Analysis Of Jay Z's Street Education

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines education to be “the action or process of teaching someone especially in a school, college, or university”. In this definition, the word “especially” is placed to include the schoolhouse setting for the “standard way of learning,” but education can be “a process of teaching someone.” An educated person is someone who knows how to adapt to whatever life has in store. Whether it’s in a school or on the street, people can still be educated by the music that he/she listens to and the happenings in life. Jay Z’s life is a great example of what it means to be street educated. He has used his “street education” to make him who he is today, a successful artist that many people look up to and admire because of his

He talks about him being “two Jay Z’s.” He learns what kind of songs to put out by his fans’ response. In an article, “Jay Z Beat the System” he says “It’s like life – sometimes you just want to ‘dumb out’ in the club; other times you just want to get real and do deep.” He uses this life scenario to make sure that he has a good balance of music that a party can ‘jam’ to and also give them something to think about. His songs, “Big Pimpin” and “I Just Wanna Love You” are examples of how Jay Z can go from his ‘wild side’ to his more sensitive side to attract the attention of his fans. Jay Z speaks on how “dumbing down a record actually forces an artist to be smarter.” Doing this helps the artist “to balance, craft authenticity, and accessibility.” The definition he gives for “dumbing down” a song is “a song that appeals to a lower common denominator- a big chorus and a great beat and easy to follow lyrics.” An example he gives, as a “dumbed down” song is one of his biggest ‘hits’, Empire State of

He learns how to cooperate with other artists that might not have his style of music over the years which gives him a higher level of respect from his fans and people he collaborates with. He knows how to share the stage and still be himself. Sharing the stage also helps a person to grow in their craft. Every performance is a different learning experience that a performer can hold on to and build on. Jay Z tells Wilson, in the interview “The Truth”, that he doesn’t have a big ego that could hinder him from further collaborations. Sometimes a performer may think too highly of his/ herself to let the learning process of cooperation take place. With a closed mind, new information can’t get through therefore stopping the learning