Keep Ya Head Up

Keep Ya Head Up by Tupac Shakur has often been referred to as one of the deepest rap songs ever written and it addresses issues concerning women, especially poor black women. The chorus is from the 5-stairsteps 1 hit wonder, Ooh0-child. It was first recorded in his 1993 album. It peaked at number 12 on the billboard Hot 100 chart. It is a motivational song that many people can relate to and it shows Tupac's softer side.

In the first line 2pac uses a metaphor to start the song off, "some say the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice." This relates his race and says that african americans are equal. This whole song is about how females are mistreated. He says, " i know they like to beat you down a lot." He is referring to us, males. We don't believe that women are equal to us men and it is wrong. Tupac states that he cares. He also says that women are the ones who have the kids. You cant tell them when or where to have a baby. He says that the worst thing is when," your son wonders why daddy dont love him no mo'." In my opinion it is the worst thing to leave a women on her own to raise and support a baby.

Tupac also talks about his mother. He is remorseful that he argues about curfew and tried drugs. His mom almost "lost her life" trying to raise him. " it is time to kill for our women" He suggests that instead of being rude and disrespectful, we give our lives to protect them. 

At the end of the song he uses a paradox saying that, "Dying inside but on the outside you look fearless."  He is commenting that women have the whole world on the shoulders. They always have to "keep ya head up." Times can be tough but we all came from women and got our name from our women. So let's not treat women with disrespect.

Sentence Forms in Jesus walks

Kanye West was born June 8th, 1977 in Atlanta Georgia. His parents divorced when he was 3 and he lived with his mother in Chicago, Illinois. He dropped out of college due to poor grades and a desire to make it in the music industry. Kanye initially produced big hits for stars like jay-z, Talib Kweli, cam'ron, paul wall, Common and many others. He couldn't find a record deal because most labels saw him as a producer not a rapper. He eventually signed a deal and released his 1st cd entitled, The College Dropout. It contained hit songs like, All Falls Down, and Jesus Walks.

The single, "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West is a very motivational song which Kanye West is talking to God. He uses varying sentence patterns. He uses gerund phrases, repetition of Key Phrases and Object and complement out of order. 

The first gerund phrase is. "Saying, we eat pieces of s*** like you for breakfast." It is a gerund phrase because the verb say is being used as a noun.

The second sentence form is repetition of keys terms. " Jesus walks, Jesus walks, Jesus walks with us." The main point is repeated because it is meant to get the point across. Like the old saying, repetition is the father of learning, the same is true for this song. He is repeating what is important to him.  

The last sentence form is Complement out of order. At the end of the first verse Kanye says, " But I"ll be gone 'til November I got packs to move I hope." You could put the I hope in the front of the sentence and it would say, " i hope i'll be gone 'til November, I got packs to move. The object is out of order.

As you can see, Kanye West uses a lot of different sentence types to convey his thought from his mind to the paper. His style has been very effective and is recognized as one of the greatest rappers of all time.

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Diction

The Artist Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem, is notoriously known as a rapper whose lyrics are highly protested and analyzed. Eminem's smash hit album ,Encore, the F.B.I looked into a possibility that Eminem was threatening the President of the United States. Saying, " F**** money/ I dont rap for dead presidents/ i'd rather see the president dead/ it's never been said but i set precedents." So as you can see Eminem is a controversial, sometimes political rapper. But the diction, or choice of words, Eminem uses differ from song to song. For example in the smash hit, lose yourself, there is  very heavy lyrical content, but in the song, Mockingbird, there is a calm melody almost like a bedtime tune.  Like every artists eminem refuses to be recognized, he has his angry songs and fun goofy songs. 

In Lose Yourself, Eminem has a rough tone, you can really hear the venom in his voice. The songs starts kind of slow with a piano playing and it kind of takes you away. Then the electric guitar come in and it all starts. BOOM! the drum comes in. This song has 3 different points of view. In the chorus he says " YOU better lose yourself in the music the moments, you own it you better let it blow OOO." He is saying that you have to go for it. But in the 1st verse he begins talking about, He. " He's so mad, but he won't give up that easy, no He wont have it, he knows his whole back's to these ropes. He knows that, but he's broke. He's so stagnant that he knows when he goes back to his mobile home...." In this instance he is talking about his experience through someone else.  Finally in the last verse Eminem brings all together and reveals its about him. " I was playing in the beginning, the mood all changed, I been chewed up and spit up and booed off stage. But I kept rhyming and kept writing the next cypher." In this song Eminem has 3 different point of view. He talks to us, he talked about someone else and he talks about himself. This is a rarity in song writing.  Eminem has mastered it through the years.

The song Mockingbird is a extremely touching song. Eminem is telling a beautiful story and talking to his daughter, Hailey, telling her everything was going to be ok, she has to, " stiffen up little soldier." This song is in one point of view. It is all through his eyes. This song should be heard by everyone, even of you don't like rap it really explains the struggle he went through and really tells me how much Eminem loves his daughter. "I can see it in your eyes, deep inside you want to cry. " In this 1st verse eminem is talking through himself. ' Cause all i ever wanted to do was make you proud." Eminem has completly forgot about the lifestyle and his money. He wants his daughter to be alright. There is a very soft tone and Shady has a soft voice. 

As you can see, Eminem has mastered point of view. He uses many different points in view in some songs and in others its just him. This style has made Eminem millions over the years. I am going to put both these songs on my playlist and i encourage everyone to listen to the songs. Especially Mockingbird. It is one of the most touching songs i have ever heard.