Most of us are faced with the question of how we would react if you were made a billionaire on a blink of an eye. Some of us will think about buying an expensive sports car with that lot of money to spare, others would think of buying an entire island or buy an apartment. We tend to vary in terms of how we would use such a huge amount of money since we have different tastes and preferences. Billionaire is a song written by Bruno Mars feat. Travie McCoy. The song is a lead single from McCoy’s debut album, Lazarus and was produced by The Smeezingtons.
Analysis of the Rhetorical Situations
McCoy imagines what he would happen if he became a billionaire, he highlights all the good things he would do to others with the money lyrically. Bruno Mars came up with the lyrical concept for “Billionaire” due to an experience he encountered during a trip to London in which he was given $350 by his record label, an amount he was supposed to spend in 11 days. Bruno Mars found this amount of money too insufficient to cater for him during his entire stay in London and even compares this state of affairs in terms of individuals being broke to be even worse than the state of affairs in America. It is this experience that made him come up with the concept of what he would then do if he became a billionaire. The song was inspired by Mars’s own financial situation before he wrote the song, he says that he could barely afford breakfast and therefore would skip breakfast and wait until lunchtime that was when he would eat. This paper is going to analyze the rhetorical situations evident in the song.
Use of Rhetorical Appeals in the Song
Billionaire by McCoy feat. Bruno Mars employs the use of the appeals of rhetoric, ethos, logos, and pathos. The use of the rhetorical appeal of ethos which is an appeal to the credibility of what the piece of art is trying to communicate. The song’s main message to the audience poses a question of what would happen if one is made a billionaire, how will he/she spend the money. This makes the audience establish credibility in the song’s message since this a question that almost all of us have been facing quite often which therefore means that the audience can relate to his/her experiences on the concept being communicated by the artists. The use of this rhetorical appeal makes the artist be able to effectively communicate their intended message to their audience since it is something they can relate to since they have come across this situation in their lifetime unlike an artist who is trying to communicate a concept which the audience is probably coming into contact for the first time. The use of this form of rhetorical appeal is evident in the following line from the song “I know we all have a similar dream”, the artists use this to try and make the audience imagine themselves in a situation that they have been made billionaires, how would their reactions be and by so engaging the audience in the song the artists are able to communicate their intended theme effectively and efficiently (Petridis 3).
Logos is one other rhetorical appeal that is skillfully applied in the song to aid in the song’s central theme. Logos refers to the appeal to logic that is often used by artists to justify the concept or idea they are trying to bring out in their piece of art. The artists manage to take the audience through a logical path of the things that they could do if made billionaires, the things they could buy, the places and people they could visit and interact with. It is logical that these things are possible when one becomes a millionaire because it comes with a change of social class and even lifestyle. The changes that would take place in an individual’s life if made a billionaire are significant have presented in the song, all the concepts that the artists present in the song are logically possible and achievable with one being a billionaire. There is also logic in the sense that this concept is not new to us as the audience because once in our lifetimes we must have thought of the idea of being successful and gaining financial stability is not being billionaires, therefore the song acts as a logical reinforcement of what we all wish we could be in life when awarded a ticket of financial stability like being made a billionaire. This is evidently presented in the song’s lines such as “give away a few Mercedes like here lady have this” and “I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine”, these are things that could be possible if one if a billionaire, therefore the appeal of logos is successfully applied by the artists in their quest to develop the main them of the song (Greenburg 2).
Pathos involves the artistic appeal to the audience’s emotions and feelings as a way of trying to get the attention of the audience and perhaps make them empathize with you or put themselves in your place as an artist. It is an effective technique of making sure that the message intended to be communicated to the audience is well received and driven home into the audience’s minds. This rhetorical appeal is evidently present in the song’s chorus “oh every time I close my eyes, I see my name in shining lights”, these two lines take the audience through an emotional pathway of trying to visualize themselves being billionaires and the things they would be able to do if they become billionaires. An emotional appeal is also made in the following line “and not a single tummy around me would know what hungry was”, which signifies the generosity that the artist would have if he becomes a billionaire, that he will spare a few bucks for the people around him so as they do not go hungry (Mars and McCoy 2). The use of this rhetorical appeal enables the audience to perceive the artist as kind and hence through this, the artist is able to win the audience's heart and in the process able to communicate the song’s intended message.
In a nutshell, Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars in their song “Billionaire” are able to apply the three rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos in their quest to ensure that their message of what one would do if he/she becomes a millionaire is well driven home. The song is all about fame, money, and power. One attitude in the song sounds to be implying how greedy one would be if he/she becomes a millionaire and on the other side, it depicts how helpful one could be if made a billionaire.
Works Cited
Greenburg, Zack O. "Bruno Mars Reveals Inspiration Behind "Billionaire"." Forbes, [New Jersey], 18 Feb. 2011, www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2011/02/18/bruno-mars-reveals-inspiration-behind-billionaire/#2da3b1404dc3. Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
Mars, Bruno, and Travie McCoy. "Billionaire." Lazarus, The smeezingtons, 26 July 2010.
Petridis, Alexis. ""Bruno Mars: Doo-Wops " Hooligans – review"." The Guardian, 20 Jan. 2011, www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/20/bruno-mars-doo-wops-review?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487. Accessed 26 Aug. 2011.
