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Shane Hennessey
Raman
CAS 137 H
7 October 2015
Trayvon Martin is now a household name, he has been made a symbol of the
racism and hate that is still believed to exist in America. Trayvon Martin, as well as
Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice, who were all killed by policemen, were at
the forefront of the media in attempt to shed light on the apparent police brutality and
police stereotyping issue (Sanchez). In a stark contrast, you would have an extremely
difficult time finding similar symbols for the issue of black on black violence that plagues
many areas of the country. An online article, written by Pete Papaherakles on
Americanfreepress.net, reports during the last thirty-five years over 300,000 deaths have
occurred due to black on black violence. Lack of public attention and lack of public
concern make black on black violence a never-ending issue. Musical performer
Chancelor Bennett, or better known as Chance the Rapper, was born and raised in the
south side of Chicago and his successful career as a rapper is very much attributed to
Chicagos home town love and how much attention he got coming up from his
community. Chancelor does not forget his roots and stands as a major figure working
with the city and bringing attention to issues with some of his songs. Chancelor Bennetts
song Pushaman/Paranoia is a rap that successfully shows the bleak life of kids in the
Chicago area who face drug dealers and extreme violence everyday. The song explains
the troubling circumstances they deal with, the unbeneficial mindset of the community,
and the lack of help and concern from the public. Chance the rapper uses the modern
black culture outlet of rap to successfully draw attention to the violent areas in America.
Similarly, a political cartoon on U.S. News and World Reports website, that

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displays a scene of a graveyard that has one gravestone with Trayvon martin written on
it and a large majority of the gravestones with Black on Black Crime Victim written on
them, sheds light on how attention is being wrongly focused on a small scale issue and
the major issue of black on black violence is being dismissed. Both of these civic artifacts
make important appeals to the public regarding the same issue, black on black crime
victims are given no face value or attention by the public and just become another one of
the many check marks in a statistic column.
The song will be analyzed first and how it successfully spreads Chance the
Rappers message that many communities are being abandoned and overlooked.
Chancelor puts his public attention and loyal fan base to good use, using his music
platform to reach a very large audience. He uses tone, tempo, allusions, and wordplay to
create an image in the audiences mind that provides insight into Chance the Rappers
views, the publics views, and the views of someone dealing with the citys issues.
Chance the Rapper brings ethos and appeals to his credibility by being able to show he
has first hand experience with the citys turmoil. Even without knowledge of him being
from Chicago, He includes himself in the issues with the choice of perspective he is
rapping in. Ive been riding aroundparanoia on my mindthey deserted us
here Chance wisely choses to not just talk about the issues but he ties them to himself
with the use of pronouns in the first person (Bennett). The audience and listener can pick
up on the direct impact the issue has on Chancelor, the love he feels for his city, and the
emotion he has exhausted to produce this song.
Chance the Rappers self-described literary knack allows for the rap to be
listened to more, loved more, and eventually understood better (Bennett). If Chancelor

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were not such a skilled lyricist the song would not be as popular as it is and would not
reach the full audience that Chancelor intended. The dynamic tone and tempo
demonstrated throughout the song assist the lyrics imagery and deepens the
understanding in the audiences head. The hook is the part of a song that repeats
throughout the piece to make the song appealing to the listener, Chance not only uses the
hook to make the song more enjoyable but the specific imagery, tempo, and tone chosen
serves as a reminder of the main motif of the song. In the hook, Chance describes the
scene as stressful and shows how people are not thinking straight due to the fear of
violence. Blunt on my lips showing that his mind is impaired, sun in my eyes
showing he cant see or think straight, and gun on my hip, paranoia on my mind, got my
mind on the fritz showing he is armed and not in the right frame of mind due to his fear
(Bennett). Along with the direct message in the lyrics, the reflective and scared tone, and
the slow and confused rhythm that he uses adds to the message and increases the effect.
Different from the hook, the verses of the song have a faster tempo and a frantic
and louder tone. This helps to show the audience that this is not one of Chances typical
rap songs with a lighter side and that are usually about partying and/or girls. Though the
verses have pretty much the same tone and tempo, Chance explains a different
perspective and shows different issues in each verse. He explains the undesirable living
conditions, the extreme availability of guns, and lack of community support and
protection. He points out the violent mindset of the city and makes appeals for the people
to be more accepting of each other, as well as shows his own resolve and commitment to
his city and its future improvement.

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In another display of his literary ability, Chance the Rapper uses allusions as a
rhetorical tool to use the listeners prior knowledge in his message. He alludes to popular
media figures, Matt Lauer and Katie Couric, saying They deserted us here. The absence
of these lighthearted news figures shows that the networks would rather get viewers than
inform the public on a dire issue like the struggles of living in Chicago. He also uses
allusions of a well-known movie, The Matrix, as well as The Bible. He says Ill take you
to the land, where the lake made of sand, and the milk dont pour, and the honey dont
dance, and the money aint yours, this is an allusion to The Book of Exodus in which the
paradise of Israel was described as a land flowing with milk and honey, Chance is
using word play and an allusion to show that Chicago is in no way a paradise (Bennett).
Also, when Chance says, Now I got a red pill he is referring to The Matrix (Bennett).
The red pill that he is alluding to is used in the movie to wake someone up to a life
changing truth, Chance the Rapper has a red pill because he refuses to ignore the
violence that is plaguing his city. He is also using this song as a red pill waking the
public up and opening the publics eyes to the truth that the mainstream media has not
been showing us.
Chance the rapper concludes by using pathos, the final verse and the very end of
the song have a very sad and worried tone that goes well with the lyrics and appeals to
the listeners emotion. Chance shows his extreme concern for the city by describing how
summer and other things that are supposed to be enjoyable and innocent make him
scared. He wants it to storm so people stay safe in their homes, he hates crowed beaches
because a large amount of people increases the risk of violence, and he hates the sound of
fire works because they remind him of the gun shots that are heard all over the city.

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Finally, the last two lines he sings very slowly and with an upset and innocent tone. I
know you scared, you should ask us if we scared, too. If you was there, then we just knew
youd care, too (Bennett). Chance reveals that the city of Chicagos tough guy attitude is
just a front and the communities could really benefit from public support. Chance gives
examples and insight on how the residents could help make it a better place but he knows
the more publicity, the more support, and the more help the city can get, the faster the city
will benefit and the faster a sense of community will be built.
The cartoon draws on logos and pathos to show a similar message. The setting of
a graveyard, the grey sky, and the somber coloring shows the use of pathos and plays on
the audiences emotion. The proportion of black on black crime victim compared to the
single Trayvon Martin tombstone, even if it is not an exact statistic, plays on logos
because we understand that the number of black on black crime victims is far greater than
the minority issue that the media is focusing on. The setting of a graveyard is understood
to symbolize death. The setting is showing how the media has made Trayvon Martin a
martyr for a cause while people continue to ignore the violence of black culture that
plagues cities all over the country.
Both artifacts successfully achieve their goals of bringing light to the issue of
black on black violence and how it should be a major topic in the media, but each artifact
uses completely different platforms to achieve its success. The cartoon relies on the
setting, color, and text to provide information to the audience, while the song uses lyrics,
tone, and tempo to create impactful imagery for the audience or listener.
Work Cited

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Bennett, Chancelor. Pushaman/Paranoia. Chance the Rapper. Rec. 30 Apr. 2013. Nate
Fox, 2013. MP3.
NET Bible. Ed. W. Hall Harris. Richardson: NET Bible, 2006. Web.
Papaherakles, Pete. "324,000 U.S. Blacks Killed by Blacks In Only 35 Years." American
Free Press. American Free Press, 21 Dec. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
<http://americanfreepress.net/in-just-35-years-232000-u-s-blacks-killed-by-otherblacks/>.
Ramirez, Micheal. "Proportionality." U.S. News and World Report. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.usnews.com/cartoons/editorial-cartoons-about-the-trayvon-martintragedy>.
Sanchez, Ray. "Four Mothers Share Pain of Losing Sons - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News
Network, 12 Dec. 2014. Web. 06 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/12/us/martin-rice-brown-garner-mothers/>.