A Rhetorical Analysis Of New Slaves By Kanye

Kanye West is an African American artist who often speaks his mind and uses his musical platform to address issues that are prevalent in today’s society. Kanye’s song “New Slaves” displays his anger towards particular authoritative groups and prejudice towards blacks. Despite laws against slavery and racism, Kanye develops the idea of blacks being “new slaves” in modern day society. The lyrics show that the reasoning behind this modern day racism is that other people or groups of people profit from it, whether it be saving money or saving time. The song aims to explain how African American’s social behaviors are being structured into something evil to benefit certain organizations. The song also reveals some of the stereotypes of poor and

The first issues being racism and stereotypes. Kanye gives reference to racism in the past when he says, “My momma was raised in the era when, clean water was only served to the fairer skin.”(1-2) Then, he makes another reference to racism when he claims the people who criticize his clothing line would only be satisfied with his work if he picked the cotton to make the clothes himself. Clearly, Kanye addresses racism early on makes it known that blacks were treated unfairly. He does this to show the audience that racism was evil and wants people to remember how blacks were treated back in the day. After referencing past racism, Kanye shifts focus to racism in today’s world and it taking on a different form. He addresses stereotypes of African Americans and how blacks are still experiencing racism. He does this by rapping about how poor blacks are told not to touch anything in stores and are usually suspected of stealing items. Also, wealthy blacks are urged to come to the stores because they are known to spend all their money on expensive items, such as jewelry and clothing items. This is done to inform the listener that racism is still prevalent in society and despite laws that promote equality and aim to improve African Americans conditions since the slave era, blacks are still being treated unfairly and are victims of

Materialism relates the strongest to the title of the song because people are mentally enslaved by materialistic thoughts, creating “new slaves.” People in our generation are obsessed with name brands and live their life trying to make money and buy the latest device or nicest clothes. This idea that life is about money and possessions creates a lifestyle that a majority of Americans live today. People are becoming slaves while living this money oriented lifestyle. Kanye expresses his feelings about materialism in the black community when he says, “What you want a Bentley, fur coat, and diamond chain? All you blacks want all the same things.”(8-9) This line reiterates my point that he’s pointing to materialism as one of the main causes of blacks being new slaves. While that line specifically referred to blacks, Kanye makes it clear that anyone is eligible to be a new slave in today’s world by saying, “Used to only be niggas, now everybody playin.”(11) The slavery most people in America are familiar with is African American slavery. Kanye acknowledges that slavery used to only include black people, but now everyone is at risk of falling into this new type of