Run This Town

        If one looks closely at the lyrics of Run This Town by Jay-Z one may notice a quite interesting story. Overall the song tells the audience that they, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Rihanna, are taking over. It also tells stories about their lifestyles. In the beginning of the song Rihanna knows that something big or chaotic is about to happen and she can sense it. She is not scared, in fact she is going to be a part of the chaos. She asks the question "Who's gonna run this town tonight?" and Jay-Z answers her saying "We are. Yeah, I said it: We are! This is Roc Nation...". This line is perhaps the most important line in the song. With this line Jay-Z lets the world know that Roc Nation is taking over. In this song the word town is used as a metaphor for the music industry. The way he said it shows that he knows without a doubt that their attempt to take over will be successful. One may say he was being a bit cocky. Throughout Jay-Z's first verse he advises everyone to join them and informs people of the characteristics of Roc Nation's members and lets us know that Roc Nation is like his family. ("All black everything"). The girlfriends and wives of the Roc Nation members are compared to blackbirds. This does not mean they are like birds that are black. Instead, it is saying that they are dedicated to their men in a way that some may call "ride or die". But Jay-Z did not want to give anymore information about Roc Nation until people proved that they were worthy enough to receive it.
        "Life's a game but it's not fair. I break the rules so I don't care. So I keep doing my own thing, walking tall against the rain. Victory's within the mile. Almost there, don't give up now." Life is being compared to a game where most of the players are cheating, bending the rules, and even breaking them. She does not care because she is one of those who cheat and break the rules. Rihanna does not follow the crowd nor does she care about what others think of her. She is doing whatever she has to do to get where she wants to be. Roc Nation has almost completely taken over so they are going to go even harder now that they are closer to victory.
        "You can call me Caesar...". Jay-Z says so much in this line. He is comparing himself to Caesar, one who's most famous quote is "Veni. Vidi. Vinci." (which means I came. I saw. I conquered.). He is letting us know that not only is he the leader but that he and Roc Nation has taken over. They have conquered the music industry. In the rest of this verse Jay-Z teases his competition for thinking that they are competition. He lets them know that are not competition at all and they will never be as good as Roc Nation.
        Although Kanye West's verse is like the rest of the song in many ways, it is also very different. At the start of the verse he makes it known that it is a big difference between his lifestyle and the lifestyle of the average person. He also tells us that his whole family deserves fast and expensive cars instead of normal cars such as volvos. By family he could mean his relatives or he could mean Roc Nation because Jay-Z also called Roc Nation his family in a previous verse. "Police escorts, everybody passports. This the life that everybody ask for." Here Kanye is stressing the status of him and Roc Nation members. They are so important that they are escorted by police. He also lets us know that he is living the good life, the life that everybody wants. "This the fast life, we are on a crash course." They are living life with no regrets, doing whatever they want to do, and doing what they have to do to make sure their life is as good as life gets because they know that whether you enjoy life or not it is going to end. Throughout the rest of the verse Kanye tells us that he could have just settled for a normal lifestyle but instead he chose to rap so that he could make money, flaunt it, and live the lifestyle that he wants. He knows that if he keeps showing out he is only going to attract gold diggers but he does not care because all he wants is sex. At the end Kanye again begins to talk about Roc Nation's status and the fact that they are running things. "You trippin' when you ain't sippin', have a refill. You feeling like you run it, huh? Now you know how we feel.". When people get drunk it may make them feel like they are on top of the world. Here Kanye is saying that the feeling you get when you are drunk is how they feel all the time. They do not have to drink or anything because they have taken over. Roc Nation has taken over and is indeed "running this town".
     

From Flappers to Rappers

        The Article "From Flappers to Rappers" was very interesting and I enjoyed reading it. The Article is about the soundtrack to the movie The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby was set in the 1920's , the era of jazz music. Audiences expected the soundtrack to consist of only traditional 1920's jazz but instead it consisted of a blend of contemporary music and traditional jazz. The notion to blend modern day hip-hop and jazz came from Luhrman after meeting Jay-Z. The two men wanted to old and new. This seemed to be a good idea because the movie and hip-hop share a lot of characteristics. These characteristics include money, power, sex and violence. It also allows the audience to visualize the past through modern beats.
        The mood of the music affects the mood of the movie in many different ways. First of all, the mood of the music intensifies the mood of the movie. The music gives the scenes of The Great Gatsby just the right amount of drama. In some scenes the mood of the music makes the mood of the movie more dramatic. There are some instances where the music reflects the mood of the movie perfectly. An example of this would be the song "Young and Beautiful" to reflect the unfortunate romance between Gatsby and Daisy. This mirrors the artist's persona. Also, Jay-Z's song "100$ Bill" affects the mood of the movie in all the right ways because a particular scene from The Great Gatsby inspired the song itself. It is almost like the song was pulled directly out of the movie.
       The movie The Great Gatsby adds a new spin to the music because the story gives audiences a new interpretation of the lyrics. Also, the movie is set in the 1920's when jazz was the most popular genre of music. Because of this each song is modern day music but with a hint of jazz. This gives the music a unique sound and makes it more interesting because it is not typical contemporary music.
        The unexpected music adds a few great things to the movie. This blend of contemporary music and 1920's jazz gives the movie extra excitement. It could give the viewers the idea that maybe this movie is not gonna be predictable. The unexpected music highlights the most important scenes of the movie and makes the audience look deep into the components of the scenes. The lyrics may draw attention to certain parts of a particular scene or the entire movie.  Also, the music makes the movie perfect for 2013 as well as the 1920's. This music was definitely a successful rhetorical choice and it fits in with the mood of the movie.
     

Process and Product / Invention and Arrangement

        This writing process allows writers to be more creative. Instead of trying to create a perfect first draft writers just need to get some ideas down on paper. The writer does not have to begin with the introductory paragraph, instead, they can begin anywhere and arrange the paragraphs later. This helps prevent writer's block. It also tells writers not to delete their draft with each edit but to save each draft. Also, do not worry about grammar and spelling, write in the way that is best for you. After you have put all of your ideas on paper and corrected grammar and spelling errors (near the final stage) the essay will fall into place. The essay will more than likely be better than it would have been if the writer had followed a more traditional writing process.