No Church In The Wild Analysis

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From the early founding of Plymouth Rock to today’s 21st century society, America has always been known as a predominantly Christian nation. It’s hard to argue we are not a religious society when we are “one nation under God” and our new president was recently sworn into office over the Bible. However, Christianity has been in a sharp decline as more Americans are becoming less affiliated with religion. In the last 10 years, society has seen nearly an 8% decline in the percentage of adults who describe themselves as Christian. (Bailey 1) Thankfully, it is no longer considered a societal taboo to question religion. Instead of being convicted of witchcraft like in colonial days, artists today can win an award for their efforts in questioning the importance of religion in today’s world. That’s exactly what happened to Kanye West and Jay-Z’s Grammy award-winning song “No Church in the Wild.” The song’s meaning is one thousand leagues deeper than simply “Kanye and Jay are the Gods of Hip Hop.” Upon deeper analysis, I …show more content…

The music video provides commentary on this topic with the video highlighting a riot between what looks to be a lower-class society revolting against a military police force. Some have commented that this represents the artist's fundamental belief in power. If we go back to the hook of the song, there is a subtler metaphor about how current political institutions are like the Great Chain of Being. The president of the United States has power, but only because the people believe and follow his/her mandates. Both, Kanye West and Jay Z, believe power derives from belief. When a society doesn’t believe in its system of power, individuals will come together and fight for what they as a group believe in. Movements like Black Lives Matter are currently challenging the status quo on systems of power in place,

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