Music Saves Lives

This summer I got totally hooked on youtube.com. It wasn't just something I went to anymore to watch a music video, it was a place I started going to find a bunch of different types of videos; anything from funny videos, to videos that portrayed stories of soldiers from Iraq coming home and surprising their loved ones, which made you almost cry because of the sentiment behind it

One day while exploring YouTube I came across a man named Ronald Jenkees. He has many videos of himself playing the keyboard, but he isn't just playing it; he has mastered it. The songs he writes are simply amazing and I have found myself watching these videos over and over again. His enthusiasm for music brings you into his song even further.

His skill also makes you watch him even closer. It says he really doesn't know how to read music either, instead of just doing things by ear. For a person to be this good and not read music is simply amazing.

If you watch his videos, most of them are just him messing around which turn into songs later on. You are watching something be created every time you turn on one of his videos and that is another reason I am addicted.

At first glimpse it seems like this man has some sort of mental disability such as autism, but when you read his profile it just says that he is a perfectly healthy man that is just a little "geeky," which I think makes him such a great musician. He has taken his geekiness and turned it into something that many people, no matter what side of geeky you are, can really enjoy.

Jenkees is always one of the most positive persons on YouTube. He usually ends many of his songs with inspirational words such as, "music doesn't have to be complicated, it doesn't have to be hard, just have fun." I think this is a great message and is something many people should listen to. Just because you aren't Beethoven or Mozart doesn't mean you can't make music and good music.

I got curious about Jenkees himself and started doing a little research on him. I had a preconceived notion he was already in the music industry as a recording engineer. I was surprised to find out that he was in the music industry but more of a person that people get help with their music itself and not actually in recording. He does a little recording, but not that much. He is also very good friends with Papa Roach and I'm sure many other popular bands as well.

When I just started to watch him I couldn't help but watch all of his videos. He is that addicting and I quickly found that a few of these songs were even more addicting than others. "Throwing Fire" quickly became my favorite song right away. After I burnt myself out on that song from playing it so much, like two days later (I played it that much), I became obsessed with "Disorganized Fun." Another great song is "Stay Crunchy."

With his positive message and awesome beats he has won me over and I usually don't like that type of music. His music has a very strong hip-hop feel to it, but he has opened up my tastes to something new and has done the same for many of my friends. Make sure you go and check him out at www.youtube.com/ronaldjenkees.