interesting?” And in my mind, I’d think that it results from meeting so many different people, going to very exotic places, all filled with the urgency to learn more about the other side of the world, and to make sure to have fun along the way.
For most of my life, the mainstream pop music I have been listening to mostly made me feel fairly “lovey”, and I suppose that is really how that music is suppose affect someone. But in this hip-hop musical epiphany, it follows this change in my life to come to Hong Kong. I feel very powerful with the opportunities presented to me, and to complement this, hip-hop tends to give me the illusion of being tough and full of mental strength. The struggles that the rappers sing and rap about, I can usually relate to in some way. Moreover, the experience of the constant excitement and happiness here in Asia is a big change from the years of my seemingly monotonous education in the American system. Being able to both see and do so much here in Asia with a very limited short amount of time is also very much a privilege that I know I am very fortunate to have. At the same time, the change in my life from America to Asia has its parallels from my preferred music genre of choice of pop to hip-hop and rap.
It still strikes me how much my comparisons of life and the world were so limited in America. Being able to truly see what life can be like, I seem to have found a passion for exploring and traveling. As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, the wanderlust is growing with each passing day here abroad. This makes me feel that as time passes, one’s goals and passions in life are constantly changing, or evolving. Before, I felt that there had to be one set path to follow. However, I am now very adamant about experiencing more, so I can fully try to understand what else I might like better than what I think I currently am on track to pursue. Whether it’s a hobby like surfing on the beach, or preparing for summer internships, the time here has definitely had a big impact on me. It’s narrowed down the huge potential pool of things I can do with my life. I genuinely believe that I can do anything, but I can’t do everything.
Finally, the growing sense of love for rap, or hip-hop music, is very similar to, almost encapsulating the new increasing attachment I have for being abroad in Asia. It feels like a whole new world out here, and I am glad this is something I have gotten to do while I am young. A little moral of the story to the readers: don’t try to understand life, but live a little more so life can understand you, and then things just might fall into place. Thank you for reading.
Love from Asia,
Victor