“We became adults in a cult called America”
In Oddisee’s “You Grew Up”, the 33 year old musician critiques how “society socializes all of us into darker versions of ourselves” (Carmichael, 2017). The visuals and lyrics tell a story about how young people are influenced by the fears and prejudices passed down from older generations and how there is always a history and a context to the actions of extremists. He vocalizes the message that simply growing up can be the reason why people end up on different sides of issues. Oddisee himself made a statement saying, “I’ve always attempted to see polarizing issues from both sides. (…) Having an understanding for why things are they way they are requires a level of sympathy I wish society possessed.” He approaches topics of controversy with a surprising amount of sympathy for those that are commonly demonized or misunderstood in society.
As a fresh take on current politics, Oddisee’s music video diverges from the typical binary format of discourse where “the left” and “the right” have no common ground. The audience taking in his media, coming from this culture of digital dogfights, may decode his message in different ways. In chapter 6 of “The Cultural Studies Reader” by Stuart Hall, we are introduced to the three positions from which to decode media. Dominant, or Hegemonic code, Negotiated code, and Oppositional code. Using Hall’s three codes, we can analyze the reaches of this somewhat controversial piece of media just as Oddisee himself attempts to see issues from all angles.
The hegemonic reading, which in and of itself is defiant of the dominant cultural order, is that growing up influenced by certain things can lead to certain mindsets- sometimes extreme ones -and that the inevitability of it all can lead to feelings of apathy about how weary the world can be, as represented by the last verse in the song.
“Tried to change my reality but settled for, real enough / Life is better when you’re thinking lesser go on give it up (…) So where is it I put the blame and cause / Well, I grew up”
The negotiated reading, which agrees with some parts of Oddisee’s message but opposes other parts is that yes, people become different as they age, sometimes violently so, but it doesn’t mean we need to become apathetic towards the state of the world. The somewhat pessimistic ending of the music video could be something many people oppose. Just because someone has become exposed to extreme political point of view, doesn’t mean they can’t come back from it.
The oppositional reading, a complete disagreement with the encoded message, could be that people who commit acts of extremism should not be treated with sympathy in this way. Why should a police officer be pardoned of shooting an unarmed black man simply because “society socialized him too”? Why should the reason matter, when people have died due to their actions? People who are close to the issue of police brutality may find the “tragic” portrayal of the police officer to be inappropriate, or even downright offensive. While the overall atmosphere of the video is one of open-mindedness, it could be seen as unwarranted sympathy for the devil.
“You Grew Up” is one man’s perspective on current social politics, and while it is encoded with a message of sympathy and understanding for those who come from different cultures, it can be decoded in a variety of ways- all of which worth mentioning in this era of social turmoil.
“You can raise a child in a house full of love, can’t keep them safe in a world full of hate”