Rebirth of Slick

Cool Like Dat

Dear Gen Xer,

Thank you.

You showed up in the comments last week and assured me I wasn’t on crazy pills; that my so-called friends who are stuck in the past are your average crab in a bucket.

Unlike them, you’ve changed since the days of Aqua Net. You’ve grown into thriving, sophisticated beings. You live in the moment and for each day. Enlightened you’ve become, graying Jedi.

I was happy to hear from others out there who were far too busy seizing the day to dwell upon the past. Godspeed, you beautiful bastards, I thought. May you burn as bright as Venus.

The morning after I published the piece, I received a private message. The reader had refrained from commenting publicly because they wished to remain anonymous. Here’s what they had to say:

Maybe your friends have given up. I have. I’m always in pain. I’m drowning in debt. I feel old and tired and it’s too late anyway. Your friends feel the same. Too old and too late. Let them dance. It’s all they have left.

I responded to the reader but I never heard back. A couple of days later, they unsubscribed.

It happens sometimes. People sign up; they change their mind.

This felt different, though. And I found myself, as the day wore on, unable to shake the reader’s words.

TOO OLD. TOO LATE. TOO OLD. TOO LATE.

I couldn’t stop thinking about my own situation; about my myriad plans for this humble Jukebox. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t days when I felt stupid and discouraged. How easy it would be to succumb to doubt. To run out the rest of my rusty clock instead of creating a new one.

I threw on a mix at the end of the day and headed to the kitchen to make dinner. Prince and Blur and PJ Harvey blared from the other room. Then a familiar bass line dropped and everything clicked into place.

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) is the debut single off Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) by hip hop trio Digable Planets. The song’s a celebration of their innovative style. It exudes the cool of confidence, bounces with elements of funk and jazz, builds upon its influences and gives birth to a newer and fresher music: a bona fide Rebirth of Slick.

The song’s lyrics and infectious groove are smoother than Morgan Freeman’s voice after a snort of brandy. Now I’m not one for grandiose statements, but if you don’t move when you hear this song – a head bob, a finger snap, a shoulder shimmy in your seat - then I’m afraid you’re deader than Diddy’s career.

I say this because I started moving right there in my kitchen. Unconsciously, at first, but not for long. Soon I was swaying and bopping and bouncing. Somewhere between the pasta and cream sauce, I began to feel reborn. Alive again. Arisen from ashes. Better and stronger than before.

Of course, I’m not too old, I thought. Of course, it’s not too late. Not for me or You or any Gen Xer who wants to take a page from Digable Planets. Who wants to build on what they’ve learned and create a new version of themselves.

Don’t just take it from me, however. Take it from this list of impressive people who experienced their own Rebirth of Slick later on in life.

· Stan Lee began drawing superheroes when he was 43

· Tolkien published The Hobbit when he was 45

· Darwin published The Theory of Evolution when he was 50

· Paul Cézanne got his first solo show when he was 56

· Ray Kroc bought his first McDonald’s when he was 59

· ‘Colonel’ Sanders franchised his first KFC when he was 62

· Peter Mark Roget released his Thesaurus when he was 73

· Grandma Moses started painting when she was 78

There are many more examples but I’m sure you get the point. It’s NEVER too late for your Rebirth of Slick.

Especially when it comes to us.

We grew up tough. Saw some shit. We don’t give up. We roll up our sleeves and get ‘er done.

‘Cause we’re cool like that
We rule like that
We zag like that
We gag like that

We’re stirred like that
We’re heard like that
We’re deep like that
We reap like that

We’re down like that
We clown like that
We’re rad like that
We’re bad like that

We swing like that
We sting like that
We flex like that
We’re Gen X like that

See you next week, you beautiful planet.

Same time. Same orbit.