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Symone Dozier

Professor Leptak

English 1201

3 September 2021

Analyzing Visual Text

Kanye West and Soul II Soul are two very different artists that take the song Back To Life

and give it new meaning. Kanye West's version of the song is a gospel remix with little to no

instruments. While the Soul II Soul version is an R&B Hip Hop mix with a large variety of

instruments. Both versions of the song fall under the umbrella of R&B, some older audience

members listening to the Soul II Soul version and younger audience members listening to the

Kanye West version. The first rendition of the song Back To Life by Soul II Soul starts with

Melissa Bell, the lead singer in the band. The band and the singers lead the audience into the

song. The music video was filmed in two different locations, one in the forest and the other on a

city rooftop. The song is about being true to yourself while being about whatever the other

person wants or needs at the same time. Everyone in the video is dancing and participating in

partying. The video carries a carefree vibe.

The cover rendition of the song Back To Life by Kanye West and Sunday Service Choir

starts with the choir leading us into the song. The video takes place at Theater des Bouffes du

Nord, France. Kanye took the song, and transformed it into a gospel remix. Kanye's version of

the song is about God, and being brought back to life through him. The Sunday Service Choir

and Kanye West are wearing matching outfits that are a neutral tan color. Like Soul II Soul’s

original version, Kanye West and the Sunday Service Choir are dancing and having fun,

emphasizing the upbeat, soulful tone of the song.

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Both versions of the song use the same rhetorical appeal to get the audience's attention.

Both Kanye West and Soul II Soul use pathos through this tactic. They effectively make their

audience members feel joy. They both do this by incorporating dancing into their music videos

showing people having a good time listening to the music, making the audience members feel

welcome and happy to join in with them. For example, if you look in the background of Kanye's

video, you can see people dancing and joining in. In the Soul II Soul video, you can see the band

members and the people at the rooftop party dancing to the music. Both videos share this quality.

A difference that Kanye West and Soul II Soul have is the age of their audience members.

The original version by Soul II Soul came out in the year 1989. Comparing that, too, when

Kanye West and the Sunday Service Choir dropped their version of the song in 2019, makes a

big age range in audience members. Another difference that both audiences share is, Soul II

Soul’s version is about love and being true to yourself while Kanye West and the Sunday Service

Choir redirected the song to be a gospel remix of the original separating audience members.

through religion. The relationship between Kanye West and Soul II Soul is unique. Both artists

are African American. Both make music in the genre of R&B. Although both songs were made

at a different time, they both give that same message of freedom and love altogether in a

high-tempo beat that makes people want to dance. Kanye West and Soul II Soul also both have

happy people dancing in their videos, which are mostly African American, which speaks to the

unity of the African American community through music.

Even though both versions of the song are different, both versions of the song have the

same uniting factor of people having a good time dancing together. Even though Kanye West's

version of Back To Life is an R&B gospel song, Kanye makes sure to add key components of
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Soul II Soul's original version of the song, which is Hip Hop and R&B-focused. Together, both

versions of Back To Life make use of pathos to make audience members feel united and joyful.

In conclusion, Kanye West and Soul II Soul are two very different artists that take the

song Back To Life and give it new meaning. Kanye West's version of the song is a gospel remix

with little to no instruments. While the Soul II Soul version is an R&B Hip Hop with a large

variety of instruments. Both versions of the song fall under the umbrella of R&B, some older

audience members listening to the Soul II Soul version and younger audience members listening

to the Kanye West version.

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Works Cited

Soul II Soul. “Back To Life.” YouTube March 6, 2009.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB54dZkzZOY

West Kanye, Sunday Service Choir “Back To Life.” YouTube March 2, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAOS1jQU0_k