Group Song

For our group song, we decided to analyze “Dead Presidents Vol. 1” by Jay-Z. "Dead Presidents" is the debut single released by rapper Jay-Z's from his debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1995. We chose to discuss this song and artist because it matches really well with one of our vocabulary words, capitalism. In addition we consider Jay-Z to be an authentic artist who has been able to succeed for decades in the rap industry, while at the same time contributing immensely to the cultural production of Hip-Hop.

The majority of this song talks in detail about making money or building capital, which is closely related with capitalism. The chorus of the song is “I’m out for Presidents to represent me, I’m out for Dead Presidents to represent me”. Which is basically a creative way of saying I want money to represent me, because portraits of dead United States presidents appear on most US currency. Lines like “Handlin' since a teen I dish out” and “I want money like Cosby who wouldn't,” Jay-Z is referring to hustling in order to be successful in a competitive business environment. At the end of the song, when Jay-Z was sitting around a table playing dice games, he says “Monopoly is the perfect game for us, if somebody land on your property they gotta pay,” which can closely be linked to capitalism.

As an artist and businessman, Jay-Z has been one of the most successful of all time. With 11 number one albums, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist. His clothing line Rocawear, which is recognized around the worls has been a major contributor to the cultural production of Hip-Hop with hundreds of millions of dollars of sale every year. He has also popularized several hip-hop trends such as “brushing dirt of your should.” He is also considered to be an authentic rapper because he dedicates the majority of his songs describing his up brings in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, NY and his rise to riches. I think this is also one of the first hip-hop songs to use a helicopter on its video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=487W_vBeGFQ

By: Group 1