mierra

Many people believe that hip-hop is nothing more than bogus hype music that only degrade women and talk about money, but most hip-hop songs actually leave the reader with a new perspective. One of many inspirational songs is “Panther Power.” The composer, Tupac Shakur first recorded the song in the 90’s but it wasn’t released until award nominated documentary, “Tupac Resurrection” was released in 2003. “Panther Power” is an excellent song because it contains imagery, has great sound and has numerous examples of personification, which he uses to change the listener’s perspective.
First, Tupac attracts his listeners with an old skool-groovy beat, the rhyme scheme and repetition that makes the song catchy and leaves you no choice except to be hooked! Tupac uses rhyme to give the song a good sound by basically saying the first verse again as the last verse. Throughout the song, the chorus “Panther Power” is repeated three times, giving the listener the feeling of empowerment! The song also has a catchy rhyme scheme, using couplets throughout the song. For example, “As real as it seems the American dream, ain’t nothing but another calculated schemes.” The sound devices are effective in getting your attention.
Secondly, Tupac uses his figurative language to show clear images in the reader’s head. One simile from the song is “I strike America like a case of hard disease.” He also uses a great metaphor where he suggests that we, as a people are “locked in chains” by the government .In this song, Tupac uses a lot of personification to change the readers mind. For example, “Cause Lady Liberty is a hypocrite, she lied to me.” Also, in the song, he uses one example of imagery, saying that “Panther Power is running through my arteries, try to stop oh boy you’ll be clawed to death, cause I’ll be fighting for my freedom with my dying breath.” In this verse, you actually feel get the sense of “panther power” running through your arteries.
Lastly, the personification used in the poem, gives the listener a new perspective and a new view on the government and the American justice system. For example, “Uncle Sam never did a dam thing for me except lie about the fact in my history,” this is used to show, not that the real uncle Sam lied, but to show that the government is full of lies and that they lie to black people to make everything seem perfect and “peachy” when its really not.
In conclusion, with Tupac’s use of good figurative language and imagery, this song represents one of few good songs still around today. His figurative language makes the listener feel what he’s going through, giving them a new perspective. His imagery makes the listener see what he has seen. This song grabs the listener’s attention because rhythmic flow of his voice, the power he puts behind his words and the imagery, personification, similes and metaphors he puts in the lyrics. From the lyrics, listeners can draw inference that Tupac was trying to say don’t always believe what you hear because most of the time your being lied to.