1 Analysis of Prince Ea s Why I Think This World Should End Sarah Harp SUNY Fredonia Rhetoric and Criticism
2 Introduction In Price Ea s Why I Think This World Should End video he says, More people want 15 seconds of fame than a lifetime of meaning and purpose (Ea, 2014, stanza 3). The music video was published to YouTube on September 8, 2014. In this video, Prince Ea is trying to convince the millennial generation to change their ways through powerful language and examples of how the world has changed such as the quote above. The millennial generation refers to to individuals born between 1981 and 1997 (Bump). Prince Ea uses Feminine Style to demonstrate why the world needs to change. This essay will explore the historical context of the music video, Feminine Style, how Prince Ea uses Feminine Style to persuade his audience, and the implications of analyzing this artifact through feminine style. Historical Context Prince Ea is grew up on the north side of St. Louis in 2010 (Cox, 2011). He grew up disliking school and his parents even wondered if his poor performance in school was caused by a mental disability; however, rap music, which was banned from his home, became Ea s passion which in turn created a new found passion for education (Cox, 2011). Ea tends to create his music based on topics that mainstream media neglects to cover (Cox, 2011). Disliking school and wanting to rebel against his parents adds to Prince Ea s relatability as a rhetor with the millennial generation. Prince Ea was able to reach the millennial generation and have a positive effect on them. This specific video was only posted on YouTube, so the audience would be the people who use YouTube and saw this video. Since the target audience was the millennial generation, YouTube was a good place for this act to happen; 70% of the millennial generation logs on to YouTube at
3 least once a month (Klima, 2014). The audience seemed to like this act and had very positive comments toward the video. The video reached over 4 million views and a blogger that goes by the screen name accidentallyreflective wrote a post about the video which stated he says everything that I would want to say on these subjects, but more succinctly and effectively (accidentallyreflective, 2014). Since the video was only posted to YouTube, people without YouTube may not have seen it. There are still 30% of millennials that log onto YouTube less than once a month and possibly not at all. Moreover, just because the majority of millennials often go on YouTube, it does not mean that they saw this particular video; every minute there are over 100 hours of video uploaded to the site (Klima, 2014). YouTube is set up so videos similar to the ones you are watching pop up on the sidebar of the site. This means that only people who watch videos similar to Prince Ea s videos or people who were told about the video have seen it. Because of this, the video most likely did not reach the target population in its entirety. There are several several things in this world that could cause people not to practice what Prince Ea says in this song. He says, it s easier to find a Big Mac than an Apple. Prince Ea is saying that we should be eating the apple instead; however, Laura Donnelly says, eating healthy cost three times as much as consuming unhealthy food (Donnelly, 2014, para. 1). Since fast food is so accessible and cheap, people are likely to choose that over healthier, more expensive food. Feminine Style Feminine style consists of five different characteristics that are used within a rhetorical act. These characteristics are an inductive structure, personal tone, addressing the audience as
4 peers, personal experiences, and empowering the audience. Through the five characteristics of feminine style, critics are able to identify and assess the persuasiveness of a rhetorical act. Feminine style persuades an audience by using intimacy and lengthy, tentative remarks (Levasseur, Sawyer, & Kopacz, 2011). In suffrage movements, the feminine style of rhetoric was used successfully to persuade a male audience who had more power than the women speaking (Hayden, 1999). Rhetoricians can use this style to persuade a powerful audience that consists of agents of change. Feminine style is a good choice for analyzing this music video because Prince Ea demonstrates all five of the characteristics of the style. The reason behind this video is to empower the audience with the use of common experience and personal tone. Analyzing the video and lyrics through this style will be beneficial because it will show how Prince Ea was able to connect with his audience through this song and the use of feminine theory. Prince Ea uses the five characteristics of feminist theory to overcome the challenge of connecting with an audience. By using the characteristics, Prince Ea was able to create a relationship with his audience and empower them. Analysis Prince Ea structured his song inductively by providing stories and situations from American society throughout the song, which then leads to a conclusion of what changes need to happen in the country. Inductive structure can be described as the rhetor using stories or specific situations to create a narrative that later leads to a conclusion (Levasseur, Sawyer, & Kopacz, 2011). Prince Ea opens the song by saying the world is coming to an end (Ea, 2014, stanza 1).
5 He then goes on to talk about polluted air, corrupt police, and lying politicians (Ea, 2014, stanzas 1, 4). One specific story, or piece of information Prince Ea shares is, i t s easier to find a Big Mac than an apple a nd when you find the apple it's been genetically processed and modified (Prince Ea, 2014, stanza 4). These parts of the song demonstrate the creation of a narrative through stories. Prince Ea also draws a conclusion based on these stories, when he says so yes, the world is coming to an end and the path to a new beginning starts within you (Ea, 2014, stanza 15). These two aspects, the narrative and the conclusion, are what makes this song organized inductively. Formatting an artifact this way allows the reader to process what is being said. By having the beginning and the end of this style connect and relate to one another, the audience is able to have examples that proves that the conclusion is true. In this case, the examples of how the world is corrupt shows that the conclusion of the world needing to change is accurate. Having examples before telling people what they should do also gives your conclusion credibility. Prince Ea uses personal tone throughout the song by speaking about certain topics with emotion. Personal tone can be described as, the rhetor speaking to the audience with empathy and emotion (Levasseur, Sawyer, & Kopacz, 2011). Although it may be hard to find a lot of empathy and emotion in the words themselves, it is seen when he performs the piece. In the
6 beginning of the piece, Prince Ea is sitting down, but there are certain points when he stands up and/or uses hand movement. During these times, he is doing this to emphasize his point. This is the same as personal tone because the use of movement and the action of standing up shows the rhetor is passionate or emotional about that statement in particular. The first time we see this is when Prince Ea talks about technology. While sitting down, Prince Ea says technology has given us everything we could ever want and then he stands up and opens his arms to say, and at the same time stoen everything we really need (Prince Ea, 2014, 1:26). Prince Ea holds his hands out, puts them down, and look right into the camera when he says these words. These actions show that Prince Ea really cares about what he is saying. There is another point where he says, o ur role models today 60 years ago would have been examples of what not to be while he is sitting down while he is rubbing his temples (Prince Ea, 2014, 2:02). This shows emotion because you can see how upset this topic make him by observing his body language. Using a personal tone helps the audience pick up on what points are the most important. It also shows the audience how passionate the rhetor is about the topic. Throughout the song, Prince Ea addresses the audience as equal to himself, or as peers. This characteristic of feminine style can be described as the rhetor addressing the audience as peers with the use words such as we or us (Levasseur, Sawyer, & Kopacz, 2011; Hayden, 1999). There are numerous times where Prince Ea uses this type of language and unites himself
7 with Americans by saying we. Throughout the 15 stanzas, Prince Ea uses the word we 20 times and the word us five times. One particular moment when Prince Ea uses the word we is when he says, we pass each other on the streets and if we do speak it's meaningless robotic communication (Prince Ea, 2014, stanza 2). A time he uses us is when he says, presidents lie, politicians trick us (Prince Ea, 2014, stanza 4). Using these words allows the audience to relate with Prince Ea. He is saying that he is not better than his audience; he is telling them that he is also tricked by politicians, which puts him on the same level as his audience. This method shows that he is similar to his audience, which makes him relatable. Prince Ea uses real life examples and personal experience in this song. Using personal experiences in a narrative is another way feminine style is characterized. It is described as the use of personal testimonies in a rhetorical act connects the rhetor with the audience (Levasseur, Sawyer, & Kopacz, 2011; Johnson, 2005). This song is based off of real life experience and we can assume that Prince Ea has experiences these things either firsthand or through someone he knows, especially when he uses the words we and us. Prince Ea says, there are states where people can legally be discriminated against because they were born a certain way (Prince Ea, 2014, stanza 8). Although Price Ea may not have been personally discriminated against, he
8 knows this to be true because he lives in the United States. He uses this knowledge as personal experience because he knows it happens due to his proximity to the discrimination. He also is drawing from personal experience when he says 92% of songs on the radio are about sex, kids don t play tag, they play twerk videos, the average person watches 5 hours of television a day and it's more violence on the screen than ever before (Prince Ea, 2014, stanza 5). Although this statement uses statistics, Prince Ea is drawing from trends he has witnessed to show the audience what the world has become. This tool is used to connect an audience with the rhetor and to make the rhetor reliable. This song has a very empowering message through talking directly to the audience. According to the feminine style, the fifth characteristic, and goal of a rhetor, is to empower the audience by inviting audience participation (Levasseur, Sawyer, & Kopacz, 2011). Prince Ea invites his audience to help change the world and then he tells them how they can do that. He first invites the audience to participate when he says, So what can we do in the face of all of this madness and chaos (Prince Ea, 2014, stanza 10). By using the word we, Prince Ea invites the audience by telling them that they can help change the world. After posing the above question to his audience, he says you can love, love each other from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed. Perform an act of kindness because that is contagious (Prince Ea, 2014, stanzas 10 11). Here, instead of using we, the rhetor uses
9 the word you. Using you instead of we makes the audience feel like he is speaking directly to each audience member individually. He uses you again at the end of the song when he says, so yes, the world is coming to an end and the path towards a new beginning starts within you (Prince Ea, 2014, stanza 15). Here, the rhetor ends on the word you, leaving the audience with the thought of themselves being able to make a change in the world. It is important to note that Prince Ea does not use the word you when he is talking about what people do wrong, he only uses you to tell the people they can help make a change. If you was used in the part of the song when he was talking about society s wrongdoings, the audience would feel like they are being blamed or called out, which would make them less likely to try and make a change. Inviting audience participation is used to make the audience feel as though they can help. If an audience feels like they can actually do something about a problem, they are more likely to try and solve it. Implications Prince Ea s song gives new insight to the feminine style of rhetoric. People may have assume that using a personal tone meant that the rhetor had to speak in a certain tone or use specific words that may be know as empathetic. Through the analysis of Why I Think This World Should End, a new aspect of personal tone was found. Now artifacts with a visual component can be analyzed by looking at the movement of the rhetor. Prince Ea created a personal tone by conveying emotion through standing up and the use of hand movements. There were several occasions when Prince Ea would stand, wag his finger, or just move his arms around. These were the aspects of the song/video that gave off the most emotion. Artifacts can
10 now be analyzed by using this form of body language to analyze personal tone through the feminine style of rhetoric. Analyzing this song through feminine style is important in the real world. Since songs are all around us, it is important to know how the rhetor us using rhetoric to persuade their audience. This can be done using an array of theories including feminine style. It is always good for the general public to know the different styles rhetors used in order to persuade because it makes someone less likely to be tricked. Feminine style puts an emphasis on making sure there are examples to back up the rhetor s conclusion. This is good for an audience to know because if a song or other artifact does not have examples to back it up it probably is not a very good piece of rhetoric. An audience should be aware of why a rhetor is making a conclusion; if there are not any examples given, why should an audience believe the conclusion? This, in turn, tells people that if they want to create a piece of rhetoric, they should provide examples before giving their audience a conclusion. Analyzing this artifact through feminine style is important for the academic community as well. Feminine style has not been used to analyze a YouTube video before. By analyzing Prince Ea s song, feminine style can be seen in a new light. Feminine style has been used to analyze a lot of speeches and essays, but these artifacts do not have a visual or musical component. Feminine style can be used in the future to analyze music videos based on body language alongside what is being said. In the future, personal tone might also be used to analyze the music in the background of the words. Although it was not talked about in this essay, artists choose the music that goes behind the lyrics for a reason. Feminine style could be used to
11 analyze aspects of the reasoning behind music choice someday along with further analysis on body language in an artifact. Conclusion This music video was analyzed using feminine style because it demonstrated all five components of the theory: inductive structure, personal tone, addressing the audience as peers, personal experiences, and empowering the audience. Prince Ea created this artifact to persuade his audience that the world needs to change and that his audience can help change it. Analyzing Why I Think This World Should End with feminine style was effective because Prince Ea was able to create a relationship with his audience by using the five components of the style. In light of the information presented, consider looking at rhetorical music in more depth by looking at how the artist is trying to persuade his/her audience.
12 Works Cited Accidentallyreflective. (2014, Oct. 26). Why I think this world should end Prince Ea. Retrieved from http://accidentallyreflective.com/2014/10/26/why i think this world should end prince ea/ Bump, P. (2015 Jan. 20). There are already more #millennials than boomers depending on how you define millennial. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the fix/wp/2015/01/20/there are already more mi llennials than boomers depending on how you define millennial/ Cox, C. (2011, OCt. 12). Prince Ea s Make Smart Cool movement picks up stream. Riverfront Times. Retrieved from http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/prince eas make smart cool movement picks upsteam/content?oid=2496271 Donnelly, L. (2014, Oct. 8). Healthy diet costs three times that of junk food. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/prince eas make smart cool movement picks upsteam/content?oid=2496271 Ea, P. (2014). Why I Think This World Should End. Retrieved from http://genius.com/prince ea why i think this world should end lyrics Ea, P. [Prince Ea]. (2014, Sept. 8). Why I think this world should end [Video file].
13 Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itvnq2qb4yc Hayden, S. (1999). Negotiating femininity and power in the early twentieth century west: Domestic ideology and feminine style in Jeannette Rankin s suffrage rhetoric. Communication Studies, 50(2), 83. Klima, J. (2014, Aug. 18). Forbes list of 20 YouTube statistics show YouTube s reach. New Media Rockstars. Retrieved from http://newmediarockstars.com/2014/08/forbes list of 20 youtube statistics shows youtub es reach/ Levasseur, D. G., Sawyer, J. K., & Kopacz, M. A. (2011). The intersection between deep moral frames and rhetorical style in the struggle over U.S. immigration reform. Communication Quarterly, 59(5), 547 568. doi:10.1080/01463373.2011.614210