I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.
– Albert Einstein
I walk in the caf and I smell mac and cheese, my eyes roll back and I’m weak in the knees.
– $EFF, Frosty Long, and Dr. Aaron the Architect
Great food feeds the soul as well as the body. It calls us together to laugh, share stories, and bond. It is a love letter from the chef to the diner. And sometimes it incites feats of creativity, as in the case of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) students Aaron Moyer, Nathan Longenecker, and Seth Andreas, who were inspired one night by their friend Ben Alderfer expounding upon the virtues of the meatball mac and cheese served in EMU’s cafeteria (affectionately referred to as “the caf”).
Within one breakneck weekend, Moyer, Longenecker, and Andreas wrote, recorded, and dropped a hip hop single titled “Meatball Mac,” which you really need to experience for yourself.
“We each wrote our own verses for the most part,” Andreas said. “I was the one with a microphone and recording software, so I was the one that edited it and pieced the whole thing together.”
Andreas, a sophomore math and computer science major, drew on his experience from the “Folk Rock to Hip Hop” class taught by Professor David Berry to produce the track.
Food Service Director Bruce Emmerson is a fan.
“I love seeing the students having fun,” Emmerson said. “I thought the song was creative … it was the sincerest form of flattery!”
“Bruce was incredibly kind and willing to join our shenanigans,” said Moyer, a first-year biology major. “His decision to show support for our song and willingness to be adventurous made me love EMU and the cafeteria even more.”
The trio plans to keep writing music, although they haven’t disclosed any more possible muses.
“We work best when we get random bursts of inspiration,” Longenecker, a first-year math and computer science major, said. “This song has taught me that the greatest passions often come from the smallest things in life.”
To that end, EMU News would like to share a tongue-in-cheek meditation written by Moyer, elaborating on the profundity of this preeminent dish.
Meatball Mac is special. It is not special because it is good, but because it is symbolic. I could go as far as to say that Meatball Mac symbolizes the unity after division, the greatness after being just good, and the calm amongst the chaos. One meatball without its corresponding Mac is like a pea without a pod, or a song without a harmony. Teamwork like this is what the world needs right now: similarities, compliments, togetherness… not division, chaos, or hate. We can use the relationship between a meatball and its Mac as a template for developing unity. We will get through 2020.
This.Is.Awesome.