Wu-Tang's Song Analysis

By creatively employing various literary devices and sophisticated figurative language, and relying immensely on witty word-play and double- at some instances even triple- entendre coupled with an intricate rhyme scheme, Lupe Fiasco, dubbed by some as the king of trickiness rap, takes a firm stance against those who constantly attempt to prevail on him to simplify his lyrics to comply with the current hip-hop stereotypes which could in turn improve his prospects for commercial success. Lupe Fiasco elaborated on the song on “The late show With David Letterman” by saying “ 'Dumb It Down' looks at how musical entertainment as a whole is used as a distraction, as a tool, to keep people dumb, instead of focusing on real issues and solutions.”

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

Kanye West has proven himself over time that he is much more than just a producer. With each new album he releases, he constantly pushes the boundaries of music influencing artist across all genres. Kanye has an ever evolving sound that changes almost year to year. Kanye West’s Yeezus album is an album that takes a much darker and more minimalist turn in his discography. This approach to music makes Yeezus a much harder album to listen through because it is not filled with nice, polished sounds. Having the album made this way makes us look over what the message of a song and the album are. Among many rough songs one the most popular on the album was Blood on the Leaves. Blood on the Leaves samples from another song called Strange Fruit sung by Nina Simone which is a very political song talking about gruesome lynchings that happened before and at the turn of the century. With help from the sample, West uses the pain of lynching and drug abuse to compare with the break ups he goes through.

Millions of people in the world listen to music for all different reasons. Most people all over the world listen to different genres of music in order to relax, but not too many people pay attention to the actual lyrics of a song. If you listen to the lyrics of a song you will realize that many songs have important messages or themes to them. An example of this is the lyrics of the song “Changes” by Tupac Shakur. If you listen to this song, you will realize that Tupac raps about not only the problems that African Americans face from society, but also the struggles that poor people in society have to endure and overcome. Many

When Earl Sweatshirt’s first commercial album Doris was released in 2013, its style really threw me off. Lyrically poetic and occasionally amelodic, it refused listeners the lyrical thrills of his debut mixtape Earl, which was released three years earlier when he was 16 under LA collective Odd Future (OF). Instead, Doris came off as complex, understated, and disconnected as he tried to commit to a sound.

As a child growing up, I was always into art and music. I would draw on all my notebooks for school, often find myself lost in my own lyrical world, always looking up new artists to listen to and probably download over 40-50 songs a month, maybe more. Back then, I was just doing it for fun though until I was about nine or ten years old. My love for the harmonizing sounds went from a small crush to the love of my life. My dad and I was driving around the city that I will one day leave a mark in, the city of Jacksonville, when my dad put on the one song I will forever dedicate to changing my life, Find A Way by A Tribe Called Quest. Now understand that this was the first time I have ever heard this song and it put a flame in my soul, like my

In the picture above, we can recognize one of the many confrontations that have been taken place in the last few years between American police forces and the black community. These series of events have caused great outrage all around the world and multiple groups have risen up to speak up against this injustice.

Kimberly Fernandez Analysis essay Wrt 101-CRN 21436 Lupe Fiasco – Words I Never Said Modern rap music plays a big role in our modern society as all music does. Most rap song lyrics consists of women, drugs, and money which makes many believe rap music gives a negative influence to people. In fact, a famous song made by the rapper Lil Wayne actually has the name “pussy, money, weed” dedicating an entire song to the theme of women, drugs, and money. While not all songs have titles as explicit as this one, many have similar themes within them. A song that highly catches my attention is a song by Lupe Fiasco called “Words I Never Said”.

In “Alright” Kendrick Lamar is speaking to the public about police brutality, or is he sending a deeper message to the people of minority. Kendrick Lamar released the song titled “Alright” in 2015. Upon release the song instantly blew up. It 's catchy and even though people got tongue tied trying to recite the song everyone knew the hook of the song which stated “We gon be alright do you hear me do you feel me we gon be alright.” I wonder did anyone catch the poetic verses Kendrick was saying before the hook. By simply watching the video you instantly think oh police brutality but I recieved a deeper message. I believe Kendrick wanted the song to inform the public about the brutality that seemed to be continuous at the time; and offer a bit of hope to those who didn’t feel there was any. That’s why the song was so famous, Kendrick performed this song on numerous award shows and talk shows because the people needed to hear it. Though some believe the song is in protest against cops or sending a bad message others believe it is an anthem for african americans.

Family is an important necessity all throughout childhood into a teenager and eventually into an adult. In the famous song “Dear Mama”, by Tupac Shakur goes in great depth on appreciating your loved ones. Tupac had many struggles in his childhood, to having no father and having a mother with a drug addiction. In his use of figurative language and word choice, Tupac addresses the theme of appreciating loved ones. Tupac uses word choice as a way to express his feelings towards his mother.

The subject of God is rarely talked about in modern society compared to traditional times because like in Kanye West’s song, Jesus Walks, “ If I talk about God my record won’t get played.” The unknown in society is scary to people which connects to the denial that God exists. As well as, the continuation of the inner human struggles. It is hard to look down at the world, and believe there is a God with all the evil in the world. In contrast, Kanye West declares that people are constantly at war with their environment, and believes the root of all conflict lies internally. A rap song that talks about God but has references to terrorism and racism which are both conflicts that this modern society deals with. The four-minute music video is a collection of stories of reprehensible characters; crafted into a modern biblical visual to signify the inner and outer conflicts of mankind.

Just as Russell Simmons had established Def Jam with legendary (and one of my personal favorite) producer Rick Rubin and changed the face of hip-hop music, another shake up was on its way. Russell Simmons became hip-hop’s first mogul through the establishment of Run D.M.C, LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys and others. He was prominent in changing not only the production of rap music but the sound as well. Using the drum machine and often times no other instruments, he created the sound that was in his head and took off running, seemingly never slowing down. He and Run D.M.C were the first individuals to show there was branding power in hip-hop simply by what they wore. The infamous Adidas with no shoe laces are a staple of rap music, still to

1988, That’s when the so called “Gangsta Rap” emerged with the album Straight out of Compton N.W.A as a huge product that appealed to the younger generation of African Americans since it was the rawest thing they’ve heard, in my opinion, it is as raw as the reality surrounding young African Americans, which is the reason why it became something huge. The album Straight out of Compton, N.W.A is one the most successful figures in the hip-hop industry by being a classic that is still being played to this day. The huge success was rewarded by the most important certifications in the world of music, by being a double-platinum which means this it doubled the minimum limit for the certification of a platinum record by selling more than one million

The struggles of a single mother is not something everyone will fully understand. In the late 90’s there was huge poverty and gang violence in Los Angeles, California where Tupac grew up. Many of his songs reflect on how his experience was in this environment. In Tupac Shakur’s song, “Dear Mama” found in album, Me Against the World, for a single mother to show love for her child takes a huge struggle, especially when it was a time where gang violence was really high and fathers would leave their children. Throughout the song Tupac uses imagery to capture the feeling of pain and struggle and fluently illustrate the moments where he was young, until he grew up and realized the love his mother gave him. “Dear Mama” is also portrayed as a

“Who taught you to hate your texture of your hair and your skin color? What are you doing for others?” (1962, Martin, L, King). United States’ regime was build upon freedom and equality but at the same time most famous political thinker George Grant emphasizes that United States is the most dynamic, oppressive and liberal regime in the history. Even though United States was build upon freedom and equality, there are many people still suffering and having a difficulty to live on the society from racism. (citation). At the same time if racism exists in the society there is inequality. (Thesis) From the historical view, In North America especially in United State, racism is deeply entrenched in historical events beginning with slavery, which makes