This Is What I Mean By Stormzy: Song Analysis

Dear Hui,

I hope this message finds you well. I would like to share with you a song that I have extensively researched called "This is What I Mean" by Stormzy. I am particularly drawn to this song due to its unique musical elements that set it apart from other tracks. The introduction features a soft and elegant waltz piano melody that creates a striking contrast to the powerful beat that dominates the rest of the song. In addition, the song incorporates a synthesizer and grandiose background voices that fill the gaps between the lyrics and the beat. These three elements combine to create a complex melody that makes the song somewhat more polyphonic than many modern hip-hop tracks that rely on a simple combination of voice and beat. While

The opening of the song features a smooth waltz piano composed by Andrei Tudor in 2018 (as cited in Who Sampled). The mysterious and eerie vibe of the waltz sets the tone for the synthesized electronic music that follows, reminiscent of Kanye West's "Dark Twisted Fantasy." Initially, a single-note background voice emphasizes the first and third beats in a 4/4 time signature, while Stormzy raps in between. As the song progresses, multiple voices synchronize with the single-noted voice to create a complex yet harmonious rhythm section. A hidden track of a fluctuating bass line serves as a background to these tracks, hitting the highest note at the end of each line, followed by an echo of the last word, and then resetting to the lowest as the next line begins. This continuous stream of flow throughout a verse without a pause creates an emphasis, indicating a shift in focus on both musical aspect and lyrical attention to most listeners. Stormzy's elegant incorporation of piano hits the benchmark of western classical music while maintaining his style of rap, addressing Tricia Rose's point of whether rap is considered as "music" or not (p. 81). Rose notes that rap music primarily relies on the complexity of rhythm, whereas traditional western classical music emphasizes its melodic and harmonic structure (p. 66). However, Stormzy's song showcases the complexity of rap music

He voices his concerns about his own financial status in the second verse, saying "Please, don't hold my money, man, just wire me my check." This sentiment is echoed by Greg Tate, who critiques the commercialization of hip-hop and the lack of support for the communities and artists that created the culture. Stormzy urges fellow artists to remember the original goal of creating music from their own intersectionality, rather than just as a marketing tool for record labels. Tate argues for the importance of hip-hop in rebuilding black communities and promoting social equality and justice (Tate, 251). This issue of commercialization and exploitation has been explored in lecture, with examples such as Bobby Shmurda highlighting the moral and legal concerns that arise when artists are treated as disposable commodities by their labels. Stormzy's concern about the abuse of lyrics and artistic expression in the judicial system is also a shared sentiment. Briana Younger, a New York Times reporter, has written about how rap lyrics are sometimes used to provide insight into a defendant's mindset, but this practice can also be misinterpreted and unfairly used to paint a defendant as violent or criminal (Younger, 4). While lyrics are often inspired by the artist's personal experiences and reflect their cultural context and emotions, they are not meant to serve as the