The Greatness of Linkin Park
The following chapter is from Limit Breaker: 101 Short Stories, Essays, and Insights to Improve Communication Skills
When I was in the 5th grade, there was this girl named Valerie who sat next to me in class.
I had a crush on Valerie.
She was this brown-haired girl with braces who always wore some peculiar shoes.
It was those skateboard shoes called Etnies.
The sole of those shoes wrote, ‘I love Linkin Park.’
I went home one day to Google what Linkin Park was.
Found out that they were a band.
Perfect.
Now I have conversation material for Valerie.
The next day, as a bunch of us were waiting in line for lunch, I go up to Valerie.
I was like:
Hey Valerie. You heard Linkin Park’s new song? It’s so good.
Valerie looked back at me in silence. She didn’t say anything.
A bunch of the people around us were waiting for her response but she wasn’t saying anything.
Eventually, Valerie’s friend asked her if she heard my question.
That’s when Valerie blurts out, ‘I can’t talk to Armani. He’s a nerd!’
Everyone around me started laughing.
Even my close friends.
I was pissed & thought Valerie was a bitch.
Never talked to her again.
A few years went on by…
My cousin from Dubai came to visit me and my brother in West Palm.
I remember one day, he came into my room and said, ‘hey make sure you are free on the third Saturday of May.’
I asked him why?
He said Linkin Park was coming into town and that he bought me and my brother tickets to go.
Automatically, the memory of Valerie came up.
I told him I didn’t want to go.
But he said it was too late, the tickets were already bought.
The day of the concert rolled around.
It was called Projekt Revolution.
I was there with a sour mood.
It was hot as shit.
There was a bunch of bands that I never heard of.
Plus, I was a rap fan.
My brother and cousin were the ones who liked rock.
As hours went on by, I was ready to go home.
This was not fun.
However, there was no leaving.
Linkin Park didn’t perform until night.
As the hours flew on by, the sunlight disappeared, and the moon showed its face.
Linkin Park was set to perform in 1 hour.
My cousin walked us to our seats.
I thought we were going to be sitting in the back around the grass area.
But no, that wasn’t the case.
We had seats in the FRONT ROW.
We were the first ones there.
Eventually, the seats began to fill up and the host came on stage to announce the legendary Linkin Park.
The lights shined.
The crowd erupted.
Then the beginning of the song ‘Somewhere I Belong’ began to play.
Chester Bennington, Mike Shinoda & the other members came out & the crowd ERUPTED.
Even though I was in a sour mood that whole day, something had changed.
I finally let my guard down.
Something magical happened at that moment.
‘What was that Armani?’
I was witnessing greatness.
Linkin Park sounds just as amazing in person as they do on their records. The level of passion that the band performed with was something to witness. From the lead singer all the way to the drummer. It was elegance at its finest.
Even though I was a rap fan, I had to give respect where respect was due.
Sometimes when you witness greatness, you need to just shut up and witness.
The reason that the media gets annoying is that they can’t ever witness.
They love taking the beauty out of things.
Rather than appreciate greatness, they automatically go into the comparison game.
Lebron is great.
Kobe is great.
‘But who is better? More on this in the next segment.’
That sells, I get it. But it prevents you from discovering your own greatness.
‘How does someone else’s greatness make me discover my own?’
It gives perspective.
Being different gets a bad reputation.
But being different is chapter one of being legendary.
The unique thing about Linkin Park was that they had a rapper in the rock band.
A few other bands were doing that at the time.
But it wasn’t the norm.
Mike Shinoda caught my attention, but Chester Benington kept it (Rest in peace).
No one was born great.
They had to put in tons of reps to get to where they are today.
So, when greatness appears, we are witnessing the end product of years of work.
If you’re astute enough, then you’ll learn more from that performance than a lot of classes in formal education.
The real world is your school.
People become great, but they often don’t get acknowledgment for it until they die.
There’s a beauty to celebrating someone’s talent when they are alive.
That will motivate others to become top-tier in their field as well.
I didn’t like Linkin Park until I couldn’t stop loving them.
When I finally gave them a chance and bought their records, I noticed every song from Meteora and Hybrid Theory were fire.
Every song was fire?
That’s not normal!
Look out for things that are not normal.
Being prolific is the compass towards a legendary career.
Notice greatness before the masses turn it into a fad.
Those are the divine eyes.
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