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Essay 3 Draft 2
Essay 3 Draft 2
Trishia Briones
ENGL 1301-123
Rhetorical analysis of “The Free Black Artist: Frank Ocean Through a Decolonial lens.”
Ever since Black artists existed, white corporation and white owned business have
colonized and gentrified black artist and their creations. However Frank Ocean has defeated
these tries from his record label and won and “Freed” himself from his contract. In this article the
author makes his rhetorical statements when they used Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. They use this
to try to get their message across to the reader and make them feel something for the subject of
the article. “The Free Black Artist: Frank Ocean Through a Decolonial lens.” Uses persuasive
language and tools to convince the reader that minorities are mistreated in the entertainment and
music industry and how Frank Ocean is smart because of his decisions that led him to be free
The author uses Ethos in the very beginning of the article, “The music industry’s
treatment of Black artists is a form of neocolonialism that operates as the historical life force of
the music industry. From recording contracts that cheat Black artist out of money and creative
expression…” as this can make the reader feel sympathy for the exploited artists and how they’re
treated. More examples of ethos come in the second paragraph and states how black artist were
In the second paragraph, it talks about the long and troubled history of the treatment of
black artist and their art. In the main title of the second paragraph the author strategically uses
the word “Neocolonialism”. The definition of this word means “The use of economic, political,
cultural, or other pressures to control or influence.” This helps the reader understand that what is
going on in the industry is unethical and unfair. The author uses pathos to get this point across by
writing “Black artist have long been subject to systematic neocolonial tactics by corporate
America”. In addition, this paragraph tells how the industry wronged Jay-Z out of his master
recording for an exchange of being president of the label for only 10 years. The paragraph also
ends with the author writing “that not even Black leaders in the music industry are necessarily
The author also uses the word Neo colonization again with the addition of the word
unexamined. As seen in this paragraph neo colonization rears its ugly head, and the symbolism
of the Grammy. This part of the article uses ethos in the title, because they include and name a
well-known established award to persuade the reader that the award is rooted in systemic racism.
The Grammy’s have recently been criticized and called out by the public for mistreating and
being unfair to Black artists. Ethos is still in use to persuade as it is states that “2008 was the last
year a Black artist (in this case, Herbie Hancock), won the award, and to this day Lauryn Hill
and Outkast are the only hip hop artist to receive the award, in 1999 and 2004, respectfully.” This
quote reinstates the fact that it is rare for a Black artist to receive the top award which is album of
the year at the Grammys. This is visible in the length of the time between the artist award dates.
While White artists are consistently in the running and awarded for their talents, black artists are
constantly overlooked (not invited, not seated in the front row, and not asked to perform). The
author also uses logos to convince the reader that the Grammy’s are racist, as stated that artist
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such as Beyonce, The Grammy’s reportedly broadcasted only 10 percent of her acceptance
speech. This coupled with the fact that Grammy executive Portnow’s blindfolded selection based
on high levels of excellence is questionable on how the Grammy’s view black artist.
Due to this situation, Frank Ocean is seen as revolutionary and planted the seeds for a
change in the music industry. In “The Free Black Artist: Frank Ocean” the author persuades the
reader that what Frank Ocean did was groundbreaking and a smart move. They described his
early career as an independent artist and told how he was contracted to record his new album for
only 1 million dollars. In addition, they tell how he played “A seven-year chess game” with his
label. Frank Ocean is quoted as saying “I wanted to feel like I won before the record came out,
and I did.” Logos are used because it tells how many units his independent album sold after
winning his chess game and had the third largest debut behind Beyonce and Drake and had an
increase of his profit share went up from 14 to 70 percent. This part also states how Frank Ocean
criticized the music industry and the Grammy’s by not submitting his album for the award.
In the last two paragraphs (Conceiving the Decolonial: Black Bodies as Sacred Bodies
and See on Both Sides: A Decolonial Approach to Textual Analysis.) uses ethos to convey their
message of artist overcoming the systemic racism in the industry. Such as describing artists that
boycotted the Grammy’s and tell how Frank Ocean and Jay-Z are leaders of this movement are
and showing the truth and systemic racism of the music industry and Grammy’s. Ethos was
mainly used because it gave the reader a sense of empowerment and pride that people are
In conclusion, the author was able to use rhetorical strategies such as ethos, logos, and
pathos to state that the music industry was systemically racist and how several independent black
artists have utilized certain strategies to overcome the bias of the industry. This article focuses on
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Frank Ocean who is a very good example on using different strategies (social media, small scale
marketing, merchandise tie ins, and exclusive collector item releases) that allows them to
succeed without a major label backing them. This article appeals to the idea that artists can break
Works Cited
Lewellyn-Taylor, B. (2018, November 6). The Free Black Artist: Frank Ocean Through a
Decolonial Lens. https://www.tandfonline.com/.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14769948.2019.1554329