Personal Narrative: The Rodeo

My friends and I walk into a packed venue, and are immediately met by a young guy with shaggy brown hair and a skull hoodie, who holds up a white piece of paper with a hastily scrawled "$8" in the center. I pull out my worn wallet from the left pocket of my leather jacket. My hands strain momentarily to pull the snaps open, before my fingers find their way to my single worn 10 dollar bill. The man hands me two dollars in change and stamps my hand with a blue paw print, and I turn to face the stage. All the while a man has been screaming and singing on stage, not unpleasantly. The vibe of this crowd feels different from the normal one, rougher. They have a more hardcore look to them, and I've never seen Alexia's band play with one that yells, other than one time at a small coffee shop in which a single kid with an acoustic guitar spent twenty minutes strumming and screaming slam poetry into the mic, while my friend and I sipped iced vanilla lattes in the other room.

Last summer Travi$ Scott released Days Before Rodeo, a free mixtape that wouldn 't just serve as the unofficial countdown for his debut album, but give listeners a sense of what the rapper/producer is working with sonically. Pounding, acerbic drums, thick, hazy atmospheres, and a confrontational predisposition would establish Scott as a fearless rising star in rap music. And although the tape was a welcome shift from the amateurish shlock that plagued his debut tape Owl Pharaoh, it also did very little to invite the listener into Scott 's world. Even if Scott had trouble lining up his greatest attributes, his talent was certainly evident. His production choices, which have been carefully excavated from the post-808s & Heartbreak musical landscape and Atlanta 's grab-bag of innovations, can be intriguing, and his rebellious posturing certainly strikes a chord with a certain angsty personality type. Those rare moments when he finds the right balance—“Basement Freestyle” is perhaps the best example —can add up to something quite uncanny. With the clock no longer ticking, Scott returns with Rodeo, an album that looks to position the 21-year-old as a curator of supreme taste, as well darken his already moody blues. At fourteen tracks Rodeo presents blockbuster names (Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd), noteworthy rap talent (Chief Keef, Future, Swae Lee, Quavo, Young Thug), and in-demand producers (Metro Boomin, Southside, TM88, Zaytoven, FKi, WondaGurl).

There are many things that I have learned, and many are worth mentioning. One in particular is when I was learning how to ride my horse. In order to do this you need to have dedication, balance, and you have to respect the animals. If you don't have these things you won't have a good connection to your horse, because they can feel your body language and smell your fear, pain, or if your happy. You're moods are transmitted to them if your nervous then they are also nervous and you dont want that. I am going to tell you of the time that i've been riding for a few years now, this was when I was around 8 years old (narration, flashback).

Standing eagerly like a ferocious animal/monster, my body is pressed to the barricade. In this chaotic crowd, I depend on my friends for sanity. On my right Andrew is unnecessarily panting in his usual melodramatic ways. On my left Remi is expressing her gratitude to me for waking up early in the morning to get a spot in line. As we share a five dollar can of water, gasp for fresh air, and create resting spots on one another, the anticipation heightens. Concerts are a mixed blessing. The infinite wait brings on a sense of frustration and worry that is currently controlling my life. But in an instant, my heart beats fiercely, my eyes start to water, I raise both arms in the air, and once Drake comes on stage my worries vanish. Screaming the lyrics to the summer anthem “Know Yourself”, the crowd becomes one in a state of

On July 23, 2015, I walked into the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, IL to see a rock concert that was extremely life changing for me. As soon as I stepped foot on the hard-dirty concrete leading into the stadium, I know this was going to be a night I will never forget and a night where one of my dreams would come true. My heart was pounding out of my chest with excitement. I was about to see my favorite band Incubus live in concert.

As the audience spills out in to the street back to the everyday - ears buzzing with temporary gig tinitus there is plenty of joyfulness to fill the final hours of the weekend and it really is down to a truly triumphant live tour de force that is Black

Excited smiles encircle Radio City Music Hall, but I bypass the line to enter through the stage door. Backstage is buzzing with excitement; the Rockettes are applying their last coat of ruby red lipstick, the stage hands are making their final adjustments, and there I am stage right, as part of the medical team. As the curtain goes up, the audience swells with excitement, then erupts with applause as thirty-six Rockettes file onto the stage. I’m two feet away from the famous kick line I grew up watching every Thanksgiving Day Parade. The first number ends, the girls file off of the stage, and I am there ready to provide care within their seventy eight second costume change.

As I walk out of the gas station and down the ramp. I look down in disappointment and anger. Never wanting to return to our dreadful car ride. I knew what was coming and all I wanted to do was curl up in a tiny ball. I didn't want to hear everyone giggling, because going on this hike was a formidable challenge for me. I laboriously dragged myself to the car. We have been driving for what seemed like a lifetime. We are on our way to a campsite and “the hike of the century.” We had been preparing for this trip for weeks. We had an ample amount of supplies for this trip. Four and a half hours later we had arrived. i tried to ignore the negative stories in my head. Of course the fear of slipping off the trial kept popping in my head. I couldn’t get rid of it. Sluggishly, I followed the big group before me.

In what felt like a few exchanges of words, I was by myself. My sister wasn’t locked to my hip for my safety, and I was navigating my way through the crowds of people. The independence felt great. With thousands of people around me and eighty bands to play on the lineup, it was a big deal to go to a concert by myself, let alone a whole string of concerts.

After finding a spot to set up my chair, I sat for hours, enjoying the numerous bands that played that night. I had no idea who any of them were, but it was so much better than sitting at home. As the night stretched on, I glanced down at my phone to look at the time: almost eleven. The final band was still playing and seemed nowhere close to ending their performance, but it was getting late. Although I was thoroughly enjoying the music and did not want to leave, I packed up my lawn chair, located my keys in my purse, and started back towards my

Anyone can be an expert in their own mind, but to be an expert other people must identify you as an expert as well. I am an expert when it comes to all things horses. Training horses, riding horses, and even giving lessons to people on how to ride a horse. An expert is someone who knows what they are talking about backwards and forwards. They are able to answer any question that comes their way and is able to fix a problem. I am capable of doing this when I give horseback riding lessons. It takes hard work and dedication to become an expert. There is research to prove how beneficial horseback riding can be so that my skills can be used. On top of all the benefits in teaching and receiving lessons, it will even help me in my life down the road even if it doesn’t include horses. Being an expert in a field that I love makes me feel like I have the possibility to be an

We stepped out of the station and it hit me immediately, the glorious smell of carnival style hot dogs and and the pure ecstasy of the sugary goodness that is funnel cakes. I dragged my girlfriend Lauren to the nearest stand and ordered one of each. The hot dog wasn’t the best I’d ever had, but I didn’t complain as I was hungry from the ride over. Then the funnel cake, oh man was that amazing, powdered sugar goodness over freshly fried bread, a delicacy to say the least. Suddenly the roar of a roller coaster flying by with the shrieks of the ecstatic people on the ride filled my ears. I pleaded with Lauren to ride one with me, but she wouldn’t budge, finally, she conceded to at least go on the ferris wheel with me. We bought our tickets and

Preferably known as A Boogie Wit DA Hoodie in live concert. The rapper had live music and band due to the promotion of his new album “The Bigger Artist”. The band consisted of drum playing, guitar playing, and DJing by Dj Spring King they played all the songs from his past albums such as High Bridge, The Artist, and two unreleased tracks Beast Mode, and No Comparison it was an exciting experience not only because it was free but because it was good entertainment while walking through the city.

Sweat ran down my body as I waited in line in 90 degree heat. A drawstring bag full of necessities was slung on my back, my ticket in my hand, and my sunglasses on my face. I prepared for this moment, for this exact moment, weeks in advance. In half an hour, the line would lurch forward as two thousand other festival goers and I poured into the venue. We all gathered for Vans Warped Tour 2016. This was my first Warped Tour and I decided long before I arrived it was going to be the highlight of my summer.

It all started my senior year of high School, we knew this season would be rough considering we lost eight seniors on the varsity basketball team. Five of which all started every game of the year. We knew we had a tough road ahead of us but looking back we never realized just how tough it was going to be. There were three seniors going into the 2016 girls’ varsity basketball season including me. And only one returning varsity player that wasn’t a senior. We ended up with me as the only starting senior, a junior, two sophomores’, and a freshman. The other teams probably thought our coach was crazy to say the least.