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The Stutterer Who Can Rap | Anthony Haas | TEDxYouth@Conejo


you
what’s your name for most people this is
the rather simple question to answer but
for some people who stutter like I do
this simple question turns into a long
lasting nightmare well I’m here to tell
you all a story about how a kid who
stutters somehow has the ability to rap
in freestyle it it all started one day
when when my mom gave me her iPod so
that I could entertain myself whenever I
was bored and she told me that I could
send to all but one song and this one
song was not afraid by Eminem and and
then I thought to myself why couldn’t I
listen to the song like what’s so bad
about him I jumped the idea and I put
the iPod on shuffle mode and after a
long period of time there was this tune
that came on and it was fast paced and
it was loud and there was somebody
yelling and once I turn on the iPod oh
no I mean the head says and I threw the
iPod across the sofa and I ran away with
terror because I did not want to get in
trouble but then curiosity got the best
of me and I put the headphones on and I
listened but something changed I felt my
heart beat to the rhythm of the
percussion
the rhymes after every line filled
filling my mind with massive passion and
I felt this intense feeling that I never
felt before this was my first exposure
to to hip hop although I felt
comfortable in the world of hip hop I
was doing outsider at school because of
my stuttering making friends learning in
the classroom and simply communicating
with other people was very challenging
in fact my biggest fear was turning in
front of
the whole class and everyone laughing
which did happen and and after this I
started to refuse to but to to
participate and the classroom
discussions which meant that I couldn’t
express my thoughts and I consider
myself to be a really bright student but
because of this stuttering the teachers
him i period saw me as as just a kid who
stuttered and a kid who had problems and
this really affected me but to make
matters worse in that same year I was
also diagnosed with with a DD or
attention deficit and what EDD does is
that it’s piece of your mind a hundred
times faster than the average brain of a
regular student and this explained why I
was a C and D student and and English
was by far the most challenging class
because it required good good skills of
the English language which I did not
have and even though I had all of these
problems one day I opposed our friend
Ethan who was sitting in the corner and
I asked him can I choke here with you he
then looked at me strange and then he
said can you repeat that one more time I
didn’t ask
can I just show here with you and then
he asked me a weird question he asked me
do you listen to hip-hop music and then
immediately I had deja vu I thought back
to when I – when I first listened to –
mmm and then I said yes and then and
then she asked me if I if I vote any
songs and then I told him no he then
asked me to write a song with the word
chill in it and that’s exactly what I
did once I got home I picked up a neon
green flash card and a pencil and I
wrote a tiny verse and I
chill corner and I was something like
this chill corner Corner corner corner
Corner corner Corner corner okay welcome
to the chill corner home are they home
on the breeze almost how much it’s
almost every time I come out you know
the weather gets warmer wait did you
guys notice anything different I didn’t
stutter you see when I rap or freestyle
I don’t stutter and I’m freestyling or
simply Robin has been my only way to
really express my ideas and it’s been a
way for me to to alleviate stress and
hip-hop has really been a source for me
in which I can say whatever I want
and I could say whatever pops up in my
mind and unknowingly Ethan paved the way
for my interest in becoming a hip-hop
artist and after this experience I
started to read poetry write poems I
listened to more hip-hop music east and
west coast the south music from from
Atlanta and and and because I did not
know what these bodies rappers was
saying I literally picked up the
dictionary and I started reading it just
just just just to comprehend what these
people were saying and then and then as
a result I wanted to write my own lyrics
and so I dissected the English language
in a way and and I vote so many rhymes
into these into these notebooks and to
end and to the end to this day I have a
large box sitting in my closet heaping
with notebooks filled with volumes and
every page and and occasionally I go to
it when I’m thinking of writing a new
song
and and as a result I was becoming a
songwriter and I really wanted to
continue to to pursue my dream and so I
decided to join the band program and the
band program gave me three things that I
would three of the most beneficial
things that I will ever receive number
one I learned how to play the saxophone
and clarinet – I learned how to be music
and this and this was big I learned how
to I learned the notes I learned the
rhythms I learned how to add style to
music and then and then the final
probably the most important thing that
the BAM program gave to me was
encouraging friends I made friends and
the in the in the band environment was
very he was a very encouraging one and
my friends wanted me to to to to join
them into these higher classes and
that’s exactly what I did I worked
harder and by seventh grade I was in the
honor roll and English went from my
worst subject to my best one after the
constant reading and writing and
learning of new vocabulary and it wasn’t
just my friends it was one word why why
can’t I do this why can’t I do that
why can’t a kid with a DD go into the
Honourable why can’t a kid who stutters
become a hip-hop artist here let me show
you my vision
[Music]
[Music]
please don’t get the best of me I’m
looking to my eyes and you can see the
fire and my soul burning me inside
leaving only diamonds and coal
I vote up a score for lurex and goals
and nothing in my chest and that’s what
represents my persona as a whole how can
a young man with attention deficit still
be awarded the honor of all boiler cooks
they want to say that nothing was
impossible that’s why I accomplish goals
that I never thought were possible
sometimes life can merge you down like
the key another thing if possible you
decide to get back up and face all of
the obstacles all I do we sell out my
ears to be audible fund addition to the
article just secure the future for my
views about the future careers as well
as started to appreciate always of the
person who you waters no need to be
create a better version of you we all
walk in the same path but we put on the
shoes we can understand billing and
always see different views where you all
get criticized by the people boba can be
there abused and we all have a destiny
left another bus came refusing we all
like
is in luck that other people want to use
if wife is a game then nobody has to
lose you might be looking at me strange
but trust me confused this is my
[Music]
[Music]
please don’t get this
people walking Nick like in tears coming
off their shows the boutique’s area
consisting of only more weak
I feel weak when the sigit fatigue full
of mystique feeling biggest I walk to
the stones of a creek these emotions are
flowing like lava from a volcano going
and getting down Mo’s motion closing
into the ocean cookie for wine islands
causing commotion – maybe like the winds
blowing harder and harder for me tornado
growing larger and larger domain optics
farther and farther with two thing
unknown that no-one’s even knowing
meanwhile I’m Sol Safavid working hard
every day keeps me alive with my Vanessa
rising to the top and I will never drop
like somebody scuba diving people say
the hard work takes you to new providers
but everything I’ve been trying trying
to make a difference it differs for
others in the people in need because if
you Pollard I’m dying for no forgiveness
no forgiveness for the people who bleed
now they’re all crying call me for being
fictitious they took us to a society
full of bleep oh now I can see my own
destiny involves me being on the stage
telling all of you about what to do
and for me this is true my destiny is on
a stage they
we contain like a cage away from the
rage away from all the pain and insanity
because the reality and trust me you
could burn me to fossil fuels for my
destiny watch a Saroyan tiny molecules
this is my day
[Music]
legacy all come back home
[Music]
good
[Music]
[Music]
and even though even though I had all of
these negatives holding me back
hip-hop gave me a different life and and
I changed my perception on how I saw
things and as I so I turn all these
negatives into positives hip-hop gave me
confidence and introducing myself
because I knew that there was a way to
end this this stuttering well my name is
Anthony Haase and this is my story about
the start of a who can rap thank you all
have a very good night for mr. Olsen
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