“Violent Crimes” Song Analysis and Real-World Connection
For my analytical paper I have chosen to analyze the themes presented in the song “Violent Crimes”. This song is the seventh and final track on the album “Ye”, which was released in June of 2018. This was Kanye’s ninth album. This song was on Billboard’s Top 100 for two consecutive weeks. And has been sparking conversations on the responsibility parents have for protecting their children from sexualization and abuse from a young age, specifically women since its release. This song follows Kanye’s concerns for his daughter’s maturing in this world. The chorus begins, “Don't you grow up in a hurry, your mom'll be worried, aw.” (West et al. 0:39). This lyric speaks to the pressure this upcoming generation experiences to mature at alarming rates. As noted in the BBC article, “Kids getting older younger” the average child is now allowed a smartphone at age ten. This is alarming as the information children can access at such a young age is entirely regulated by parental oversight. The privilege of unlimited access to the internet is a privilege previously reserved for adults. This is causing children to emotionally mature at alarming rates, drastically younger than previous generations.
This phenomenon is largely due to the marketing concept that children have a greater brand awareness than adults. This is well reflected in the research of American Sociologist George Ritzer who notably named this phenomenon “The McDonaldization of Society” (Crossman). Marketers are directly targeting children. This is a well-researched and established phenomenon. We see this in the litigation against Juul, an American electronic cigarette company. Just three months ago, Juul settled a two-year long legal proceeding/investigation into the company's involvement in an uptake in teenage nicotine consumption. Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research at UCSD stated, “If you look at the actual marketing Juul did, they clearly went after kids” (Turner). State investigations were congruent, revealing that Juul utilized selective marketing to target teens. Most notably, the use of youthful models at launch parties, giveaway promotions, social media, and print advertising. Nicotine is well established to have long-term negative health effects and as such is outlawed to anyone under the age of 21 at the federal level. With the methodology that, similar to alcohol, at the age of 21 the prefrontal cortex would be largely developed and the risk of long-term damage to be diminished. Despite this, teens are still assessing e-cigarettes at disturbing rates.
This pressure to mature is particularly mounting with young women. As young women are maturing and trying to find footing in this hectic world we are constantly being confronted with societal norms, cultural norms, beauty standards, as well as blatant sexism in the media, our communities, and most importantly, at home. The impact of these beauty standards being pushed upon kids starts at an extremely young age. As Kanye vocalizes, “Don't do no yoga, don't do pilates. Just play piano and stick to karate. I pray your body's draped more like mine. And not like your mommy's. Just bein' salty, but niggas is nuts” (West et al. 1:44). It's understood that he recognizes it's infeasible to wish children to remain children forever. Despite this, he pleads for his daughters to reduce their exposure to the dangers of maturity. Literal children are being sexualized and objectified from such a young age. When discussing this with my friends we noticed that we had been catcalled most during middle school rather than any other point in our lives. This is truly disheartening that 11-13 year olds are being spoken to like this, despite the fact that they are non-consenting children. Children are taking note of the ideals presented in the world around them. Features that may seem small and insignificant, such as the dolls young girls play with greatly impact self-image. Compliments children often receive targeting their appearance strengthen the concept that appearance correlates with self-worth. Therapist Madeline Lucas shares, "Over time, constantly being bombarded with these unrealistic beauty standards can not only impact self-esteem, but can lead to certain behaviors in pursuit of attaining perfection, such as extreme dieting or fixation to permanently change a part of your body" (Mantz). Consider when you go to the department store in search of a gift for a young girl. Likely, the aisle marketed towards girls tends to be pink, appearance based, and far less complex than toys traditionally marketed towards boys, such as Legos.
West speaks on how he has personally treated women poorly in the past and prays his karma does not fall upon his daughters. “…Niggas is pimps, niggas is players. 'Til niggas have daughters, now they precautious. Father, forgive me, I'm scared of the karma. 'Cause now I see women as somethin' to nurture. Not somethin' to conquer'' (West et al. 1:12). It's quite odd to consider that it takes such a drastic measure of bringing a child, particularly a young woman, into the world for men to evaluate how they treat their female counterparts. Countless studies have been conducted on this phenomenon, such as the study conducted by the Oxford Economic Papers that was referenced in article, “Being a father to a school-age girl makes men less sexist” by Big Think. This study found that men who live with a young woman in which they consider to be a daughter, were less likely to agree/conform to traditional gender roles. Henry, a father interviewed for an article on fatherhood shared, “...I've always considered myself a feminist, but it wasn't until I had a daughter that I realized how young sexism starts for them and all the ways society reinforces it and how much harder of a start girls have from day one. It sucks to know, but I feel like I'm better for knowing it because now I can try to help" (Kenney). Canadian psychologist Willough Jenkins states, “There is increased exposure to violent or sexual content at a younger age, which causes a desensitization and normalization” (Bishop).
It's quite ironic that men tend to see little issue with toxic, sexist, and oppressive behaviors until women become personified in their creation. Ivan, a father interviewed in “11 Dads Share How Having A Daughter Changed Their Life For The Better '', expressed that he never felt required to truly and deeply understand the “female way” until his daughter entered his life. Ivan states, "Obviously you want to do right by all women, or as many as possible, but having a child means you have to, like, mind-meld with them, basically…I'm saying that my daughter is opening my eyes to a wider perspective because she's a girl and I want to guide her as best as I can” (Kenney).
Understandably the argument can be made that gross generalizations were made in this hit song as well as in my writing. I would like to clarify that I am in no way insinuating that all men have exhibited the behaviors discussed in this song as well as my writing. But the reality is that as Americans, we participate in a culture that tends to denounce blatant discrimination, sexism, and otherwise unkind behaviors via cancel-culture. Because of this we are lucky to not experience such blatant sexism and as a result we see people altogether deny its existence within our culture. That is untrue, such behavior isn’t always blatant or publicized but that does not mean hate and discrimination do not exist in American society. The findings presented in this paper are a culmination of my personal experiences, Kanye West’s experiences, individuals personal anecdotes found in online newspapers and journals, as well as the data referenced throughout this paper. West is and continues to be a deeply troubled and controversial person. This is not to say that the ideas and themes brought upon in “Violent Crimes'' are not of substance or value. This song articulates a conversation that must be had. Regardless of the individual introducing it.
Works Cited
Billboard. “Kanye West.” Billboard, 2022, https://www.billboard.com/artist/kanye-west/chart-history/hsi/. Accessed 6 December 2022.
Bishop, Katie. “Kids getting older younger: Are children growing up too fast?” BBC, 24 March 2022, https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220324-kgoy-kids-getting-older-younger. Accessed 6 December 2022.
Crossman, Ashley. “Understanding the Phenomenon of McDonaldization.” ThoughtCo, 16 February 2021, https://www.thoughtco.com/mcdonaldization-of-society-3026751. Accessed 6 December 2022.
Johnson, Stephen. “Being a father to a school-age girl makes men less sexist, new research suggests.” Big Think, 14 December 2018, https://bigthink.com/the-present/being-father-to-daughter-makes-men-less-sexist/. Accessed 6 December 2022.
Kenney, Jamie. “11 Dads Share How Having A Daughter Changed Their Life For The Better.” Romper, 3 January 2018, https://www.romper.com/p/11-dads-share-how-having-a-daughter-changed-their-life-for-the-better-7765347. Accessed 6 December 2022.
Mantz, Annalise. “A Therapist Explains How Beauty Standards Impact Children.” POPSUGAR, 27 May 2022, https://www.popsugar.com/family/therapist-explains-how-beauty-standards-impact-children-48802537. Accessed 6 December 2022.
Turner, Terry. “How Juul Created a Teen Vaping Epidemic.” Drugwatch, 10 March 2020, https://www.drugwatch.com/featured/juul-created-teen-vaping-epidemic/. Accessed 6 December 2022.
West, Kanye, et al. Violent Crimes. Final track on album "Ye" (2018). Edited by Mike Dean and Pardison Fontaine. 2018. Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/track/3s7MCdXyWmwjdcWh7GWXas?si=51bafbec03954af2.
Written 12/06/2022
Published 01/22/2023
