A Rhetorical Analysis Of Otherside By Macklemore
Benjamin Haggerty, or as many know him by “Macklemore”, is a rapper who uses his music as an outlet for reflection, to inform and instruct his listeners to make positive decisions. Today, in especially rap music, drugs are glorified. Teens are constantly exposed to misleading images of drugs from the media and can have a lasting impact their ideology. With every song, music video, or movie, a young teen is listening or watching something that persuades them to think a certain way. However, Macklemore instead advocates for his audience and urges them to avoid his past mistakes. Macklemore’s music video for his song, “Otherside” is effective in convincing his audience of the serious dangers of and the negative impact drugs have on one’s life. …show more content…
The title “Otherside” represents his past, or in other words, the destructive side of himself he is ashamed of. Macklemore begins by utilizing the third person for this song. This allows his audience to visualize and have a personal connection to this unknown character. The character of the song began by asking someone what they were drinking, and soon discovered it was “lean”. His first reaction to this was “That's the same stuff Weezy's sippin' huh?” “Weezy” is an allusion to Lil Wayne another famous rapper and lean is a popular mix of both cough syrup and Sprite soda. As mentioned, the famous have a great impact on the lives of their followers, and this is evident in his lyrics when the character associates this substance with Lil Wayne. The young are constantly poisoned by the negative influence of famous rappers. Drugs are displayed as a norm through many celebrities, but contrary to Lil Wayne, Macklemore understands the impact of his influence on innocent minds. He emphasizes this later when he reveals, “Us as rappers underestimate the power and the effects that we have on these kids.” This one line is straightforward and stresses the true fact that social lights should be wary of what they are promoting to young kids. Macklemore continues his allusion to Lil Wayne as he states, “Despite how Lil Wayne lives/It's not conducive to being creative… I was off that same mix.” Although Lil Wayne may think that his creativity arises from being high, Macklemore’s newfound sobriety reveals that drugs are not needed to create good music. This line was also when Macklemore first shifted to using the first person. The shift in point of view shows that even the famous are now beginning to understand how dangerous drugs really are. It is no longer just one’s parents and professionals trying to stress this, but it is now the rappers who started
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