Hell You Talmbout Analysis

In Janelle Monáe’s “Hell You Talmbout” she talks about people living in poverty. She first starts with the first verse saying that in poverty there is a lot of violence, from bombs being thrown, guns being pulled out, and a body lying on the streets from police brutality. In the chorus she repeats “Now what the hell you talking ‘bout?” this could be seen as Janelle speaking to an outsider who does not see all the violence and poverty, while those who live in those conditions experience it every day. In the second verse, Janelle addresses the topic of how fast drugs are traveling in poverty and how they are stealing from one another to get money for drugs. In the line “the poor man eats off of the rich men’s dollar,” Janelle refers to how many