ENGL 1101 - Fall 2020 - Hip-Hop Reader - PEASE

Ella Oxley

9/11/20
                                                                                             Visual Analysis

Beyonce’s Run the World is about women empowerment. In the beginning of the video multiple women are showed in the first few cuts along with men running out of cars with protective gear and weapons while the women are don’t have any weapons. They come to a standoff, men on one side and women on the other, but since the men have weapons and the women don’t this is showing how powerful women are as opposed to men. On. The women’s side they are all in power stances and Beyoncé has a lion next to her which normally is a picture of bravery. Not only is she just talking about women empowerment she goes deeper into talking about businesswomen. In the song she states, “I’m reping for the girls that’s Taking over the world Help me raise a glass for the collegegrads.” She is talking about hardworking and dedicated women in this part, her being one herself as well.

Camera angles and styles are very important when analyzing a video, it can tell you the importance of something and to give more detail on what is happening in the video. In the music video there are different camera styles being used. Throughout the video the camera in either far away or close up to Beyoncé’s face. This is because when they are far away and longer cuts the artist wants the audience to take in the whole scene or situation. An example of this would be when Beyoncé is standing with a group of women dancing, but then also in the same clip you can see the men and how they are reacting to it. The more up-close clips would be to see the artists emotions. In this case an example of this would be when Beyonce is singing and she has a serious and powerful look on her face. The audience gets a closer up look to really get to read the emotion on her face. This video also has a bunch of low angle shots from the camera showing dominance and power. This angle is used many times when Beyonce is dancing or even just standing there.

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The editing style is also a very big role in the music video. This video has mostly very fast cuts increasing the intensity of the video and keeping the audience interested. However, at some pints int he song the music will slow and the cuts will slow down with it. Then very soon after they will pick back up in speed along with the songs speed and the cuts are back to being quick. 

Hip hop has come a long way with the role women play in it. In the beginning of hip-hop there were every few female groups or artists that got attention. In the writing Rap Music by Tricia Rose it states, “One More had female members, and there were a few small all-female groups such as Sequence.” (Pg. 22) Now some of the biggest hip-hop stars are female. Beyonce has played a big role in hip hop music for about 17 years now. She has been on the Top 100 charts multiple times and is just a great example that females can do whatever they put their mind to even if females don’t usually do that certain thing as much.

Ella Oxley

                                         Figurative Language in Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes

            The song Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes has figurative language written everywhere in it. The use of figurative language in this song enhances the meaning of what the writer is singing and what the audience takes away from the song. Especially in this song the song writer really drove home some of the points he wanted to make and made some really interesting comparisons that he couldn’t have done without the use of figurative language in the song.

            The song has multiple Metaphors, so many to where you could say the song is one big Metaphor. Metaphors bring a new comparison to a song which gives a deeper description of what the singer wants to get through to their audience. One example of a Metaphor in this song is when the author of the song sings, “This melody was meant for you, sing along to my stereo”. The singer is comparing his heart to a stereo. The significance of this use of figurative language is because he is using this Metaphor as a very intriguing and interesting way to say that he wants to be as close to this girl as music.

            In the song Exaggeration is also used. Exaggeration isn’t meant to be taken literally. It is more used to describe to the audience how the song writer felt in that very moment. Exaggeration is used when the singer says, “If I was an old school fifty-pound boom box...” Now, boom boxes back then were heavy but instead of being fifty pounds they were more around ten pounds. This Exaggeration is used to show how dedicated she would be to him. Fifty pounds is a lot of weight to carry around everywhere with you, so he wants to know that she will always be with him and stick with him through everything no matter how hard things might get.

            The song has Simile in the lyrics as well. Simile gives a comparison like a Metaphor dies but a simile uses like or as this almost makes the comparison more literal in certain sense. This is shown when the singer says, “Keep it stuck inside your head, like your favorite tune”. The singer is referring to making her understand how he feels about her. He wants her to think about it all the time like you would your favorite song.

            Personification can also be found in this song. It is showed when the singer says, “I thought love was dead”. Love is not a living thing meaning it cannot be dead, so he is giving it a living characteristic turning it into Personification. The song writer uses this type of figurative language here to express that he never thought he would find love again. Using Personification here makes the singers point so much clearer because dead is such a harsh term so the audience can tell how serious he was about not being able to find love anywhere and giving up on it.

Ella Oxley

                                    Figurative Language in Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes

            The song Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes has figurative language written everywhere in it. The use of figurative language in this song enhances the meaning of what the writer is singing and what the audience takes away from the song. Especially in this song the song writer really drove home some of the points he wanted to make and made some really interesting comparisons that he couldn’t have done without the use of figurative language in the song.

            In the song the singer says, “Keep it stuck inside your head, like your favorite tune”. The singer is referring to making her understand how he feels about her. He wants her to think about it all the time like you would your favorite song. Similar to a Simile the song writer uses this metaphor, “This melody was meant for you, sing along to my stereo”. The singer is comparing his heart to a stereo. This metaphor is very intriguing because he is using this device to say that he wants to be as close to this girl as music. These two figurative language devices work together to help the audience understand and picture what the song writer is trying to say. Saying he is a stereo is very interesting because it isnt a common comparison. This makes the audience think about what he might mean by it and it makes it memorable to them. To me it means he wants to be in sync with her and this has a big effect because it is very uncommon to be in sync with someone but if your singing along with them you are and that’s a special thing in a lot of people’s minds, including mine.

            In the song exaggeration is also used. exaggeration isn’t meant to be taken literally. It is more used to describe to the audience how the song writer felt in that very moment. exaggeration is used when the singer says, “If I was an old school fifty-pound boom box...” Now, boom boxes back then were heavy but instead of being fifty pounds they were more around ten pounds. This exaggeration is used to show how dedicated she would be to him. Fifty pounds is a lot of weight to carry around everywhere with you, so he wants to know that she will always be with him and stick with him through everything no matter how hard things might get. The listener is also understanding that the song writer is making the point that relationships are hard and a lot of work just like carrying a lot of weight would be, letting the listener know that relationships are an effort from both sides.

Imagery and personification when used in a song have a similar effect on the listener. Both create an image in the listener’s mind. Personification can be found in this song, it is showed when the singer says, “I thought love was dead”. Love is not a living thing meaning it cannot be dead, so he is giving it a living characteristic turning it into personification. The song writer uses this type of figurative language here to express that he never thought he would find love again. Using personification here makes the singers point so much clearer because dead is such a harsh term so the audience can tell how serious he was about not being able to find love anywhere and giving up on it. Imagery is found when the singer says, “If I was just another dusty record on the shelf”. Similar to personification it creates an image in the listeners head. This is a good device to use in a song because it has a huge effect on the listener. In these particular instances the listener feels like they are in the song and are feeling the song writers’ emotions and relating it back to their lives at the same time. Being able to imagine what the song writer is saying is bringing the listener closer to the song and making it personal for them.

            This song and the figurative language it uses in it has many effects on the listener that make the song more memorable and make it mean more to the listener. Whether it’s simile, metaphor, personification or imagery all have certain effects that take the song to the next level.

            The two rappers I chose to compare are Drake and Cardi B. These artists are two rappers you will see on most top charts. These rappers have had some of the biggest influence on the hip-hop industry in my opinion. The biggest difference I’ve noticed between the two is how they keep their audience interested even after a long time. Drake is a little bit older of a rapper than Cardi B and has kept all of his fans through making songs about his journey to fame and making his songs relatable. On the other hand, you have Cardi B who has maintained and kept her fans through being a women empowerment figure. These two artist have huge fan bases that they have kept around for years, but just had different ways of going about it.

                Women are objectified in so many different ways and it has been going on for a long amount of time. Women of different skin colors are objectified in different ways, but all have some similarities. Objectification constantly is portrayed through many different ways. Women will take a break from their lives to turn on the radio to hear a new song that just came out. They then go to watch the music video and see women scandalously dressed and men rapping about those women’s bodies and sex, portraying them as objects and just things to use when they please. This is in every rap song you will hear a man is always rapping about what they do with these women and what they like about them, but never about their smiles or eyes it is something that a women does not wang to be seen for most of the time. Not only are women sexualized in these songs, but images will be shown in these music videos of men marching around with a woman on their arm sending the message that women are only good for arm candy. These songs have a bigger impact on women and how gender is perceived than anyone might know.

                  Many women in the hip-hop industry handle objectification differently and either way a woman handles it does not make her less than another who might handle it differently. There are many women who are in between my next two example and are pretty neutral with how they handle it, but fir the next examples they are going to be two women who are on opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to handling objectification by men. The first example may seem obvious, it is Cardi B. Cardi B has had her share of songs written about her body and sexual acts, but she doesn’t hide anything. Cardi B comes right back with a song about her own body and her doing those sexual acts. She has done a remix of Thotiana by Blue face and the lyrics sang, “Bust down, Thotiana. I wanna see you bust down.” This song could be seen as another hip-hop song objectifying women and she sang in it as well. In her music videos she will dress very scandalously and dance. This is just how she handles objectification. Some people might see this as her making it easier for her to be objectified and that is not completely wrong, but she is a very confident woman who I think has enough love for herself to embrace that the things men objectify her for. On the other hand there is Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish doesn’t specifically make any remarks to objectification in her lyrics, but she handles it through her style choices. When she leaves the house, she is in baggy clothes that cover her whole body no matter the temperature. This is her own choice to avoid men talking about her body in a good or bad way. Billie Eilish opened up to ET Style about why she has the style she does. She said, “I wear baggy clothes so nobody can sexualize me because they don’t know what I look like.” These two women handle objectification in very different ways in the way they act and dress but both of them try and do what makes them feel the most comfortable in their own bodies with how much they have been looked at over time.

Ella Oxley

Compare and Contrast Essay

                  Women are objectified in so many different ways and it has been going on for a long amount of time. Women of different skin colors are objectified in different ways, but all have some similarities. Objectification constantly is portrayed through many different ways. Women will take a break from their lives to turn on the radio to hear a new song that just came out. They then go to watch the music video and see women scandalously dressed and men rapping about those women’s bodies and sex, portraying them as objects and just things to use when they please. This is in every rap song you will hear a man is always rapping about what they do with these women and what they like about them, but never about their smiles or eyes it is something that a women does not wang to be seen for most of the time. Not only are women sexualized in these songs, but images will be shown in these music videos of men marching around with a woman on their arm sending the message that women are only good for arm candy. These songs have a bigger impact on women and how gender is perceived than anyone might know.

                  Many women in the hip-hop industry handle objectification differently and either way a woman handles it does not make her less than another who might handle it differently. There are many women who are in between my next two example and are pretty neutral with how they handle it, but fir the next examples they are going to be two women who are on opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to handling objectification by men. The first example may seem obvious, it is Cardi B. Cardi B has had her share of songs written about her body and sexual acts, but she doesn’t hide anything. Cardi B comes right back with a song about her own body and her doing those sexual acts. She has done a remix of Thotiana by Blue face and the lyrics sang, “Bust down, Thotiana. I wanna see you bust down.” This song could be seen as another hip-hop song objectifying women and she sang in it as well. In her music videos she will dress very scandalously and dance. This is just how she handles objectification. Some people might see this as her making it easier for her to be objectified and that is not completely wrong, but she is a very confident woman who I think has enough love for herself to embrace that the things men objectify her for.

On the other hand, there is Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish doesn’t specifically make any remarks to objectification in her lyrics, but she handles it through her style choices. When she leaves the house, she is in baggy clothes that cover her whole body no matter the temperature. This is her own choice to avoid men talking about her body in a good or bad way. Billie Eilish opened up to ET Style about why she has the style she does. She said, “I wear baggy clothes so nobody can sexualize me because they don’t know what I look like.” These two women handle objectification in very different ways in the way they act and dress but both of them try and do what makes them feel the most comfortable in their own bodies with how much they have been looked at over time.

                  Very similarly to Billie Eilish in the essay Perry an artist is described to not listen to the objectifications of men and take a stand against it just like Billie does in a lot of her interviews. Except with this artist that Perry talks about in the essay it’s in her lyrics and not her interviews necessarily. In the Perry essay the lyrics that are wrote about go, “I’m not your average girl from a video/My body not built like a super-model but/I’ve learned to love myself unconditionally/because I am a queen.” (Perry 6) These lyrics that Perry talks about in that essay goes well with what Billie tries to promote as well on this objectification topic.

                  This essay has looked at two women who handle objectification in rap music and videos pretty differently, but it’s not always that way sometimes you have some women who take it upon themselves to change up the way they handle it and do more of a mix of what these two women do. A great example of this would be the artist Zendaya. This female artist is pretty fluid with how she handles objectification. One day she will be dressed in baggy clothes saying she wants to dress in that to not be objectified by men, but the next she will make a video in very little clothing because she says it makes her feel confident. This woman does not have a specific way she handles this objectification put in her life and all females lives, but she handles it however she feels to that day.

                  In conclusion, many female artists handle the objectification of women in rap music many different ways whether it’s facing it head on and confronting it or covering up more to avoid it.