Yeah boyeee!

Rappers have their hype men, athletes have their playlists.

As my friends and I prepare for our respective running races, I think of the different jams that we are all listening to that get us motivated to run a long distance.

I always subscribe to the fact that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion (as well as musical taste).  That cliché could not be more true in the city of New Orleans, where Josh L. trained for the Rock n’ Roll Half-Marathon while listening to “a financial advisor podcast or articles from the New Yorker”.  Meanwhile 6,800 miles away, my brother-in-law continues to prepare for the Jerusalem Half-Marathon with songs like Run the Jewels with DJ Shadow’s “Nobody Speak” – in which there are lyrics like “I'm unmentionably fresh, I'm a mensch, get correct.”   And for those of you wondering, the jams pumping out of my headphones as I run the trails of Frick Park are typically Rage Against the Machine, but most of all I am just trying to brainstorm new blog ideas.

Running is not the only sport I associate with music. I recently attended a college basketball game at my alma mater.  Stepping into the Foggy Bottom gym, I was reminded of the fact that when I was in school the team used to listen to MC Breed featuring 2Pac’s “Gotta Get Mine” before heading out onto the Smith Center floor.  These days, I couldn’t tell if it was Post Malone or Meek Mill, but whoever it was, I was pleasantly surprised that it got the student section on its feet.

I try to channel this same powerful musical energy for my sons, before their basketball games. I make every effort to play an upbeat song for my sons before they take the court for one of their games. Hands down, this season’s highlight was their response to G. Love & Special Sauce’s 1998 song “I-76”. 

And in my adopted home city of Pittsburgh, there is a song played at Heinz Field that defines whipping the crowd into frenzy.  Who would have thought when Tommy Shaw was writing “Renegade” in 1978 for Styx’s album ‘Pieces of Eight'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeRoi43azds that it would eventually be used to “rock” an NFL stadium ().

I would like to think that we have come a long way since Gary Glitter’s 1971 “Rock and Roll, Part 2” (aka “The Hey Song”) was the anthem at all arenas and stadiums, but it really boils down to the DJ knowing his audience or the hype man, knowing the right exclamations and interjections to increase an audience's excitement.

Thanks for reading!