an analysis of mr. west

Just to set it straight, this blog is for class so these posts will be class-related for the most part.

This week our assignment is to take a piece of media that relates to pop culture and analyze it and define what's going on with it. I chose to pick apart Kanye West's "The New Workout Plan" which dropped a couple years ago. Now, understand no matter what I say about it, this is a hilarious music video and I don't think anyone can disagree with me when I say Kanye West was The Shit back in the day. So to refresh ya'll's memories, here's the video. (clean)



After I listen to that, the first thing that pops into my head is the notion of how we value body image in our culture today. Kanye makes references to ideal women looking like Hally Berry and tempting girls with the reward of maybe getting boned by Mr. West himself someday if they can get that fit, toned body. When those girls give their testimonies about how Kanye's workout plan has shot them straight to the top of the social ladder, I'm pretty sure there's a message there. To the weak-minded, easily-influenced teen girl, the hopes of someday shopping on Rodeo Drive definitely has an impact. I think Kanye's intent of this song was to encourage girls to "twerk their bodies" so they'll be more appealing in general. He uses the visual style of a television commercial to make his song come off as a product that people should want. By encouraging girls to better themselves according to the standards of society today, he dismisses laziness and apathy as negative behavior that yields no reward. Girls who work at the mall for the rest of their lives, have no chance of ever scoring an NBA player as THIER man. Of course, this is somewhat exaggerated, but c'mon, it's Kanye West. This video reflects not only Kanye's personal style of presentation, but also fits in with hip hop's idea of greatness through work and passion that ultimately results in self fulfillment. It's been that way since the beginning. Whenever I feel down on my luck, one listen to Nas' Illmatic strengthens my spirit and puts me back on my feet. Although a lot of rap/pop/whatever is becoming lazier and lazier in terms of lyrical content and musical production, it nonetheless still embodies an idea of greatness and superiority that one can achieve any number of ways, which when you think about it, sounds strikingly similar to the concept of the American Dream. If you listen to the other work Kanye's put out, (specifically pre-808s & Heartbreak) you'll notice how Kanye makes more observations of pop culture rather than trying to directly drive new ideals to his audience, which makes his songs a bit more intelligent in terms of content compared to someone like Soulja Boi. case in point: CLICK HERE.

I'm glad you all liked MSTRKRFT. Staying on the whole hip hop thing, if you guys want some fresh stuff, these guys have some soul. Their album is amazing.

The Tones - Dreamtalk


www.myspace.com/thetonesblacktierecords