Arnold Schwarzenegger has always come across as a man who goes his own way.
Indeed, the mere fact that he was able to transition from a professional bodybuilder to a movie star to the governor of California does a lot to confirm his uniqueness.
However, his platform as governor also indicated he was more interested in doing what seemed right to him than following the party line as his support of environmental activism and LGBT rights was certainly unusual among his Republican colleagues at the time.
And this commitment to one’s personal values is something that comes up a lot in his rapping debut, which is a sentence I never expected to write.
Schwarzenegger is hardly the first actor to briefly flirt with rap, but his reason for trying seems to differ from previous examples.
For instance, Joe Pesci essentially did it as a joke on “Wise Guy” from the My Cousin Vinny -themed album, Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings For You .
As you might expect, he earns that parental advisory sticker.
Crispin Glover also talk-sang out a poem about clowns on the song “Clowny Clown Clown.”
As is usual for the mysterious actor and filmmaker, it’s hard to tell what exactly compelled him to make this, but there is something oddly fascinating about it.
This time, however, Schwarzenegger motivations are perfectly clear: he’s out to motivate the rest of us.
Schwarzenegger appears on the song “Pump It Up” by Andreas Gabalier, who sings about the many twists and turns in the icon’s life.
Gabalier particularly emphasizes Schwarzenegger’s early life and how hard we worked at training his body both in Austria and at Gold’s Gym in Los Angeles.
But it’s Schwarzenegger who gets the first word and he begins everything by saying, “Hasta la vista, baby.”
And yes, that’s generally how you close your communication with someone rather than opening it, but as I’ve said, Schwarzenegger does things his own way.
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Although his approach to rapping isn’t the best, he’s more focused on getting his message across.
Truthfully, his style can be described as slow talk-singing and he forgets to rhyme in a couple of places, but it’s all in the name of challenging us to ask ourselves who we want to be. “Not what,” he says, “but who.”
As he puts it, “Work like hell, trust yourself and all your dreams come true.”
His advice doesn’t stop there, however. He also says that you should expect to break some rules on your journey to success.
He’s careful to caution against breaking the law, however. After all, it’s usually pretty hard to chase your dreams in jail.
Still, he reminds us not to be afraid to fail and to always give back if we do find ourselves living comfortably.
Naturally, it’s hard to imagine a music video for a song like this without some scenes of Schwarzenegger working out.
He’s joined by Gabalier for many of these clips, particularly this one where Schwarzenegger spots him as he works up a serious sweat.
Of course, a rapping Arnold Schwarzenegger is something you definitely need to see for yourself.
So whether you find it motivational, funny, or just oddly endearing, enjoy what this unlikely duo has to offer.