photo courtesy of Sophia Chang
MP3: GZA’s Lecture at Harvard (via the Crypt)
As reported last week, the Gza met with M.I.T Scientists and lectured the Black Men’s Forum at Harvard to gain inspiration for his upcoming album. You are probably as curious as I…How did it go? According to the Gza’s publicist:
GZA talked about childhood influences like nursery rhymes, The Last Poets, kung fu movies, particularly Bruce Lee. He also discussed a broad range of inspirations: “the unique complex design of a spiderweb”; sports, though he’s not a fan, led him to write “Queen’s Gambit” in which he uses the names of many football teams; television forensics shows opened the door to “Exploitation of a MIstake.” To the delight of the audience, GZA cited rhymes from the aforementioned songs as well as a couple others.
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GZA shared his scientific and spiritual world view: “every being and object within the universe is connected somehow, whether visibly or invisibly, I saw that in the lab today: from micro to macro…the deeper one sees into life, the wider life opens itself to one, you see that from working in the lab.” He closed with some life advice: “Live a life full of humility, gratitude, intellectual curiosity and never stop learning.” He hopes to continue lecturing throughout the world.
While in Cambridge, GZA visited with a number of others on the MIT campus. Phil Richardson from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute told him about his study of the flight patterns of the albatross. John Rinn took the rapper on an exclusive after-hours tour of the Broad Institute the joint Harvard and MIT biomedical research center where he showed him a real time genome sequencer. Soon after the tour started, Eric Lander, leader of the institute and co-chair of Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology stopped by. Penny Chisholm, MIT marine biologist, showed GZA around her lab and gave him a sample of prochlorococcus, a photosynthetic ocean bacterium. Additionally she gave him a fully sealed ecosphere containing four brine shrimp aka sea monkeys, which he immediately named Larry, Mo, Dave, and Curly. David Kaiser and GZA discussed black holes, grey holes, teleportation, and quantum physics. Over at the Media Lab Tod Machover showed GZA his “Opera of the Future” and Ethan Zuckerman’s Civic Media team illuminated their ideas on how technology could shape a better world. On the creative side, GZA met his now “homeboy” Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize winning author. The two discussed their processes and hip hop
The Boston Globe covered the GZA’s trip to M.I.T. and Harvard lecture. And The Crypt recorded the Harvard speech. Sounds like GZA was involved with some serious alchemists.