The Roots Bread and Butter - Essay Example

The Roots – Bread and Butter The use of different genres in the song creates art and meanings in different ways. Thefirst impression that is obtained by those hearing the music in a partial way can only perceive the music as a violent and a crude rap. Hip-hop music is usually accompanied by a tone that is dark and serious that is usually developed by pianos, drums and low pitches and instrumentation that accords the harsh reality faced in today’s world. In “The Roots – Bread and Butter” the pitch, vocals, tone and instrumentation strongly match with the lyrical message that the Roots is trying to convey concerning the different sociological aspects that faces the women and children of today as a result of the social injustices in the society. The Roots uses hip-hop as social commentary on how a common citizen suffers from the false promises given by the politicians. The common people suffer insecurity and harassment from the sheriffs as they struggle to hustle for their daily livelihood. His musical styles and strong lyrics raise awareness on this issue that he finds to affect many communities today. The manner in which the song begins is created in a way that will prepare the audience emotionally for the lyrics in the music. Use of long notes background vocals that runs for several seconds and the use of drum instrumentations and piano creates an austere mood that will make a listener who is walking down the street to get the concept as he/she is walking down the streets. The Roots does not want to only present the suffering story, but he also wants his listeners to feel as though they can also partake in this song and his message. High octave note in the song and the vocals provides the soul in the music. Long not vocals are significant since the help in making those listening to the music to get an emotional connection to the suffering and pain that is faced by the women and children in our society due to political injustices that results from poor governance from our political leaders. If the listener imagines of the suffering the children faces a result of them being manipulated by our political leaders, there is a high chance that the listener will feel pain and pity to the current society because of the social injustice. The use of piano and drums generates an atmosphere as a result of their soft and moderate tempo (MareBatica, 011). The Roots make maximum use of the element of the music to create the base of the overall feeling that an individual will get after listening to his music or reading the lyrics concerning the suffering faced by the women and the children in our current society. The Roots talks about the unconducive environment that is subjected to the children and women by the political leaders who are capable of influencing the youths in a negative manner and influence the decisions of our children. he argues that an individual can let other people to influence and take control of his decisions instead of him taking the responsibility of deciding what is good and determining his choices: “Lets get free or lets get paid/ Same shit different day”(MareBatica, 11). The Root uses a higher pitch of the words “same shit,” in order to add emphasis to these words. The emphasis created allows The Roots to sound more persuasive as he suggests that a person can in fact “get out of the shit” or mature as an individual, but he or she must take the initiative to do that. The Roots also encourages his audience to “do” what it takes to become a more free and responsible person. The Root’s technique of high pitch and emphasis adds value to his lyrical message, or social justice, that one cannot be misguided or manipulated by his or her surroundings. Everyone is capable of defying immoral norms that the children and the youth typically associate the society with, such as crime and other serious imperfections. However, individuals who do not follow The Root’s advice will allow the leader’s influence to impel them to make unfortunate decisions. Hook concurs with The Root’s stance about the political influence on one’s life decisions and offer sociological explanations of injustice acts such as murder of the women and war; however, they do not conduct any research on The Root’s additional argument that one can still overcome this influence. Millets explains that social injustices are mainly caused by two main reasons. UN-equalities may result from the inequalities in in the economic sector. The economic sector motivates the people to struggle in order to earn more and this can result to social injustices. The individuals can result in engaging themselves in illegal business that may make them to be arrested. This type of injustice can also make the youths to be easily influenced by the politicians into causing chaos in a society (Miller, 70). The second cause of social injustice in the society may emerge because of the difference in the merits of the claims. The people who have more merits as a result of their performance are worth more than those who have fewer merits due to their educational background, performance, and skills. He explains that the citizens consider that the gap that exists between the rich and the poor today is very broad. The amount of the bottom wage for people cannot be considered as the living wage and the level of money paid to the rich is too much (Miller, 71). The Roots explains the economic hardship faced by the people results from this environment may affect a person to commit crimes such as involving in drugs thus making an individual to jail. Innocent killing of women is one of the major social injustices that the roots talk about. This can be illustrated in the lyrics when he states that the mother of a boy is lying dead and the child life is high on the storm (Hugo, 87). There are usually disagreements that are produced by harsh sounds,the harsh sounds are as a result of disimar instruments on this predicament in the music.there are usually a high pitched sound of sa violin that do conflict with the heavy ones that are usually low pitched drums at the point.their roots do generate imbalance.their main aim is usually to expose the leaders that generate selfish characters.similar to the mix in the sound and the intensity along it is tha same way that majority of leaders do expose their selfish characters. The leaders do enjoy taking bread and butter without the consideration of the suffering people who are trying to a make a life along the ecomic hardship that they encounter everyday.the roots main subject was about the boys young age and their lack of morals which are said to be responsible in the act of enganging in unjustified behaviours.The highpoint of the song is when the boy’s mother is gone and the life of the boy is high in the storm. The boy is swept away by the riots. Throughout, the lyrics, the rhythm of the piano and drums is very repetitive. It is until this point that something different occurs to signal something important in the lyrics. The Roots final words and the ending musical sounds appropriately conclude the song by tying all the emotions together. He incorporates the theme of rhetorical question in his last words by asking himself if there was any nigga who is safe. At some point of the rapping, The Roots articulates arguments instead of the trueth concerning the current society.he explains a way in which people would become serious because the genre of his music is serious and contemplative instead of being enjoyous.the sounds used in the music utilizes the elements of the music such as the tone, tempo and the vocal instruments.the pitch is also used in a manner that is formulated to create emotions to the public and deliver his thoughts.bread and butter is considered to be a waking call to the current society especially the youths and the women. Works Cited Ananta, Aria, Mulyana Soekarni, and Syamsul Arifin. The Indonesian Economy: Entering a New Era. Jakarta: Bank Indonesia, 2011. Print. Clark, John. Worlds Apart: Civil Society and the Battle for Ethical Globalization. London: Earthscan, 2003. Print. Tweton, D J. The New Deal at the Grass Roots: Programs for the People in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988. Print. Hugo, Nancy R. Earth Works: Readings for Backyard Gardeners. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998. Print. Read More