Bobby Ray Simmons – American Rapper
Essay Preview: Bobby Ray Simmons – American Rapper
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Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr. was born on November 15, 1988. His music and stage name is B.o.B. B.o.B is an American rapper, singer and record producer. He produced the song “Airplanes” which was the second official and third overall single from B.o.Bs debut studio album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray. The track features Hayley Williams, the lead vocalist of the alternative band, Paramore. It was produced by Alex da Kid with DJ Frank E. The song uses lots of repetition, imagery, similes and flashbacks to show that he is dissatisfied with the high life.
The first example would be in lines 14 – 18 where he uses imagery to express the overall mood. “To go back to a place much simplier than this Cause after all the partyin and smashin and crashin And all the glitz and the glam and the fashion And all the pandemonium and all the madness There comes a time where you fade to the blackness.” The artist is talking about the famous life and how it does not last long. One minute you are famous and another minute you are forgotten. Another imagery found in the song would be lines 1 – 3, “Can we pretend that airplanes In the night sky Are like shooting stars?”. This quote can also be a simile because he is comparing airplanes to shooting stars. People usually wish on shooting stars, and he is saying that at night when airplanes are in the sky they look like shooting stars so he wishes he could make a wish on them. One example of flashback in the song would be lines 42 -45, “Befo this was a job, befo I got paid Befo it ever mattered what I had in my bank Ya, back when I was tryin to get a tip at Subway And back when I was rappin for the hell of it”. The artist is remembering life before he was famous. He wishes he could go back there. He wants to sing for fun and not because he has to in-order to stay famous. He wants back the simple life where you were not judged on how much money you had.
I have listened to this song many times and did not realize the true meaning until now. The artist wants people to know about the high life. He wants people to realize that it is not as good as it seems. He preferred when he used to sing for a hobby not like now where you have to keep making songs in-order to stay recognized. One minute you are famous then it is gone in a flash. I think the main theme would be nothing lasts forever or all that glitters is not gold. And the mood would be dissatisfaction. He sounds a little dissatisfied with the high and famous life.