Rhetorical Analysis Of Self Destruction

The song “Self Destruction” by the Stop the Violence Movement takes advantage of various rhetorical appeals in order to convey their message to the audience. The song uses the numerous appeals in order to target an audience of predominantly African Americans, while still enticing the rest of the public. These appeals all contribute to the overall message of coming together as a whole and becoming a better, less violent community. The song is able to successfully portray this message in a way unlike any other. Using logical, emotional, and ethical appeals, the songwriters were able to vividly depict the underlying message and convey their thoughts to the intended audience in a positive manner by taking a unique approach of self-examination.

One of the rhetorical appeals used throughout this song is logical. The songwriters use logical appeals in order to express their feelings of needing to come together and form solidarity with the African American community. One example of this is when KRS-One says, “we got ourselves together so that you could unite and fight for what's right.” (Self Destruction) This statement explains how numerous artists in the hip-hop community came together for this song in order to portray their positive message; therefore, the entire African American community should come together as well. This basic, yet profound logic appeals to the reader by illustrating the point of the song. The same concept is shown by Heavy D’s lyric from the song, “Love your brother, treat him as an equal.” (Self Destruction) This is essentially a common sense statement that aims to use logic in order to convince the audience to understand that it is very important to treat everyone with respect. All of the logical appeals in this song come together to form a resounding statement of unity and respect for all.
Another rhetorical appeal used in this song is ethical. Ethical appeal in this song takes many forms, but each example seems to call into question the current state of the African American community. Like with the following lyric by Kool Moe Dee, “I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan and I shouldn't have to run from a black man.” (Self Destruction) This shows that in the songwriter’s opinion, the modern black man is more dangerous than the Ku Klux Klan. This definitely questions the ethics of today’s African American communities. It appeals to the audience by illustrating this point and getting the reader to begin to think about the violence and despair that plague some of these communities. Other examples continue to question the ethics of African American communities. The following lyric by MC Lyte, “Do you rob the rich and give to the poor?” (Self Destruction) questions the current money distribution of modern society. The reader cannot help but begin to think about how ethical the modern economy really is.
One last rhetorical appeal the songwriters use is emotional. This appeal very commonly receives the most passionate reaction from the reader. The emotional appeals that are used contribute to the overall message by garnering a deep emotional response from the audience. This is especially the case in Heavy D’s lyric, “I heard a brother shot another. It broke my heart.” (Self Destruction) This expresses a sense of sadness toward the violence that occurs in the harsh parts of the African American community. Other lyrics express the senseless violence more vividly like when Ms. Melodie says, “Someone dies and gets all hurt up for a silly gold chain by a chump.” (Self Destruction) This allows the audience to begin to understand the deep roots of senseless and unnecessary violence. The murder of someone for nothing other than a gold chain truly signifies the importance of bringing this violence to an end quickly. A sense of desperation and urgency is depicted in the emotional appeals of this song. The songwriters seem to almost be pleading with the audience to help end these problems.
As shown throughout this analysis of “Self Destruction”, the songwriters were able to take advantage of the rhetorical appeals of logic, ethics, and emotions to help prove their point to the audience.

The underlying message was shown using these methods as well as by expressing it through the language in the lyrics. Examples include Doug E. Fresh saying, “This is all about, no doubt, to stop violence.” (Self Destruction) which very clearly states the important message that was being portrayed. Another example is when Ms. Melodie says, “The violence in rap must cease and seckle.” (Self Destruction) This lyric points out the violent culture that exists in the rap community and how it can be detrimental to society. Many modern hip-hop and rap songs with messages get dismissed either due to the harsh language or because many people do not want to hear the harsh realities of the African American struggle. Another unique aspect of this song that appeals to the audience is the point of focus. “Self Destruction” focuses on an internal view of the issues and relies on self-examination in order to solve these issues. This aspect makes the song unique because it does not lay blame on others. Instead of pleading for help from others, the songwriters decide to take the approach of rebuilding their own communities from the inside. This aspect really makes the song stand out amongst many other similar songs. This song truly is able to appeal to the reader in a fresh and interesting way by using logical, ethical, and emotional

aspects.