My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: Part 2, Continued
In the previous medium post I talked about Kid Cudi’s part in “Gorgeous” by Kanye West. In this one I will be digging into Kanye’s verses and what they actually mean.
Take a look at these few lines by Kanye
Kanye uses “Jerome” as a stereotypical black man and “Brandon” as a stereotypical white man in this particular verse. If you put them together and get what “more time” means, you know what Kanye is talking about. If you didn’t catch it Kanye is talking about the infamous sentence disparity between races. I found this interesting quote when researching this topic and it is shocking. According to The Washington Post, “Black men who commit the same crimes as white men receive federal prison sentences that are, on average, nearly 20 percent longer, according to a new report on sentencing disparities from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC)”. Can you believe that 20 percent! If you think about it, a black man is getting 20 percent of his life, yes his life, taken away from him than in comparison with a white man. Kanye does a great job talking about these racial issues in “Gorgeous”. He also takes on another idea in the next line of the song that is very similar
And at the airport they check all through my bag
And tell me that it’s random
Kanye continues “with the theme of racial inequality” in this verse. In airports they have “random checks” ever since 9/11. Random checks are suppose to help provide safer airports for everyone. Instead as said in “Gorgeous” many people racially profile for random checks. According to “www.thrillist.com” it says that, “In the UK, ethnic minorities are 42% more likely than white people to be stopped at the airport by security personnel”. This is a huge problem. For someone to have to stop and go through a “random check” because they look middle eastern is a serious problem.
In “Gorgeous” Kanye tackles all the racial inequalities of our society. He talks about racially profiling people and sentencing disparities. Also towards the end, Raekwon, on of the artists featured in “Gorgeous” makes an appearance. He reminds the world to never give up on passions.
Towards the end all of the parts come together. It took me some time to realize this but all the parts I analyzed, somehow, come together to create an amazing song within this beautiful album. Especially Raekwon’s and Kid Cudi’s. If you recall Cudi’s verses talked about how badly they wanted fame. Then at the end of the song Raekwon mentioned to no never let go off your passion and keep on grinding. These come back to connect because you need to grind in order to get what you want.
In conclusion, “Gorgeous” was a great addition to the album that is much more than just a song. It is not only musically enriched, it also raises awareness for racial inequalities. It comes down to one of my favorite songs ever and holds a sentimental value to me.
