The Secret of Musical Genius

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2021

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mozart wowed audiences as a child. The Beatles blew away Ed Sullivan. Beyonce hypnotized Super Bowl crowds. The world has been enthralled by those we call musical geniuses. But what defines a musical genius? And how does society recognize it? We probe these questions as we examine the life and career of Aretha Franklin, a transformational figure in American music, and the rise of a young prodigy, Keedron Bryant. For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard. Want more? Watch the Genius: Aretha, a series about Aretha’s life, now streaming on Hulu. And check out the magazine piece about her and this journey through the career of the Queen of Soul. Immerse yourself in the genius of Aretha Franklin and her music with this playlist https://lnk.to/ArethaGenius!NGE. Available on Spotify and Apple Music. And of course, check out the song that made Keedron viral and the opera performance that cemented Aretha’s genius. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Slack. With Slack, you can bring all your people and
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0:11.1	enable flexibility and automate workflows. Plus, Slack is full of game-changing features,
0:16.9	like huddles for quick check-ins, or Slack Connect, which helps you connect with partners
0:20.9	inside and outside of your company. Slack. Where the future works, get started at
0:26.9	Slack.com slash DHQ. My name is Keedren Bryant and I am a recording artist and I'm 13 years old.
0:37.6	Keedren is a child prodigy. I started singing at the age of five years old and around seven,
0:45.9	that's when I really got serious and started really practicing and watching videos. In 2019,
0:51.6	he won youth male vocalist of the year at the gospel choice musical awards in Georgia. In 2020,
0:58.9	he performed on network television. First of all, his voice is amazing. That's music producer
1:04.3	Dim joints. His voice is only going to get better. He's only going to get better and more brilliant
1:11.3	as an artist. Dim has worked with some of the biggest names in the music business, including
1:16.3	Eminem, Rihanna, Janet Jackson, Kanye West, and Christina Aguilera. He's seen their creative
1:23.6	processes up close and knows what top talent sounds like. And now he's working with Keedren,
1:30.0	the 13-year-old contemporary R&B gospel singer. I like old school music, so I listen to
1:37.5	like the Jackson five and voice dominants and other groups and R&B stuff.
1:43.7	Man, you just crushed me. You said boys to men was old school.
1:49.3	That makes me feel really old. So I know your first love is gospel,
1:55.6	and we were hoping that maybe we could hear you sing a church song. Yes.
1:59.8	All right, man. Here we go. Keedren Bryant live on National Geographic.
2:15.1	I'm off to here, and I love to sing.
2:24.1	History is filled with inspiring stories about astonishing young musicians like Keedron.
	...

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