To start off for this task I was pretty blocked creatively. I didn’t want to just do something standard like verbally list the contents of my bag but I also was drawing a blank on how I wanted to give a “voice” to my bag.

In my brainstorming I found it is hard to isolate only one mode, often things naturally are multimodal, so for this task, I went with it and tried not to force myself into only one “box”. I started off thinking about doing an animation or an interactive photo giving the items sound effects but I found I was spending more time on the visual component than the sound so I scraped it and decided to go with a song/rap.

For some reason, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air song came to mind to try to remix. It was definitely harder than I thought to change the words but keep the flow and rhythm of the song. As my original “What’s in your bag” photo was based on my diaper bag I wanted to center it around that and what I really use it for.

I utilized an online audio recorder on my computer and had the instrumental music playing off my phone. I had to practice a few times to get the beat and timing right – listen below.

Lyrics

To the intro song of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air“

Now this is a story all about how
My life got flipped turned upside down
And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there
I’ll tell you how my bag became an essential of care

In West Canada born and raised
In Penticton is where I spent most of my days
Chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool
Meetin my husband outside of school
A couple years later at the alter we stood
Started makin’ plans for the baby that would
Then came a blue-eyed girl which we shared
We often like to take her out for fresh air

We went for a walk, at the lake that’s near
We started out fresh or so it would appear
A rumbling happened that gave us a scare
So I thought “Grab the bag – the essential of care”

I pulled out the bag, grabbed a wipe or two
Cleaned her up while she let out a coo
Rolled up the diaper and said “smell ya later”
Looked at my girl, my little tater
Thanks to the bag – the essential of care
Simply a day in the life, I’ll leave it there