ENG 2150 Gimme Shelter: the spaces we live in

The City I will be choosing in New Rochelle. New Rochelle is unique for it houses all kinds of people of various racial and socio-economic backgrounds. It’s diversity is reflected in the student composition in it’s high school (New Rochelle High School) which is made up of the extremely rich and the very poor. It’s student body consists of blacks, hispanics, whites and asians. It is diverse even it it’s own neighborhoods. And remember, New Rochelle is in Westchester County, the area highlighted in blue. It is NOT UPSTATE.

George Simmel’s “The Metropolis and Mental Life” places much emphasis on individuals and individualism of metropolis residents. He talks a lot about time and money and those things really are important to city life because in order to do anything in the city you need money. Time is also extremely important as everything runs on a schedule. The trains and buses arrive at certain periods of time and if you want to make that train or bus you have to be at the stop on time. However, one thing that Simmel pointed out was that the development of an individual is by internal and external stimuli. I believe that this has to do with different cultures inside of the city. The city is truly a diverse place with all kinds of people with all kinds of different backgrounds. The New York Metropolitan area could even be considered a melting pot when it comes to culture. In my opinion, the external stimuli is the exposure to the different cultures and ideas and the exposure to these cultures help shape likes and dislikes. In the city there is always a group that has the same interests as you, you simply have to look and find them. For example,  I like competitive gaming, so since I have the grand city in the palm of my hand, I can seek out like minded individuals and we can associate with one another. Same goes for anybody else whether they be classical music enthusiasts or perhaps comic book fans. With the exposure to different cultures and niches, one can develop themselves according to the culture or niche they subscribe to and become a true individual, yet part of an ever growing community.

Kanye West – The One ft. Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Marsha Ambrosius (Cruel Summer)

This has to be my favorite song off the album Cruel Summer by Kanye West. The piano in the instrumental along with the hook by Marsha Ambrosius really brings the song together in my opinion. I’ll only discuss some of the hook and the first verse by Kanye. The song starts out with some piano and goes directly into the hook with Ambrosius singing “The storm is on the horizon, I’m standing here alone.” This immediately refers to Kanye’s views on his position in the game of rap music. He feels as if he is alone at the top. Who is there to challenge him and his label G.O.O.D Music? As the hook continues,  it conveys messages of self-importance and being willing to rise to any challenge or challenger. Kanye’s verse in particular helps illustrate the stream of consciousness that I find in rap music. His verse contains allusions to the Bible, pop-culture, celebrities, the enslavement of debt. All of this is done through some slick wordplay and the wordplay shows how rap music is associative. To cite a few examples: Kanye says: “Yeah, I’m the one, baby since God gave his only begotten son, baby” this is a Biblical allusion as here Kanye seems to be referring to himself as the new or the next Jesus Christ. As he continues he says “You on a run, baby.” I think that this refers to the race of life that we all must run in. The rat race if you will. Many people are always chasing after their false idols or unreal goals. He goes on to say “You think you free but you a slave to the funds, baby.” This can easily refers to the trap and enslavement of debt. Kids take out 100,000 dollar loans to go to prestigious universities to be “free” as in, not under the rules and regulations of their parents but only to be enslaved to the debt that they incurred over the course of four years. It can also refer to credit card debt and people love the freedom to buy whatever they’d like, whenever they’d like but they they begin to drown in debt. His verse continues: “We on a galaxy that haters cannot visit, That’s my reality so get off my Scott Disick, If you ever held a title belt you would know how Michael felt, Tyson, Jackson, Jordan – Michael Phelps.” Here Kanye puts himself on a completely different level. He says that he is unreachable as he is on another galaxy. Perhaps this refers to the hook of the song? And in the rest of the quote the slick wordplay comes in once again. That’s my reality seems to refer to the reality show Keeping up with the Kardashians and since Kanye and Kim are dating, Kanye has been on the show multiple times with none other than Scott Disick. There’s also the saying “Get off my dick” which is commonly used in rap music and the play on the name Scott Disick helps keep common rap phraseology and introduce a new twist. Then he lists the Michaels or champions of the world.

The Stream of Consciousness refers to our conscious and how it is not static. Rather, our consciousness is dynamic and always moving and flowing like a stream, hence the name “Stream of Consciousness.” I believe this song is able to bring out how rap music represents the stream of consciousness. With all the wordplay and the associative nature of the song, it shows why our consciousness is in fact like that stream. Because we are able to understand all these allusions as they are presented to us, there are a ton of word associations we make in a matter of seconds. This illustrates how our conscious is dynamic. How could we understand  this song or songs like these if we could only be focused on one thing at any given time? It is the Stream of Consciousness and our collective memories and experiences that allow us to put all the pieces of the lyrical puzzle together and enjoy the music and all the wordplay that comes along with it.