Analysis of the Lyrics of Where is the Love by Black Eyed Peas - Term Paper Example

Analysis of the Lyrics of Where is the Love by Black Eyed Peas Introduction The Black Eyed Peas is an American hip hop group formed in 1995 in Los Angeles, California. The group consists of four members, three rappers; Will.i.am, Taboo and Apl.de.ap and a singer Fergie. At the time of the group’s formation, gangster rap was in its prime and was the most influential style of hip hop in Los Angeles. Gangster rap focused mainly on crime, police brutality, drugs and gang violence in California. The Black Eyed Peas however chose to do conscious hip hop, performing using a live band. This hip hop style was mainly popular on the East Coast having been popularized by groups such as The Roots. Given it’s preferences for performing with a live band, the group was mainly considered to be an alternative hip hop group before embracing other musical genres such as RnB, dance and Pop Music exerting a great influence in the music industry in the recent years. Most of their works have had a lot of influence from electronic music which was mainly used on the group’s most recent album, The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies). A bulk of the group’s production is handled by Will.i.am. Despite being formed in 1995, the group rose to prominence in 2003 with their critically acclaimed album, Elephunk. This was the group’s third album and which saw them find an international following as well as achieving massive success from the huge album sales. The group has maintained the spotlight ever since then and according to Nielsen SoundScan, the group has the second best sales for downloaded tracks in the US. The single “Where is the love?” was released in 2003 as the lead single from their Elephunk album. Upon its release, the single topped charts in thirteen countries across Europe and the US, including in the UK where it remained at number one for seven weeks and went on to be the best selling single in Britain in 2003. The song “where is the love?” was written by the Black Eyed Peas with significant support from John Fair and Justin Timberlake, who also sun the chorus to the song although he neither appears in the song’s video nor is he acknowledged as a guest artist. Justin Timberlake remained as a “Ghost writer” for the song because his record company did not want this song to interfere with the sales of his album, Justified, that had just been released. He is rumored to have written the chorus of the song after listening to the song via a phone. The idea for the song came to Will.i.am after he had heard so much about negative things in the society such as discrimination, hypocrisy, gang violence, and terrorism. The song has been noted for its social commentary and its positive message, issues with lack in most songs played on the radio these days. The song invites people to critically think about the ills that are happening in the society and urges people to take up more responsibility for their own lives. The lyrics of the song plead for societal healing and speak against misinformation and displaying negative images in the media. “Where is the love?” addresses issues of social injustice and lack of social cohesion in the American society as a result of racism and discrimination. The song insinuates that the cause of all these negativity in the society is a result of a lack of love among people, hence the question Where is the love? Process The song consists of three verses performed by rappers Will.i.am, Taboo and Apl.de.ap with additional vocals from singer Stacy Ferguson, widely known by her stage name ‘Fergie’. The song’s hook repeats after every verse and is performed by Fergie. The hook is made up of three parts; the first part begins with the lyrics “People killin', people dyin', Children hurt and you hear them cryin', Can you practice what you preach, and would you turn the other cheek.”This part talks about violence that has led to many people dying, children becoming victims and also addresses issues of hypocrisy by asking people to ‘practice what the preach’. The second part of the hook is much more like a prayer requesting for Divine Guidance from the Heavenly Father with the following words. “Father, Father, Father help us, Send us some guidance from above, 'Cause people got me, got me questioning'”. The last part of the hook features the question ‘Where is the love?’ repeated four times. The first verse is performed by Will.i.am who adds some of the most conscious lyrics to the song addressing several issues such as terrorism, gang violence, and discrimination. He begins by questioning the events that are happening in the society, describing them as dramatic and leading to trauma. He then talks about the highly publicized war on terrorism that led to the US government launching war on Iraq in 2003, the same year that the song was released. He suggests that the real terrorists are in America, hence no need to go overseas to look for them. He suggests that the government should focus on clearing the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on terrorism and address the menace brought about by gangs such as the Bloods, CRIPS and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), he goes ahead to rap, “Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism, But we still got terrorists here livin', In the USA, the big CIA, The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK.” He proceeds to discuss racism and how it breeds hatred. Will.i.am finishes up his verse by urging people to “Take control of your mind and meditate” and “Let your soul gravitate to the love” The second verse, performed by Taboo, discusses the issues of war and use of crude weapons such as bombs and chemicals to kill innocent people. He questions the morals of the society where people are mostly concerned with making more money at the expense of loving each other. He uses the term ‘dividends’ to describe the profit motive of most people in the world today. ‘Dividends’ is a slang word one’s earnings. Taboo insists that in order for there to be love I the society, people have to be told the truth, especially about the War on Iraq, which he says ” the reason's undercover.” The last verse is performed by Apl.de.ap who also questions people’s selfishness and money mindedness. He also speaks about misinformation from the media which keeps on showing negative images which he says affect the minds of young children because “Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema.” He urges the society to exercise equality and fairness and to be more united. Context In 2003, the year this was released, America was just recovering from the terrorist attack that rocked the country on 9th September 2001, commonly referred to as the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon. These attacks were followed by a War on terror spearheaded by the American government and backed up by the UN Security Council. The war on terror saw attacks on the Asian countries of Afghanistan and Iraq in search of terrorists believed to have orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. This war led to many innocent people dying in Iraq including civilian residents and American soldiers. Most Americans objected to the war because it was an expensive cost to the government, and it led to loss of too many lives. Other Americans believed that the media was not reporting accurately the facts of the war and that the government was not sincere in its reasons to champion for the war. Government leaders were viewed as hypocrites for preaching peace and supporting the war at the same time. The period between 2001 and 2003 saw a lot of discrimination in America, more specifically religious discrimination where members of the Islamic religion were discriminated against as being terrorists. There was also a reemergence of racial segregation that was predominant in the 1960s leading to a lot of disunity in the society. Everyone became self centered and money became the most important thing to have so as to fight the impending recession as a result of hiking oil prices resulting from the war on terror. With this kind of unrest in the society, gangs seized the opportunity to recruit more youths who were disillusioned with the system and begun terrorizing communities. At this time there were already calls from certain people that Americans should become more united, hence the need to stop discrimination and end the fears of terrorism as well as ending the war in Iraq and returning the American soldiers back home. The American Hip hop group, reading from the existing situation in the country and by extension the whole world, saw that all these illnesses were as a result of a lack of love. Among the many issues that contributed to this lack of love are misinformation from the media, and lack of cohesion. The group decided to record the song “where is the love?” so as to call for people to reflect on the events happening in the society and meditate on the best way to live as a more unified community. The song was also used as a stage to question some of the issues such as the motives behind the war in Iraq, negative images displayed in the media among other issues. The song was warmly welcomed by the masses who awarded the song with Record of the Year and Best Rap Song Collaboration at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004. The song acted as a positive force at a time when political turmoil tarnished the livelihood of many people. The United States launching war on Iraq resulted in political unrest that urged writers of the song to discuss worldwide problems such as terrorism, racism, and war. The emotional stress as a result of the war in Iraq triggered many artistic expressions that empowered the populations and gave them the means to voice their opinions against the governments’ hypocrisy. In the first verse, the Black Eyed Peas expose this hypocrisy by describing the United States failed domestic attempts to promote peace, meanwhile, exhausting efforts overseas. “Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism/But we still got terrorists here livin'/In the USA, the big CIA/The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK.” Furthermore, this verse also raises awareness by comparing the CIA to the KKK, The Bloods, and The Crips, which are intolerant groups of people who promote racial discrimination and instill terror, whereas, the CIA should promote peace by protecting people regardless of race. For a decade, terrorist attacks have become a frequent occurrence that inevitably destabilizes society and has, unfortunately, become a less shocking event in people’s minds. A series of terrorist attacks that started in 2003 provoked more acts of violence which enabled insurgents to express their anger towards the hypocritical regimes. These events have affected the youth that are increasingly becoming corrupt in a world that has shown them no mercy. Two verses in the song, ‘Where is the Love”, clearly portrays this sad reality. One verse claims that we are hurting our youngsters by putting their health at risk and hearing their cries, yet, this has not been a strong motif for people to stop the violent wrong doings that have more repercussions on our loved ones, “People killin', people dyin'/ Children hurt and you hear them cryin'. Even though these acts are detrimental, the society is ready, and in the process of, sacrificing the next generation without any remorse; “Nations droppin' bombs/Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones/With ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young/So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone” Framework By the time The Black Eyed Peas were recording this song, they had changed their style a little bit so as to appeal to a wide audience. This was very important given the message in the song that was meant to be for every American and anyone in any other society that faced similar issues. The song followed the same conscious lyrics that the group had used in their first two albums, raising many issues in the society. The title of the song was chosen very carefully to highlight the main theme of the song, which was to encourage people to love one another, reflect on other social ills, and work together as a community to rectify these social problems and injustices. The title of the song forms a very fundamental part of the chorus and is repeated four times to lay emphasis on the main theme of the song. The song’s lyrics form a familiar format of most rap lyrics which feature a lot of rhymes, slang, shortened phrases, metaphors, and other poetic features such as biblical allusion. The hip hop community is much more likely to relate to these lyrics. Other people can also follow the lyrics with a lot of ease due to their simplicity. The language used in the song is much more respectful unlike most hip hop songs that feature a lot of cursing. The song’s lyrics appeal to the young and the old, the religious and the non religious in the same way. Production The song was coproduced by Will.i.am and Ron Fair. It represents a significant shift from the sound and production style used by the Black Eyed Peas on their two preceding albums. The song’s production assumes a more radio friendly sound that would easily be acceptable to the mainstream audience. The previous singles by the group had a much harder underground hip hop production that was not readily acceptable in the mainstream. After being persuaded by A&R executive Ron Fair to adopt a more mainstream sound, Will.i.am went and created a drum loop and added a guitar part to it. He liked the instrumental and passed it to his colleagues Taboo and apl.de.ap, who also liked it and wrote their lyrics to the song. Upon hearing the song, Justin Timberlake also liked it and recorded the chorus. When Fergie joined the group, she also recorded some vocals for the chorus. Conclusion By switching their style to a more mainstream sound, the Black Eyed Peas were able to reach out to so many people with the message of their song. The song ended up being their first hit single, charting at number one in various countries across the world. The single also propelled them to the international scene and became one of the group’s best selling single. The other fact that made the song more appealing to so many people was the fact that its lyrics were great. The lyrics are simple and understandable. The artists’ performances on the song are also great as they deliver their lyrics effectively. Work Cited Black Eyed Peas: Where is the love? Songfact. Web. Available at: http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3301 retrieved on 7th July 2013. Read More