Analysis of Will Smith's Party Starter

In order to analyze Will Smith's song and video entitled Party Starter, it is important to understand the history of hip-hop music. Hip-hop music was created out of rap music. Rap has been around since the 1970s. It was originally used as a way for inner city African American youths to voice their daily struggles. Most rap songs had a simple beat with words spoken to the rhythm of the beat. These songs were usually upbeat even when the subject matter was serious. There was the impression or hope that things will get better.

Soon, corporate record labels started to repackage rap music as it gained in popularity. The business minded executives were looking to create a wider appeal by erasing hip-hop's historic function. Hip-hop became a business. Rap music was a valuable commodity. In the 1980s, the music was sold back to the streets through marketing ploys such as videos and Top 40 charts. With the rise of rap, a sub-genre called gangsta rap was started. Many rappers went from talking about how they want the killing to stop to talking about them being the ones doing the killing. By the late 1990s, gangsta rap became more common. Many artists did as the records labels wished, to write lyrics that sell. Audiences became more ethnically and economically diverse. Gangsta rap was successfully marketed to rebellious teens in both the inner cities and the suburbs. Business minded artists were pressured to take on the role of "gangsta" or "playa" or "pimp" which lead to large paychecks. Why does this version of rap sell? Because America, especially it's youth, loves sex, drugs and violence.

However, record companies started to get some criticism about the explicit lyrics and videos. This lead to a new era and "stu...

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...is also criticizing this acceptable form of hip-hop. The song is about how the music has changed since he has been away from it. He started out as a musician. As his acting career took off, Smith concentrated on filmmaking. He was not making albums. In Party Starter, Smith is saying that hip-hop isn't good any more. However people, mostly white people, like it so it sells. Because it sells, that is what record labels want. In order to be successful, artists must provide what the record labels demand. In the end of the video, Smith is now line dancing with a bunch of white women dressed in country hats and clothing. Smith says in the song that he wants the music to return to its roots. He suddenly stops, swats his arm toward the camera and walks off the set. Ironically, he is producing what the record label wants while poking fun at it at the same time.