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Camry McDougald

Professor Maple

English 101

28 February 2018

Rhetorical Analysis

In the United States African Americans have overcome struggles, and continue to

struggle. Each time the battles are different and are sometimes harder. The fight to be more than

their skin is the biggest fight of all. Many artists speak of these battles in majority of their songs.

In comparison each song implies different meaning. The meaning changes in regards to what you

hear and what you see when watching the visual work of the music. Jay-Z and The Game are

both talented artist, both have wrote songs meant to give knowledge of struggles and how to

overcome them but only one artists song truly appeals to Blacks in America.

Over the years there has been multiple shootings of unarmed Black Americans. As of

June 23, the Fatal Encounters database had a total of 14,042 records for people killed during

interactions with U.S. police since 2000, approximately 2,600 of them for Black Americans and

4,600 they marked as "race unspecified." The Washington Post also stated that most of the

officers doing the shootings are rarely rookies. In “Don’t Shoot” by the Game he uses pathos by

including names such as Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till, and other victims involved

in police brutality. He does not give out a specific number, he makes sure the listeners

understand that it is personal. The Game wants to inform everyone that these were actually

people and not some additions to a statistic. These names are the names of innocent African

Americans who lost their lives to the hands of people that are trained to protect us. Murdered by
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a bullet from an officer's gun all because they fit the description of a suspect, or they were not

“cooperating” in a feasible manner in the eyes of the officer.

In the pasts few years there have been riots and marches in honor of innocent deaths of

black men and women. In “Don’t Shoot” The Game says “Mothers crying "Stop the riots", we

ain't got to chalk the city...They left that boy for hours in the cold out there, They killin' teens,

they killin' dreams (It's murder)” this raw lyric appeals to pathos and ethos. It causes many to

feel remorse for all of the children whose lives were cut short especially “killin’ dreams” many

of the children/teens who have been shot by officers have been bright kids who were going far in

life and had a lot to look forward to. “Chalk the city” is a reference to dead bodies, when people

are murdered somewhere their bodies are traced with chalk. Using the word “murder” shows just

how real of an issue this brutality is. Many men and women are angered by this brutality that

people who are not caucasian undergo.

Before we had all kinds of social media, there was no other way to hear about things that

were going on unless you watched tv. But today's generation is completely different which is

why this lyric has such a deep meaning “The revolution has been televised, If I sit here and do

don't do nothing, homie, that's genocide,” It appeals to logos and pathos, it gives you factual

information about how everyone has had a chance to do something but also makes everyone feel

bad for not doing something. Every single protest has been on everyone's social media pages at

least once. This revolution to stop police brutality has been televised to the the American people

in someway. If they can just sit and watch after having multiple opportunities then he considers

that to be genocide. Such in a way that everyone watched as all the Jews were scrutinized and

continued to watch as they all died, not once standing up for what was right.
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A fan made music video for “Don’t Shoot” uses pathos to appeal to emotions by using

historical pictures of Blacks in America fighting for Black rights. The video includes clips of

protesters getting assaulted with officers batons at equal rights rallies and clips from this

generation of people protesting for Black lives matter. There are images of Martin Luther king

and news clips about officers who have shot b\Black people. Just watching the video is sad

because it shows how long Black people have been fighting and how they are continuing to fight.

Skin should not define who a person is, but for African Americans judgment is inevitable.

In Jay-Z’s song “The Story of OJ” he samples Nina Simone's “Four Women” in her original song

she describes four different women and how society views each of them based on their

appearance. In other words she believes that the lighter skin color you obtain the better you will

be treated. Jay-Z samples her verse that says “my skin is black” throughout his chorus, but he

adds “Light nigga, dark nigga, faux nigga, real nigga….Rich nigga, poor nigga, house nigga,

field nigga…..Still nigga, still nigga”. He enforces pathos by repeating the word nigga, a

derogatory term used to identify African Americans. Basically stating despite how light, dark,

successful or unsuccessful you may be, in today's world if you appear to be Black (a faux nigga),

even if you are not, you are still treated as if you are. Nina Simone felt the appearance of your

skin ranges from light to dark and depending on where you fit on that range determined how you

were treated. But Jay-Z updates her verses to show the world that society has changed and no

matter where you fit in that range you will still be treated poorly because you simply look the

part.

African Americans push themselves to be more than their skin. Jay-Z says “O.J. like,

"I'm not black, I'm O.J." …okay” this inclusion of O.J. Simpson is a form of logos. He is a very

notorious football figure in America and for him to say that he is not black somewhat contradicts
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Jay-Z’s message but also pushes it forward. O.J. Simpson became more than his color but he also

did not claim who he is, and Jay-Z makes it clear that being black is not something you can run

away from.

Minorities suffer the most when it comes to the economic system. In “The Story of O.J.”

Jay Z writes of financial standings of today's African Americans,

“You wanna know what's more important than throwin' away money at a strip

club? Credit. You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in

America? This how they did it. Financial freedom my only hope, Fuck livin' rich

and dyin' broke, I bought some artwork for one million, Two years later, that shit

worth two million, Few years later, that shit worth eight million, I can't wait to

give this shit to my children, Y'all think it's bougie, I'm like, it's fine, But I'm

tryin' to give you a million dollars worth of game for $9.99.”

Jay-Z uses logos to inform listeners on how they are at a stand still as a culture. When it comes

to making a profit, Jay-Z says that they are not because they are wasting it on things that do not

matter such as a strip club. If they had good credit they could possibly buy a strip club. When

Jay-Z references financial freedom, he is basically saying that racially African Americans will

never truly be free. But they can be stable financially and that is something that has no room for

oppression, categorization, racial profiling and etc. He also mentions how he bought paintings as

an investment for his children, investments could help a lot of teens go to college or run a

business because over time things collect more worth and nobody wants to see their children

struggle.

When watching the video for“Story of O.J.” this video seemed more like it appealed to

ethos, it’s almost as if Jay-Z was saying I’m Black so I know this is true. Throughout the video
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there are all black cartoon characters who are practically living stereotypes of black people such

as the main cartoon character eating a watermelon, people say that Black people love

watermelon which is a stereotype carried on for generations. In the opening scene it is one the

looney tunes background with the main cartoon character talking in the circle instead porky the

pig which gives off this idea that Black people are thought of as a joke. There is another scene

where a female character is on the stage almost naked, and the male characters in the crowd

begin to go wild. This shows how Black women's bodies are sexualized, some women are only

thought of as sex objects, not as equals.

The Game gives hindsight to the real issues at hand when it comes to African American

problems. He makes listeners see that these are real people dying daily because of brutality.

Nothing is just on the surface when it comes to this song, every word is made to cut deep. He and

the other artists in this song sympathize with everyone who feels strongly about brutality or have

been affected by this brutality. They each speak of taking a stand, asking officers, oppressors,

and people with power not to shoot.

“The Story of O.J.” by Jay-Z was a really well written song with multiple rhetorical

meanings but nothing seemed real, he just reinstated many thoughts that others in society already

have stated. He only focused on this analysis of what it is to be an African American in today's

society. Nothing was personal at all, it was more of an informal song of where we are in

comparison to where we could be. His main motive was to get others to see where they stand in

society, not inspire them to make a change.

The strongest song that sends out a clear message is “Don’t Shoot” because it is personal

and it is so powerful. The Game and other artist collaborated and spoke of true knowledge. They

paid attention to real struggles going on today with Blacks in America and were not afraid to
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speak their truths in ways that appealed to emotions. Jay-Z made good points but he didn’t have

enough rhetoric. When it comes to music, the artist must play with the heartstrings of the world.

Works Cited

O'Neil, Lauren. “How Many Black Americans Have Been Killed by Police? Deaths Tracked

Online but Official Data Lacking.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 10 July 2016,
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www.cbc.ca/news/trending/number-of-black-people-killed-by-us-police-still-no-stats-

1.3670513.

Simone , Nina. “Four Women .” Wild Is the Wind , Tryon, North Carolina , 1965,

genius.com/Nina-simone-four-women-lyrics.

“O.J. Simpson.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 10 Nov. 2017,

www.biography.com/people/oj-simpson-9484729.

The Game, and Featured Artists . Don't Shoot.

Jay-Z, and Nina Simone . The Story of O.J.

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