New York – “Empire State of Mind”

By Julia Rauh & Joana Schmidt

New York City is one of the most inspiring and at the same time one of the most controversial cities in the world. The song “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys shows New York City on the one hand as an impressive metropolis of big dreams and hope and on the other hand as the city of even bigger challenges and failure. We chose to analyze this particular song because we have noticed the two-faced character of the city while being there as tourists. We both clearly remember the “blinding” lights, the skyscrapers and New York’s unmistakable atmosphere but also the thousands of homeless people.

The music video to the respective song uses all images of New York City that would appear on postcards and tourist guides: the skyline, the Statue of Liberty, the Subway, the Broadway, the Monuments, Ground Zero and many more.

Throughout the whole song Jay-Z refers to his life in New York and mentions the districts Brooklyn, Tribeca and the Bronx. He refers to the actor Robert Deniro, who started a film festival in Tribeca. This implies that New York is the home of many famous and talented people. In addition to that Jay-Z creates an allusion to Frank Sinatra´s song “New York, New York” by changing the famous line “If I can make it here, I make it anywhere” to “ Since I made it here, I can make it anywhere”. In this case New York is presented as a city that offers great opportunities and may lead to fortune and fame.

Furthermore he describes the life in New York´s ghettos as for example the life in “Bedford-Stuyvesant” by referring to drug sale and drug consumption as one of the problems of the city. In this context he refers to the numerous gangs, which are often involved in “Gang-wars”. He particularly mentions a gang called “Crip”.  By involving this issue he makes listeners aware of the problem of criminality in New York City. Jay-Z comments on the issue of prostitution in his song as well. He clearly shows that the life in a city corrupts and changes people and draws them to sins. In order to afford a life in New York City people usually have to work very hard. In this context Jay-Z mentions the use of sleeping pills for both overworked people and those taking ecstasy. This implies that “the city never sleeps” – referring to Frank Sinatra´s “New York, New York” again.

Jay-Z embeds the line “8 million stories, out there in it naked” into his song because he wants to refer to the anonymity of the city life. With the words “City it’s a pity, half of y’all won’t make it” he establishes a connection to the harsh world of New York City, where many die or end up in slums. Referring to the chorus where lights were considered as being inspiring, Jay-Z later mentions that these lights could be “blinding”; meaning that chasing wealth and status may lead to failure.

Besides Jay-Z, who is a huge Knicks, Nets and Yankee fan himself, talks about New York´s sport teams and their significance for New York City. The sports culture contributes to New York´s uniqueness. As far as music culture goes, Jay-Z involves other rappers as for example Ja Rule and Notorious B.I.G into his song. By doing so, he emphasizes the significance of Hip Hop and Rap for New York City.

The circumstances of life in New York shape the attitude and the mentality of the people who live there. The New York attitude is one of the most unique aspects of the city, more striking than even the most famous monument or the biggest skyscraper.  Life in New York City is considered as being difficult: not many places in the world are as competitive like this busy and overcrowded metropolis. People from New York consider themselves as tough, ambitious and hard-working. The typical New York attitude is also influenced by the many different cultures that are part of the city life. With the line “Welcome to the melting pot” Jay-Z refers to the Great American Immigration which can be associated with Ellis Island and which implies that New York City is made up of hundreds of different cultures and nationalities. Consequently New York can be denoted as a centre of multiculturalism.

Jay-Z embeds iconic symbols like the typical yellow cabs into his song as well. Besides he uses New York´s slogan “The Empire State”, which is on the license plates, throughout his song as well as in the title. The Statue of Liberty is mentioned as an iconic symbol for the “World Trade” and for freedom and democracy. With reference to New York it implies that New York is economically strong, especially in financial operations and the place of opportunities as already mentioned above. The “Big Apple” is also an iconic symbol in a sense that it can be regarded as a “forbidden fruit” and as “the iconic symbol of the good and the evil” (Schmoop.com).

The chorus is sung by Alicia Keys, who spent her life in New York City, and describes in how far New York is akin to a forest. New York is denoted as a “concrete jungle where dreams are made of” which means that the skyscrapers tower over the streets like trees in a forest. This “forest” is the place where dreams might come true and a fortune can be made. The city is described as a place where “there is nothing you can´t do”. This implies that it is the place of unlimited opportunities which was often shown in stories like the Great Gatsby and Ragged Dick. By saying that the “streets will make you feel brand new” they convey the feeling to the listener that New York, as a metropolis for style and fashion, will make anyone look refreshed and attractive.

The “Big Lights” of New York’s Time Square are being described as inspiring and omnipresent. She also calls for recognition of the beautiful New York city in the bridge of the song when saying “One hand in the air for the big city”. With the accumulation of phrases like “Street lights, big dreams, all lookin’ pretty” she “promises” again that New York is a place where dreams come true.

Taking everything into consideration we come to the conclusion that Jay-Z and Alicia Keys presented New York as a controversial city that offers great opportunities and even greater challenges. The song was framed by Frank Sinatra’s song “New York, New York” and also by the Jazz song “Autumn in New York”. Jay-Z warns that the dream about a perfect and successful life in New York City should be assessed more cautiously in those songs. In many items of culture, as for example in those short stories about a particular region we read in class, the picture of this particular region is being romanticized. New York is often presented as “the place to be”, but Jay-Z draws the listener’s attention to the dark sides of New York as well. The city offers fabulous chances but the it also asks for enormous effort – only few people succeed - most of them have to admit that the “APPLE” is too “BIG” for them.

Lyrics:

"Empire State Of Mind"

Yeah

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]

Yea I'm out that Brooklyn, now I'm down in TriBeCa

right next to Deniro, but I'll be hood forever

I'm the new Sinatra, and... since I made it here

I can make it anywhere, yea, they love me everywhere

I used to cop in Harlem, all of my Dominicano's

right there up on Broadway, pull me back to that McDonald's

Took it to my stashbox, 560 State St.

catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons with them Pastry's

Cruisin' down 8th St., off white Lexus

drivin' so slow, but BK is from Texas

Me, I'm out that Bed-Stuy, home of that boy Biggie

now I live on Billboard and I brought my boys with me

Say what's up to Ty-Ty, still sippin' mai tai's

sittin' courtside, Knicks & Nets give me high five

Nigga I be Spike'd out, I could trip a referee

Tell by my attitude that I'm most definitely from....

[Chorus: Alicia Keys]

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for New York, New York,

New York

[Verse 2: Jay-Z]

Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game

Shit, I made the Yankee hat more famous then a Yankee can

You should know I bleed blue, but I ain't a Crip though

but I got a gang of niggas walkin' with my clique though

Welcome to the melting pot, corners where we sellin' rock

Afrika Bambataa shit, home of the hip-hop

Yellow cab, gypsy cab, dollar cab, holla back

for foreigners it ain't for, they act like they forgot how to act

8 million stories, out there in it naked

City, it's a pity, half of y'all won't make it

Me, I got a plug, Special Ed "I Got It Made"

If Jeezy's payin' LeBron, I'm payin' Dwyane Wade

Three dice cee-lo, three Card Monty

Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley

Statue of Liberty, long live the World Trade

Long live the King yo, I'm from the Empire State that's

[Chorus]

[Verse 3: Jay-Z]

Lights is blinding, girls need blinders

so they can step out of bounds quick, the sidelines is

lined with casualties, who sip to life casually

then gradually become worse, don't bite the apple eve

Caught up in the in-crowd, now you're in style

Anna Wintour gets cold, in Vogue with your skin out

City of sin, it's a pity on the wind

Good girls gone bad, the city's filled with them

Mami took a bus trip, now she got her bust out

Everybody ride her, just like a bus route

Hail Mary to the city, you're a virgin

And Jesus can't save you, life starts when the church end

Came here for school, graduated to the high life

Ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight

MDMA got you feelin' like a champion

The city never sleeps, better slip you an Ambien

[Chorus]

[Bridge: Alicia Keys]

One hand in the air for the big city

Street lights, big dreams, all lookin' pretty

No place in the world that could compare

Put your lighters in the air

Everybody say "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah"

[Chorus]

Sources:

Photos:
All the photos that are being used were taken by Joana Schmidt in New York City.

Lyrics:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jayz/empirestateofmind.html (24.05.2013)

Others:
http://www.shmoop.com/empire-state-of-mind/meaning.html (26.05.2013)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_of_Mind (27.05.2013)
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=16754 (26.05.2013)