Shad, "Brother (Watching)"

In his song, “Brother (Watching)”, Shadrach Kabango (Shad K) explored how media-created stereotypes of Blacks impact career and life choices facing young Black Canadians (and Americans). He claims that these stereotypes are so ingrained into society, including into Blacks themselves, that many young Blacks and African-Canadians cannot see themselves becoming anything but the stereotypes. Rapping, basketball, and drugs are the narrow paths that too many young people envision their future taking.

Shad argues that by finding a personal passion in life, youths can break through stereotypes and societal expectations.

Considering his argument and how he composed it, it seemed clear that Shad’s target audience—the people he hoped to change and persuade—were the people who he saw as being in the same situation as himself: young, Black Canadians trying to find themselves amid bombardments of media stereotypes about what being “Black” means.

Shad hopes to persuade his audience to look past popular perceptions created by the media. Once they realize that they don’t have to conform to preconceived ideas of what a Black person should be like, they can become anything that they want to be. Ultimately, through this new form of activism—people perusing their dreams—the stereotypes and misleading expectations of Blacks will be thrown out. Black and non-Black members of society will see that race and background doesn’t dictate a person’s identity and future.

Shad built his credibility throughout the song with lines like “where I’m from”. He wanted to show the audience that during his life he has experienced what being Black is like. He’s someone who’s been there and experienced what he’s rapping about personally. Fans who know Shad’s background recognize him as even more credible in that he practices what he preaches. Shad earned a business degree from Wilfred Laurier University in Ontario and is currently working on a Masters degree at SFU, while still remaining one of Canada’s most popular hip hop artists. I think that he used this authority to give him the right to speak honestly about his chosen topic without risking offensiveness.

Shad described, at the beginning of the song, an image of young Blacks growing up surrounded by “white and affluent dudes” and expected to fit a prescribed mold of what a Black person should be like. This appealed to the emotions felt by his audience themselves. Then, at the end of the song, he gave a message of hope, describing “the new black activists”, who go after their dreams in spite of stereotypes. Several recordings of African parents talking about their hopes for their children’s futures are also played to arouse positive emotion.

Shad also explained how we are saturated with negative images and, over time, we start to become attracted to what we watch. If we only see Blacks “actin’ the fool” on TV then often we imagine that blacks are all meant to be that way. Because of the media, young Blacks find it difficult to imagine themselves going to college or starting a career because they’ve never seen it. Although his argument is attached strongly to emotions, it also makes sense that something needs to change.