Pop Culture

My assignment: choose a video and write a review. Not an unreasonable request, yet, I struggled with my video choice; there are so many to choose from. How do you pick just one? I’m not sure that the video that I chose is exactly what my professor had in mind, but on the other hand he did say it was my choice. After much thought, the video that I chose is “Yes We Can�. “Yes We Can� is a song inspired by a speech delivered by Barack Obama. The video was directed by Jesse Dylan and released on February 2, 2008 by the Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am on Dipdive.com. It features appearances from the following celebrities: Will.i.am, John Legend, Kate Walsh, Kelly Hu, Tatyana Ali, Herbie Hancock, Amber Valetta, Nick Cannon, Scarlett Johanssen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nicole Scherzinger and Adam Rodriquez. I chose this video because it is more than a promotion of a favorite candidate or a plea to get people to vote, however, I won’t deny that this might have been a motive for the celebrities in putting this video together. I chose this video because, “Yes We Can�, evokes conviction, compassion and optimism; it resonates change, vision, promise and hope.

The video opens with a sole acoustic guitar strum strumming, a slow, even vibration that travels to your very soul. A sense of harmony and unity is present as black-and-white images of Obama and the performers are pieced together in a collage like fashion. The dimly lit images allow us to discover and focus solely on the message—yes, we can. The lyrics of the song are entirely quotes from Obama’s speech, a brilliant and powerful speech. The performers comprise a chorus echoing Barack’s words as his voice plays in the background. The layering of the voices has a call-and-response feel to the song as Barack’s words are spoken and then the performer’s musical rendition responds. This pattern invites a participation of all, not just the multiple performers, but the viewer as well. The words in the song, representing the voices of all, are strongly contrasted to the repeated phrase – yes we can. The multiple voices compel you to not only join, but to spring into action and join the masses in believing and working together to make this a better nation and world.

Obama in his original speech was brave enough to give voice to racism, and classism. Over the years it has been deemed politically incorrect to talk about race and class, mentioning the very words often made you a racist. Yet, Obama’s willingness to address issues of racism and classism so publically and the nations overwhelming acceptance of his speech illustrates the need to address such issues. Will.i.am putting these already powerful words to music takes Obama’s message of hope and social justice for all to a broader audience. Viewing this video the first time brought tears to my eyes; I have to believe that it would have an impact on even the greatest critic. Barack’s states, “Yes we can to justice and equality� these seven words bring us back to the common thread that draws us together; hope, healing, repair and starting the next chapter.

Yes We Can is very different from will.i.am’s previous work. As a founding member of the Black Eyed Peas he has become famous for his rapping and songs such as: I Got It From My Mama, Heartbreaker, and One More Chance. These songs contain the similar hip-hop rhythmic speaking style often associated with rap while the “Yes We Can� song has a much more melodic feel. The very purposeful choice in genre, instrumentals, lighting camera angle complemented the very words and message that were spoken by Obama, creating a very powerful visual. In a video created after the “Yes We Can� video titled, “We Are The Ones Song� it is much more like an advertisement for Obama than a song. People are given the opportunity to voice their concerns and hopes for our nation and at the end of each is the chanting for Obama. Even though the building of the chanting and the increasing use of instrumentals in this video helps to build the emotion and excitement level that is felt by the participants, it lacks the impact and power of the first video.

“Yes We Can� is a song that speaks to the heart of the issues in America; it speaks to the very soul of every American.