Blood On The Leaves Interpretation

The version of the song “Strange Fruit,” by Cassandra Wilson is a piece of music that consists of 4 verses. I have broken these down into Verse A, Verse B. Verse A, and Verse A’. Cassandra’s voice is most certainly the melody of this version of Strange Fruit and is used in all 4 verses. The rhythm of this piece is a 4. The song opens in a high pitch “tinkling” piano, soft flute (that reminds me of the wind bowing) a soft distant sound of an electric guitar and the eerie background bass that has the feeling of darkness and fear. This drew an image of dark and chilling to me.

Strange Fruit is extremely valuable today and especially in the 1930’s. The 1930’s was a rough time for society. No one should have to live through the deaths of innocent humans but unfortunately that happened in the past and still happens today in different forms. Strange Fruit was the first controversial song that ever spoke out about the cruelty of the lynching of African Americans. It gained attention throughout the years of Holiday performing it, which gives it tremendous value. The sadness and disturbing imagery portrayed in the song, gave it a positive effect considering it gained support towards the Civil Rights Movement. The song sends out a clear message in an unusual way. Painting a disturbing picture into the listener’s mind through words makes the person perceive the message to be to end lynching. “Strange fruit hanging from the poplar tree” (line 4). The strange fruit is a black person being hanged from the tree. That is a deep message that was made to get into everyone’s head to push for a change in the unfair society.

Throughout Kanye West’s prolific career, he has possessed an intricate sound that has separated him from his hip-hop counterparts. After the immense praise he received on his breakout album, College Dropout, it was no surprise that Kanye West would perform at the same level on his second album, Late Registration. West presented an innovative and soulful sound to the hip-hop industry, earning individuals’ ears and hearts.With lyrics that discussed themes of poverty, drug abuse, and domestic issues and samples that provided a sense of nostalgia, Kanye West was steadily transforming into a political icon far beyond the means of his hip-hop artistry. With such empowering and sincere lyrics, Kanye West served as the voice of historically marginalized people, whose voices were seemingly unheard before. In the song “Drive Slow,” West’s guidance and empowering message remained evident, as he joined forces with GLC and Paul Wall to create a soulful song that offered assistance on how to overcome barriers in life. Through the use of suggestive details, figurative language, and vivid storytelling, West utilizes the automobile culture to assert how individuals can achieve success of every field of human endeavor through constant efforts in the right direction. In addition, he also attempts to convey that one must “drive slow” in a car in order to appreciate the environment that consists outside of the automobile. West creates a double entendre of the word “drive slow,” expressing that

When talking about famed musical artist and entrepreneur, Kanye West, exasperated sighs an eye rolls are par for the course. He’s managed to create a polarizing persona with his famed outbursts and media-acclaimed family. That said, few could dispute the level of success he’s achieved. Having successfully carved a place for himself in both music and fashion, there must be a method for his madness. As a matter of fact, it might be surprising to find that Kanye has certain business-savvy qualities. Here are four of Kanye’s traits that companies can adopt to create a winning workplace.

Kanye West also known as "Yeezy" is American rapper, fashion disaster, and also music producer. People may say that Mr. West is our youth of today voice. He has made a tremendous mark in the music and fashion industry. As we all know Mr. West is known for having his moments. It is safe to say that he has the best and top “omg” Moments, such as interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMA’s. Kanye in the begging when he first came on the hip hop scene was this calm, joyful, his music in my eyes was the most different music out at the time, just because he wasn’t rapping about what everyone else was. Kanye was one of those joyful guys, everybody wanted him on his record or produce it. Then a tragic event occurred where his mom died. After then you see

Kanye West’s “Blood on the Leaves” is a powerful hip hop song that addresses modern day struggles such as drugs, sex, and poverty. Throughout the song, the lyrics of “Strange Fruits” by Billie Holiday blare from the background, stating “strange fruit swinging from the poplar trees… blood on the leaves” (Blood on the Leaves) over and over. The mix of the two styles and lyrics creates a dichotomy between the days of lynching and black oppression and the current struggles that face African Americans. The contrast between the different types of oppression draws attention to the current issues of modern day culture. African Americans in today's society are still

Kanye West produced the popular song “All Falls Down” in 2004. He is well known for creating many wonderful tunes but this one stands out above the rest. While his other songs contain bass-heavy instrumentals and contain lyrics about money and women, this one is strays away from the previous structures. “All Falls Down” catches the attention of youth, with its mellow melody, to send a strong message concerning the overemphasis on money and education and how it can be harmful through the lyrics. The issues contained in the message are highly focused on the idea that money and education will not always be there

J. Cole released his album 2014 Forest Hill Drive on December 9, 2014 without any features, media marketing, or promotions (Berry). This album became significant within the music industry because of how far it strays from the lyrical composition of popular rap artists of today. Majority of rap artists in the 2000’s rely heavily on commercial producers and multiple artist features to promote the popularity of their album. Rappers often do not stray far from crude, sexual and misogynistic lyrics just to gain fame and cash flow for their label. As a hip-hop artist, J. Cole manages to gain more success than any rap album with no features. J. Cole writes an honest, and nostalgic album that speaks further into his thoughts on current social issues and his personal life story. He shines a light on his insecurities and gets his audience to feel a special connection with him as an artist. J. Cole managed to create the only album in rap and hip-hop history to go platinum without any features while transcending development of pop culture within the rap industry.

Kanye had an intellectually challenging upbringing and was raised in a middle-class home. He was the only child of an English literature professor mother, and his father who was an award-winning photojournalist and an active Black Panther member. Before Kanye’s superstar days, he was just an ordinary kid from Chicago, Illinois striving to become a successful artist. He was attending the Chicago State University and was taking art classes at the American Academy of Art but decided to drop out to place all of his attention on his career in music. Kanye’s journey in music began by producing songs for local rap artists. Kanye obtained his first big break in 2001, producing songs for Jay-Z’s double-platinum selling album The Blueprint. In the early

“Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you…I’ll let you finish. But Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” (West). Most people if they don’t know anything about Kanye West, they know this quote. When anybody hears his name everybody always has an opinion. Some people love him, while a lot of other people hate him, each for a variety of reasons. Though most people only see the arrogant and egotistic side of Kanye, the more important side that people don’t always see is the hardworking musician. In order to fully understand Kanye’s motives and to fully appreciate him, people have to know how he got to the point he is now today.

He's saying that in war, in Iraq, 314 soldiers died. But in a city in the United States 509 died. “It’s time for us to stop and redefine black power / 41 souls murdered in 50 hours.” This shows that even when the United States fights violent wars, people with guns in dangerous places can be even more violent. Kanye West wants to put a stop to gun violence, and doesn't want any more innocent people to be murdered. He is explaining that he feels pain wherever he goes in these violent cities, which means that he doesn't like how violent some of these cities are and doesn't want this to go on any longer. Gun violence is a serious thing, and there are a lot of people who are hurt or even killed by other people every year in regular cities like Chicago. Kanye West, if he is elected president in 2020, will try his hardest to put a stop to gun violence. “Been a don, praying for the families lost in the storm / Bring our troops back from Iraq, keep our troops out of Iran” This quote shows that Kanye West is also anti-war, and doesn't want any more troops in Iraq, and also wants to keep all our soldiers out of

Leading up to the release of the album, Kanye premiered the song “New Slaves” on buildings across the globe. New Slaves set the tone for the album’s assumed political thematic approach, a seemingly popular decision. He outright calls out corporations stating “Fuck you and your corporations y’all can’t control me”, a line he admits may have caused the lack of promotion for “Black Skinhead”, another quasi-politically driven song that was composed to be a radio smash hit. Both of these songs on their own are fantastic. They’re not only well inspired politically driven hip hop songs, they’re arena anthems with ‘Black Skinhead” bordering on punk rock. “Middle america packed

With twenty-one Grammy’s and fifty-seven nominations, Kanye West is often regarded as one of the most influential and important artists of our time (The GRAMMYs 2). But many believe he is a musical fluke, who seeks attention and controversy. West first broke into the music industry by producing beats under the guidance of famous hip hop producer No I.D. (“The Mentor” 1). After his highly praised groundbreaking album, The College Dropout, was released, Kanye quickly found himself in the spotlight. His second album, Late Registration, was met also met with critical acclaim. With his recent successes and connection to the youth of America, West took an opportunity to help the people affected by Hurricane Katrina by appearing on TV alongside Michael Myers for a Red Cross event.

On February 15, 2016, Kendrick Lamar took the stage at the 2016 Grammy Awards show. Shackled in chains, he moved lethargically across the stage in a prison uniform. Words began to stream out of his mouth and I imagined the elephant that filled the room as an unapologetically black male made a statement to the world about African American oppression in the United States. Kendrick Lamar’s showcase included an intricate set that addressed social issues such as mass incarceration with song, “The Blacker the Berry”, while keeping hope towards better days with song “Alright”. The elaborate performance on February 15, 2016 would be a performance that will go down in history. An artist used his platform to discuss important issues in the United States to a diverse audience. With so much passion invested into the song, it was almost impossible to pick any other song besides “The Blacker the Berry”, as it discusses a wide range of issues within the United States, especially related to the black body.

From being known to creating compose hip-hop music, a fashion icon and establishing a foundation with his mother to being seen as the most hated celebrity in the entertainment industry. Kanye West took it upon himself to defend his opinion when it came to the winner of the Best Female Video on the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. By taking the stage and grabbing the microphone from the country music star Taylor Swift and basically stating that she did not deserve the title. The event left the audience and TV land very stocked. What some may not realize is that Kanye West displayed multiple stereotypes that society may think African Americans possess. The stereotypes, which were displayed, were drunkenness, outspokenness and the fact that a