So I was perusing the Internet streets last night, my phone blaring sound and light in my nightly effort to ensure I get the poorest quality sleep possible, when I stumble upon a random recommended YouTube vid. It featured Chad Smith, longtime drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers freestyling the drum beat to a song he’d never heard before. Now I was already familiar with Chad because:

1. I’m a casual fan of the Chilis

2. Chad Smith is the generic name parents use to warn their daughters about frat boys

3. For all intents and purposes, he is Will Ferrell

Now I like music as much as the next guy, but I’m not really a concert guy and don’t listen to tunes much in my day-to-day. But I do happen to really enjoy drumming so I decided to give the video a watch.

The full context is that Chad Smith is listening to “The Kill” by 30 Seconds to Mars for the first time with the drum part removed. So he does not know this song or the correct beat at all. Then he’s tasked with playing along to the song, creating his own drum part based on what he thinks fits with the song. What follows is arguably the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen a person do:

What the actual fuck. I watched a few other videos in this series and every single drummer listened to the song through once, took notes on the song structure, THEN added in their drum part on a second listen. Chad Smith waited 15 seconds for the song to hit the chorus then just immediately knew what to do. That is superhuman ability and makes me feel extremely bad about my own lack of talent. Even in parts where he misinterpreted where the song was going, he was able to process it in real time and adjust on the fly. Listen to the actual song and compare the two — he’s not very far off. Unreal skill.

I actually had a legit drum set growing up and could read music fairly well. The two heights of my achievement on the skins were missing a cue in elementary school band, thus fucking up the entire song, and pissing off my dad while he was on work calls upstairs. This dude IMPROV’D the beat to a song he had never heard and destroyed it. Can’t teach that.

Btw that song was brand new to me as well and it fucking slaps. Disregarding the fact that Jared Leto definitely wrote that after a girl broke up with him for sending her a box of human shit and burnt doll hair, I think I might be emo now. I really gravitate towards angsty music for some reason. My roommate theorizes it’s because I’m so colorful and optimistic externally that my repressed angst needs an outlet somewhere.

Regardless, wanted to pass on this video because passion and next level talent always deserve recognition. Chilis about to blow up cause of this blog. You’re welcome Chad.