“HEY YA” by OutKast

“HEY YA” by OutKast

This song has a great beat that makes you want to dance. It also has an interesting story behind it. The song was written by André 3000, an American rapper and record producer. He wrote the song while in high school, but it took him a long time to get it recorded because he didn't know anyone at record labels who would listen to his demo tape. When he finally got his music heard by someone at LaFace Records, they loved it and immediately signed him up as part of their roster of artists. The song was released in 2003 as part of OutKast's album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2004. This paper seeks to present what the song is all about and the application of dramatization approach using the Burke model rhetorical lense within the song

I feel that the song is about the things we do in life, our choices, and how they affect our lives. The lyrics are very straightforward, with no ambiguity or open interpretation. The song starts with a question posed by André 3000, “Hey Ya.” (Voice, and Whiteley, 2019). This phrase is repeated many times throughout the song (in different ways). As this question is asked more than once, it gives us a sense of urgency and importance. It captures our attention, but it also makes us think about what this question could be referring to. André 3000 uses this phrase to start his verse and then describe our choices in life. He wants us to know that there are consequences for our actions and decisions.

The song is about two people in love, but they do not want to admit it to each other or even themselves. They both know how they feel about each other, but they do not want to say anything because of fear. The guy is afraid he will lose the girl if he says anything, and the girl is afraid she will hurt him if she says something first. The song is about how they are dancing around their emotions and not saying anything because they are scared of what will happen  (Voice and Whiteley, 2019). The whole song is just them dancing around what they need to say, but it never happens because neither one wants to risk losing the other by saying something first.

The Burke Model Rhetoric Lense

The Burke Model Rhetoric Lense is a tool that will allow you to understand the types of arguments and persuasive messages out there, what they mean and how they work. This model will help you understand why people believe the things they do and how to communicate with them in a way that can change their minds and move them toward your point of view. Kenneth Burke, a literary theorist, developed it, and identified three main categories of rhetoric: identification, classification, and dramatization. The Burke Model Rhetoric Lense has five elements: Identification, Orientation, Memory, Norms, and Self-Interest. The Burke Model is a rhetoric lens that focuses on the speaker's audience, purpose, and situation. In this case, the rhetoric lens common in the song is dramatization.

 Dramatization involves making an argument as dramatic and emotional as possible to appeal strongly to the audience's passions rather than their reason. This kind of rhetoric often uses metaphors and narrative devices like similes and metaphors (like "a house divided against itself cannot stand"). The song is about love and relationships, but it is also about celebrating life and having fun. It is a great song to listen to when feeling down or tired. The music itself consists of three parts: the exposition, the argumentation, and the discourse. The presentation begins with “Hey ya!” This line is an attention-getter because it is loud and exciting (Statham, 2020). The music starts with a happy tune and then becomes something completely different. The singer does this by using multiple voices and changing his pitch and speed of speaking. An excellent example of this would be when he says, “I got my baby on my mind”  (Statham, 2020). This shows how he can use his voice as an instrument instead of just talking in it like someone usually does in real-life situations. Another example of dramatization would be when he says, “What's going on?”. This is another example because instead of saying “What's up?” or something similar like ordinary people do, he uses more inflection in his voice so that you can feel more emotion behind what he said.

According to Statham (2020), he describes the song is a “witty, infectious pop ditty with a hip-hop beat.” He states that it is a “musical quip about the possibilities for love and romance in our lives” (p. 123), and he notes that it is meant to be playful and funny. The song shows how OutKast uses characters and dialogue through rhyme schemes, repetition, rhythm patterns, and meter changes throughout the song (Voice and Whiteley, 2019).  He analyzes how they use these techniques to develop their characters through their lyrics and their relationships with each other throughout the song. 

References

Statham, S. (2020). The year’s work in stylistics 2019. Language and Literature, 29(4), 454-479.

Voice, M., & Whiteley, S. (2019). Y’all don’t wanna hear me. You just wanna dance’: A cognitive approach to listener attention in OutKast’s ‘Hey Ya!. Language and Literature, 28(1), 7-22.