Rock 'n' Roll Child by Nzinga

Rock 'n' Roll Child by Nzinga - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

For all my life I have loved music and had wanted it to be my career choice. Over the years, starting from my childhood, age 6, I would listen to the bubblegum pop that was on rotation on MTV back in the early 2000s. Britney Spears, N’SYNC, The Backstreet Boys, The Black Eye Peas, etc., were prominent artists that MTV couldn’t get enough of, neither could my older sister and I. We would dance along to the latest hip-hop dance that was trending and sing our lungs out when our parents weren’t home. It was times like those that made me realize how much I was so deep into music. During those times, I felt the melody in my soul and if I could just close my eyes, I could separate all of the instruments that were used in the song and just hear that one particular instrument alone. Yes, it was just the Top 40 Billboard playing on MTV that uses heavy autotune and editing, but as a child, that music that I was exposed to made realize that my love for music was deeper than I thought.
A few months later, I had gotten into the rock genre thanks to overhearing my older sister listening to the band ‘Three Days Grace’. I instantly fell in love with the raw sound of the guitars. Just hearing the thick tone of the guitar through the amplifier was just enough to capture me and pull me further into the rather complicated yet multi-faceted web music have spun. Since my updated musical tastes helped me through early adolescence due to the soulful lyrics and catchy melodies, this then started my eternal love for any song that was more guitar laden. I fell in love with Grunge, Hard Rock, and Classic Rock. This had inspired me to pick up a guitar and play music.
As a young 6-year-old black girl wanting to become a guitarist, I had realized that I have never seen a black female guitarist. Thanks to my future classes in American and African American history in junior high and high school later in time, I had now learned that due to the racism black people faced in the 50’s, when rock n roll became a genre, many people didn’t want to buy ‘black’ records and that rock n roll was mainly a boys club only. As time went on, I had started to see more women become involved but it was still mainly a boys club.
As I grew older, I had realized that I wasn’t musically literate at all so I decided to learn basic music theory online. Unfortunately, learning basic music theory online can only take you so far. Once my senior year in high school rolled around, with all of the knowledge I have accumulated over the years of what I can do with my love for music, I had decided to apply for a college that can make me into a music major. I’ll be surrounded by music all year round and by people who share that same passion, that same fire, and that same drive as me. That choice I’ve made will set me for life.