
In N.W.A. ‘s music video for “Express Yourself,” there is a white man that appears in many of the scenes throughout the music video. He appears as having three different occupations. He Is a slave master, a police officer, and as a priest. Each of these different personas seem to be instigating throughout the music video. I argue that the point of this man throughout the music video is a metaphor for all the people that disapprove of N.W.A. ‘s music, and people that want to censor what they rap about.

The very first scene of the video is in sepia color and shows a group of black slaves working in a field.  Their supervisor, or owner maybe, comes over to check on the workers.  This shot is a bug’s eye view because the man is so high up on the horse.  There is also a bird’s eye view shot as if the viewer is the man on the horse looking down on the slaves.  After seeing the work one of the slaves was doing, the man whips him.  The slave that was whipped then picks up a rock as to throw it at the owner, but his fellow friends hold him back and they run away.  It was a very hot day when they were working, because sweat can be seen on not only the slaves working, but there is an extreme close up shot of the owner who was just sitting on a horse, and you can see sweat just dripping on his face.  The slave who was whipped was whipped for stopping his work to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

I argue that this scene represents the past. N.W.A. is saying that black people can’t catch a break. In the scene described, I think the point N.W.A. was trying to make is that even the smallest things can get an unnecessarily harsh reaction. Wiping sweat from your head on a hot day should not been seen as a crime, but because this boy was a slave, he was probably seen as lesser, so the man did not have much of an issue whipping him.

In the second scene, which is set in more present times, the same white man that portrayed the slave owner, is now a modern day police officer on a horse, and there is another bug’s eye shot. N.W.A. and friends are having some type of block party which viewers can see that it is just people having fun and dancing from the bird’s eye view shot, and the police officer shows up on his horse, baton drawn, and is trying to break up the party.  In a Point of View shot, the officer’s horse is shown at human eye level, as if the viewer is looking directly at the horse and then had to move their head upward to see the officer.  The officer is then perceived to be hitting people with his baton, in a Point of View shot where it actually looks like he is hitting the viewer.  The last time the officer is seen is from a bird’s eye view shot which shows both the crowd of people and the officer turning to leave the scene.

In this scene, people are just having a block party. Singing and dancing and having fun. This officer does not like that these people are enjoying themselves so he comes to break up their fun. In this scene, I think N.W.A. is trying to make it known that they are not allowed to be themselves, or have any type of fun because of who they are and what they rap about. Maybe this police officer has a vendetta against N.W.A because of their song “Fuck tha Police,” so he may just not like the rap group because of that song. Either way, N.W.A. feels as if they are being treated unfairly and that they should be able to enjoy themselves without the police on their case.

The third time this man appears in the video, he is not on a horse.  He is a priest, and even though what he is saying is not audible, in a close up shot, his face gives an angry and authoritative expression, and he is holding a bible.  He is in the jail sequence of the video, which could mean that he is yelling at N.W.A. to chastise them for what the rap about in some of their songs.  In the end of the music video, Dr. Dre is killed in an electric chair by the priest, which could symbolize that he would rather die than change what he raps about to please people.

The man in this third scene could represent religious groups that disagree with what N.W.A.’s music is about. Concerned religious leaders probably do not want their people to be listening to music with cursing, drug references, and violence laced in the lyrics. I think the point of the bible this man is holding is to sort of say, “N.W.A., you need to change, and by reading this bible, you can.” Dr. Dre is not willing to do this, so I guess he would rather face persecution and be killed, than change anything about who he is or what he raps about.

Throughout their entire rap career, N.W.A.’s music has been ridiculed and criticized for their use of profanity, violent, and misogynistic lyrics. Their reasoning for not wanting to change is because they want to be able to express themselves and rap about the things they experience in everyday life. Ironically, this song has no profanity in it, and they rap about other rappers who change or censor themselves in their songs. N.W.A. blatantly states in this song that they will not change themselves for the “pop-chart,” no matter how much people will disapprove.

In N.W.A.’s video for “Express Yourself,” a white man appears in several different scenes, doing different occupations. In the first scene he is riding a horse, watching over slaves in a field. He also appears as a police officer, and a priest throughout the video. N.W.A.’s song discusses the topic of censorship in their music, ironically there is no cursing or profanity in this song, and not rapping for the pop chart. The purpose of this white man all throughout the video is to show that no matter what N.W.A. there is always some person or group that will disapprove of their music, but they don’t care and will continue to rap about whatever they please.